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The Los Angeles Cathedral is a place to start.

It's hideous, not oppulent. Every Catholic here will tell you that. And Mahoney needs to go.

Perhaps if you thought of it in another way - when many of the big Cathedrals were built, they kept people (artists, craftsmen, etc.) employed. Many of them were built with love of God in mind. And when we go to church, to the Cathedral, we are rich. We are wealthy. The church is us. This is ours, but belongs to God.

The beloved Cathedral Basilica in my archdiocese houses the largest collection of Byzantine Mosaics in the world. It's stunning. It took 61 years and countless man hours for two men to finish the work. The last few, the son of the pair did so while dying of lung cancer. Can you imagine climbing up the scaffolding every day, body wracked with pain and weak from chemotherapy without doing the work for the love of God?

When it comes to GOd, there is no skimping. Only the best for Him. Only the incorruptible (the purpose behind the gold Tabernacles and lining of Challaces and Patens) for the Body of Christ.

Someone else could tell you more about the gold vestments than I can. They are reserved only for special occasions, though. Normally they are green (ordinary time) or they wear the cream which is sort of a stanardized uniform. And yes, they are expensive.