189 The Liturgy Becons us to Meet so as to be the Body of Christ

YOUCAT Lesson 189

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

189  How does the liturgy affect the spaces in which we live?

By his victory, Christ has penetrated all places in the world.  He himself is the true Temple, and the worship of God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24) is no longer bound up with a particular place.  Nevertheless, the Christian world is filled with churches and sacred signs, because men need specific  places in which to meet and signs to remind them of this new reality.  Every house of God is a symbol for our heavenly Father’s house, to which we are journeying.  [1179-1181, 1197-1198]

Photo: …...The present Abbey church at St. Johns University, Collegeville, Minnesota.  The concrete sheet  bell tower is in the foreground and the church is in the background.  I lived two years on this campus before the “new” church and bell tower were constructed, the works of famed architect  Marcel Breuer. ..…189

Certainly one can pray anywhere—in the forest, on the beach, in bed.  But since we men are not merely spiritual but also have a body, we need to see, hear, and feel one another; we need a specific place if we want to meet so as to be the Body of Christ; we must kneel down if we want to worship God; we must eat the transformed bread when it is offered; we must set our bodies in motion when he calls us.  And a cross on the roadside will remind us of who owns the world and where our journey is taking us.

…….WHERE IS THE LITURGY CELEBRATED?

…….1179   The worship "in Spirit and in truth"(John 4:24)⁵³  of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the "living stones," gathered to be "built into a spiritual house."( 1 Peter 2:4-5)⁵⁴    For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth: incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, "we are the temple of the living God."(2 Cor 6:16)⁵⁵ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1180   When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted, (compare Dignitatis Humanae 4)⁵⁶    Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply gathering places but signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ. –CCC

…….1181   A church, "a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Savior, offered for us on the sacrificial altar for the help and consolation of the faithful - this house ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer and sacred ceremonial." (Presbyterorum Ordinis 5; compare Sacrosanctum Concilium 122-127)⁵⁷    In this "house of God" the truth and the harmony of the signs that make it up should show Christ to be present and active in this place. (compare Sacrosanctum Concilium 7)^{58 --CCC}

…….IN BRIEF

…….1197   Christ is the true temple of God, "the place where his glory dwells"; by the grace of God, Christians also become the temples of the Holy Spirit, living stones out of which the Church is built. –CCC

…….1198   In its earthly state the Church needs places where the community can gather together. Our visible churches, holy places, are images of the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, toward which we are making our way on pilgrimage. --CCC