At the Whitefish Mountain Resort in Whitefish, Montana, there’s something unusual near the top of Big Mountain’s Chair 2. It’s a statue of Our Lord Jesus Christ, not something one would normally associate with a ski resort. The story of how it got there is a touching one. According to the Flathead Beacon:
While fighting in the Swiss and Italian Alps during World War II, many American soldiers encountered the religious shrines, found often in remote and difficult-to-access terrain, that dot the mountains of Europe. Amid war, it’s likely the soldiers drew some reassurance from these unexpected encounters. So upon returning to the Flathead Valley, several Knights of Columbus at St. Matthew’s parish in Kalispell discussed the idea of erecting a similar religious tribute to what they had encountered as soldiers.
“They thought, ‘Well, why don’t we put one up here on our mountain?’” Graves said. [Read more…]
Public displays of the Faith, such as those that dot the landscape of the Old World, ought to become more common in the New. Ours is a religion of sign and sacrament. It ought to be more seen.
