Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 189 - Part I.
(Youcat
answer) 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” (Jn
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.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC
1179) The worship "in Spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:24) 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 Pet 2:4-5). 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).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) 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.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC
1180) When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted (Cf. DH 4),
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.
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