Sacred Places and Spaces

Every culture has always felt the need to set aside a particular space for sacred use.  Stonehenge, Newgrange, the Great Pyramids of Egypt and the stepped Pyramids of Mexico are witness to man’s unending desire to have a place where the human and the divine can come together.  For the people of Israel, the Temple at Jerusalem was not just a symbol of this divine union but it was regarded as a true resting place for God.  When the Roman army destroyed it, Israel was forced into the practice of worshiping God who dwells in the human heart.  The early Christians, although also affected by the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, understood that each person is a temple where we can encounter God.  As St. Paul so brilliantly put it: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  So why then do we continue to build churches, cathedrals, or other sacred spaces?

 

All spaces, whether it is our home, our place of employment, or the place we go to worship shapes us either for good or ill.  If our home is run-down, dirty, and disorganized our lives tend to be the same.  If our workspace is cramped, uncomfortable, poorly lit, etc., we will eventually develop animosity towards our job and employer.  Sir Winston Churchill put it best when he said: “We shape our buildings and afterward they shape us.”  The relationship between people and sacred space is so close that one depends on the other.  

By virtue of our Baptism, we share in the life of Jesus Christ and because of this, wherever the people of God gather that place becomes sacred.  Our Churches only have meaning and purpose when we gather in them to celebrate God’s Word, Holy Communion and the other sacraments, and when missionary activity comes from it.  Christ is present in the living Word and in the people assembled there; he’s present in the sacraments and in the art that decorates the place.  Christ is also waiting to be taken from this place to those who have yet to meet him.  In other words, when our church buildings become a place where we can find Christ and a place from which we can bring Christ to others, then it becomes a sacred space.  

Sacred space is space that gives honor to God’s creation, and that is used respectfully; a place that is well designed and pleasing to look at; a place where those who gather are authentic and not trying to be something they’re not, because sacred space allows us to experience God’s presence.  Does our sacred space, our parish, cathedrals, and basilicas allow people to experience God’s presence?  Can people encounter Jesus Christ there?  Do we as a people of God help to make the place we gather sacred?