Why We Need Churches

The Prophet Haggai urged the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile, to rebuild the temple of God, which had been destroyed.  In the Middle Ages, everyone in a city would contribute in some way to the building of the great cathedrals, and even nobles hauled stone to the building sites.  We read about the sacredness of these buildings in the following excerpt from a sermon delivered by Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) on the occasion of the dedication of a church:

“The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit must be adored in a lower house, an interior house, an exterior house – that is, in a sacred church – in a pure conscience, and in the Holy Scriptures, so that he may be adored in an upper house, that is, in the heavenly homeland, as it is written: ‘Blessed are those who live in your house, O Lord!  They shall praise you for ever and ever” (Psalm 83, 5).  But since God is everywhere, both in his power and in his essence, why is he more to be adored in a temple than in another place?  For, his rule is in every place, as the Prophet says: ‘I fill heaven and earth’ (Jeremiah 23, 24).  And, as the Psalmist says: ‘If I should ascend into heaven, you are there; if I should descend into hell, you are there (Psalm 138, 8).  Likewise, when the Samaritan woman asked Christ the answer to the question regarding which place of worship was the right one: ‘Our fathers worshipped God on this mountain, and you say that he is to be adored in Jerusalem,’ Jesus responded to her: ‘Believe me, woman, the hour has come when you shall worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, but the true worshippers will adore him in spirit and truth’ (John 4, 20-23).  As though to say, I do not prefer one place to another in regards to where God is adored in spirit and truth, that is, because he is spiritual and true, which is to say, eternal.  However, although God is to be adored everywhere, still, he is to be worshipped especially in a temple, as it is written: ‘Adore the Lord in his holy court” (Psalm 28, 2).  He particularly is to be adored facing the east, according to what is written in the Book of Wisdom: ‘We ought to adore you at the dawning of the light’ (Wisdom 16, 28).  That is, for us who adore God rises ‘the true Light, who enlightens every man coming into this world’ (John 1, 9).  This is the Christ, the Sun of justice, our God (cf. Malachy 4, 2).  In vain is a temple made for the Lord with great zeal and labor unless the Lord is graciously received in it to be adored.  For, we read that after the temple was constructed and dedicated, Solomon adored the Lord, that any Jew or Gentile who should go up into the temple praying for his sins, or crying out to the Lord because of any tribulation, would be heard by the Lord for those things which were justly asked of him.  The Church to this day follows this form of prayer when she prays on the occasion of the dedication of a church, that: ‘whoever should enter this temple praying for aids, may rejoice to have obtained all that was sought.’  The angels of God assist the faithful worshippers in our sacred temples so that they might offer their devoted prayers to the Lord, as it is written: ‘In the sight of the angels I will sing praise to you, and I will adore in your holy temple, and I will confess your name, O Lord’ (Psalm 137, 1-2).  As the angel said to Tobiah: ‘I offered your prayer to the Lord’ (Tobit 12, 12).  The relics of the saints, who follow us with their prayers, rest in our holy temples, for we are not strong by our own merits.  Therefore, brothers, carefully pay heed to how single-minded and devoted we should be when we worship the Lord before the relics of the saints and in the presence of the angels of God.  Thus, it is necessary that not only should we adore the Lord in holy churches, but in a pure conscience as well.”