Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 190 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 190 - Part III. What is a Christian house of prayer?

(Youcat answer - repeated) A Christian house of prayer is both a sign of the ecclesial communion of people at a specific place and also a symbol of the heavenly dwellings that God has prepared for us all. In God’s house we gather together to pray in common or alone and to celebrate the sacraments, especially the eucharist.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1186) Finally, the church has an eschatological significance. To enter into the house of God, we must cross a threshold, which symbolizes passing from the world wounded by sin to the world of the new Life to which all men are called. The visible church is a symbol of the Father's house toward which the People of God is journeying and where the Father "will wipe every tear from their eyes"  (Rev 21:4). Also for this reason, the Church is the house of all God's children, open and welcoming. 

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) “It smells like heaven here.” “Here you can be very quiet and reverent.” Many churches surround us perceptibly in a thick atmosphere of prayer. We sense that God is present here. The beauty of churchbuildings directs our attention to the beauty, greatness, and love of God. Churches are not just stonemessengers of the faith, but dwelling places of God, who is really and truly and substantially presenting the sacrament of the altar.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1199) It is in these churches that the Church celebrates public worship to the glory of the Holy Trinity, hears the word of God and sings his praise, lifts up her prayer, and offers the sacrifice of Christ sacramentally present in the midst of the assembly. These churches are also places of recollection and personal prayer.   

(The next question is: What liturgical spaces define a house of God?)