Why We Build Churches | Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome | Sunday Reflection

The Church has many reasons to call for special celebration and commemoration in the liturgy. Important events in the life of Jesus, the veneration of the saints, the great mysteries of our faith, and, just like we celebrate today, the dedication of particular churches. It might seem a little out of place that we are drawing attention to a building, but in fact, we have an opportunity to recognize a beautiful way in which God invites us to draw close to Him.

So, first, why have a church building at all? Can’t we find God in all things? Can’t we pray anywhere? Yes, it is true that all of creation reflects God in some way, and it is great when those naturally beautiful things can draw us into prayer. But, the point of building a church is not to provide us with something that we otherwise cannot find, but rather to dedicate a space to God in order to honor Him and, within that dedicated space, to have a way to be drawn even more intimately near Him in an intentional way.

We know that God has no problem with buildings. He commanded the people who were wandering in the desert to construct an Arc, the first Tabernacle, because He desired to dwell with us. The Israelites brought that Arc everywhere they went. But then hundreds of years later, King David, out of a reverent desire to build a house for God, had the idea of building a grand temple for God. This was an initiative of David, not a direct order from God. Yet God, seeing the good desire of David to pay Him honor, affirmed this desire, but said that it would be his son, Solomon, who would ultimately build it. Through God’s grace, David prepared for the temple, and Solomon built it and dedicated it to God.

This temple, a response of humankind to God’s goodness and glory, is received by God and made into a place where healing, sanctification, and transformation can take place. The temple, on one level, is the work of human hands, but when offered into the hands of God, God takes it, transforms it, and elevates it into something that goes beyond what human power is able to do. We can build structures, but through these structures, God makes things holy. We see this affirmation of the temple again in our first reading in Ezekiel, where the vision of the waters flowing from the temple evokes the image of the four rivers of Eden. This is God’s dwelling and a place where we truly can find God and walk with Him.

In much the same way, and with the new dimension of holiness offered to us through Jesus Christ, our church buildings are a way to honor God and be intentionally drawn into His life. The church building is a dedicated and consecrated place. It has one function - to be the place where the local community can come together to worship God and be nourished by Him. The central points will always be the altar and the tabernacle. The altar, where the Eucharistic sacrifice takes place, and the tabernacle, where I can be assured of Jesus’s continued presence. It is from these two central points that everything else is built and should ultimately point toward.

The entirety of the church building is there to remind me that this is where God is. There can certainly be a lot of architectural variability, so long as it serves its purpose of pointing me toward God and the mysteries of the faith. Gothic architecture is meant to draw our attention up and be caught up in the beauty of God, which can seem distant, but through God’s grace, I can get there. Baroque architecture is meant to bring us right into the middle of God’s glory - God is amazing, and that amazing glory is right here in our midst. The paintings of the apostles that line this very chapel at St. John’s are paintings of the baroque statues in St. John Lateran, showing the Apostles not as figures of the distant past, but as living people, noted by their lively features. Stained glass, statues, artwork - all of it, with the building itself, all works of human hands - are dedicated to God. When we offer it to Him, he takes it, elevates it, and makes something new out of it. They are no longer a collection of materials, but a church. In this church, transformation of souls happens. At every sacrament, grace is poured out. Sins are forgiven, departed souls are commended to God, and saints are made. In this church, I can find refuge from the woes of life and warmth of Jesus’s true presence in my midst.

Throughout the Archdiocese of Boston, there are a number of churches that were made by Irish immigrants, who, wishing to honor God, decided the first thing they wanted for their community was a beautiful church. My last parish, Holy Name in West Roxbury, is a large and very beautiful church built during the Great Depression. Families were struggling to get by, but they wanted the church to be beautiful. They might not have been individually rich, but they as a community, had a great treasure in this church. In fact, they donated their gold and jewelry to make a monstrance. That is how important God was to them. They wanted the space of the Church, all of the adornments and everything in it, to point to the reality of God’s love. Once we can see that reality, we can more easily enter that reality, and be made holy by God’s grace.

Our Lord’s invitation here is to allow the beauty of the physical space around us to speak to us, and to allow the Lord’s voice and truth to reach our hearts through these works of human hands. There is a reason they were made in the first place. Today, we honor the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the Cathedral of the Church of Rome, where for centuries, people have been drawn by the beauty of the Church to fall more in love with the beauty of God Himself. Beauty is transcendent, meaning it points us towards higher things. We can ask God to be caught up in His beauty through the help of the beauty surrounding us here and now. So, find something beautiful in a church space, whether that be in the St. John’s chapel or in your local parish church, thank God for its beauty and for those who made it, and ask the Holy Spirit to use it to let God speak to you. Trust me, He wants to speak, so let’s give him that chance.