Dear Jim:

The ornate Churches and Vestments is in honor of God for He deserves the best we can give Him. Consider the story Jesus tells:

Mat 26:6-13 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,  a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it upon His head as He reclined at the table.

But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor."

But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me.  For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me. For when she poured this perfume upon My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in memory of her."

According to the Navarre Bible Commentary Jesus was not saying that people should not have concern for the poor (cf. Matt 25:40); what he is doing here is exposing people who profess noble motives in order to avoid giving God the honor He is due.

St. Escriva comments: "All beauty, richness and majesty seem little to me. And against those who attack the richness of sacred vessels, of vestments and altars, stands the praise by Jesus: "she has done a good deed to Me".

God instructed Moses to build a ark of the finest and most expensive material. This is the place where God's presence would dwell. The Real Presence of our Lord Jesus dwells in the tabernacle in every Catholic Church. The Church building should not look like a meeting hall. It is the place where we worship the God of the universe.

As the Navarre Bible Commentary states: "For a Christian, proper dress, liturgical gestures and postures, genuflections and reverence to the tabernacle etc. are expressions of the respect due to the Lord in his temple."

The artwork, architecture, the sacred vessels, the vestments, the altar and the altar linens are all designed to give God the honor that is due to Him.

None of this detracts from the poor. Using expensive oil to anoint our Lord did not detract from the poor. Jesus was not being insensitive to the poor.

The Catholic Church is the NUMBER ONE charity in the world. We give more to the poor than any other single entity and are able to do that and give honor to God at the same time.

As for the poor, you presume wrongly. The poor will often give all they have and scrap for more in order to give money to the Church for her artwork and the priests vestments. The poor usually come to Mass well dressed (as best as they can). It is only those with money who tend to dress poorly and disrespectfully in Mass.

You need to talk to people like Fr. Benedict Groeschel and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. They work with the poorest of the poor in New York. I have been in retreat a couple of times with Father Groeschel. He tells many stories of how the poor offer respect to God far more than many people who are not poor. The poor want to see those vestments and sacred vessels and artwork. They appreciate it and have an intuitive understanding of it that many people fail to have.

The problem here, Jim, is not "two" of Jesus. There is one Jesus and He is the Alpha and Omega, he does not change. He is the Jesus who hugs little children and walks among the poor; and the God we worship and give honor with the best we can muster for Him with golden vessels and silk and expensive incense.

Even the poor put out the best dishes they have when company comes. Are we not to put out the best we have when the God of the universe invites us to His sacrificial dinner? 

The poor do not have a problem, but apparently you do. I challenge you not to be like the disciples who protested this women using expensive perfume to anoint Jesus. Learn from the chastising Jesus gave them before He chastises you.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary