Churches

One thing I absolutely love is to worship in old traditional style churches or cathedrals. The atmosphere, the music, the paintings and icons really grab your attention and help you focus on the spiritual. Others will probably feel the opposite and like the newer style buildings and such. This is something that is very interesting to me. Before I was Catholic, I often criticized that Catholics spent so much money on buildings and items. Now, I can realize the deep spiritual purpose they have and especially the benefit they can be for individuals. At the same time, we have to realize that there is a balance involved that we need to find. I've seen two shocking images in recent months that both deserve mentioning. One is the image of a homeless girl in the Phillipines (about 10) sleeping under a statue of the Blessed Virgin in the window of a shop. The caption said to buy a statue like the one in the window, it would cost about 1 year's wage, and that they were extremely popular in the Phillipines (This image was part of a Station's of the Cross that I attended during Lent). Another image I saw showed homeless people in Italy sleeping in one of the Cathedrals, without clothing or possessions, but surrounded by gold and glamour. These photos made me once again think about how much we spend and what we spend them on. I think it reminds us to think about what kind of stewards we are with what God provides us. Again, I see the reasoning behind beautiful churces, and I personally love them and think it is important for us to take care of them. But we shouldn't neglect the poor in the process.