SOME  DATA  ABOUT 

SOME  CHURCHES 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my sermon for this 25 Tuesday in ordinary time is, “Some Data About Some Churches.”

The main theme would be the “WHY?” of temples, churches. shrines.

ISRAEL

Israel starts with a tent  - as their Holy Place.

There was Moses’ Tent and then David’s tent and we read that God sent prophets to David to tell him, “You got a great house there David and I just got a tent, so how about building me a temple?”

How’s that for a great reading and a great message for a church building campaign?

So we know Solomon builds the first temple - sometime around the 10^th Century BC.

And when a group builds their first temple, they have arrived. They are established. I assume that’s one of the reasons - ONE of the reasons - for steeples and towers.

Solomon’s temple is somewhat destroyed and looted in the Babylonian Captivity - in 598 and 587 - by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, when he besieged Jerusalem,  and marched many Israelites into slavery and captivity.

Now in today’s first reading we have the story of Ezra and Nehemiah getting permission to rebuild the Solomon Temple. This is around 458 BC.  Darius, the Persians, beat the  Babylonians.

Ezra - Nehemiah - and many others pull this off and the Second temple is built.

It lasts till the year till 70 CE  when the Romans destroy it.

There are rumors till this day that the Jews would like to rebuild the temple.

SOME THOUGHTS QUESTIONS ABOUT CHURCHES IN GENERAL

There are enough temples, churches, shrines around the world - that prove something. What do the presence of holy places tell us?  How do agnostics, atheists, non-church people respond to the reality that human beings build holy places?

That’s my key question in this homily.

Next to more in and around that question, here are a few more questions.

What are the biggest shrines and churches and holy places around the world?

Do you have a favorite Church building or shrine or Holy Place?

Have you been to Lourdes? Fatima? Do you know the big Marian Shrines of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil and Our Lady of Pillar in Zaragoza, Spain or Our Lady of Lichen in Poland? How about the Largest Catholic church in the world, Our lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro on  Ivory Coast in Africa.

Have you been to Chartres? It was the most famous Marian Pilgrimage Church in the for the longest time in the world.

For size, how about big Catholic churches like the Seville Cathedral,, Milan Cathedral, Ulm in Minster, St. Peter’s in Rome.

How about the Mega Christian Churches on Nigeria, one holds 75,000. There is another one in Korea with  30,000 people. And there is another one in Georgia - Southern US, with 35,000  people in the congregation.

When I lived in Lima, Ohio I heard about people taking bus tours to old German Churches - that had great wood carved altars and church pieces. They could be found in far west central Ohio and mid-eastern Indiana.

The other day at breakfast we were talking about places we would like to visit. One of the guys said he’d like to get to Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I was able to say, “I saw both places and it was well worth the trip and the time.”

What about chapels  - like the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, Arizona?

This church here - St. John Neumann Church - looks plain like so many other churches and people seem to prefer St. Mary’s downtown - but don’t forget this church of St. John Neumann has those stained glass windows up there from Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 61^st Manhattan, New York City and Manresa - the former Jesuit retreat house here in Annapolis on the Severn River.

I could list about 5 ugly churches - but I prefer the beautiful ones - the great out-reachings of different communities of people for the Lord.

CONCLUSION

I grew up in Brooklyn New York.

Now Brooklyn has often been described as the city of bars and churches. Then the speaker says, “There’s a bar and a church on every corner.”

That statement is not true, more true for bars than churches, but there are a lot of bars and churches in Brooklyn.

We know what bars tell us of the needs of human beings - but what do churches tell us about human beings?

And that’s the question and the point of this homily. “What do churches tell us about human beings?”

And let me close with some shots from the parish of my childhood: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Brooklyn New York.

This past weekend they celebrated their 125 Anniversary.