We begin our look at spaces for Roman Catholic worship by recognizing that the word we often use to describe a building - church - is best understood first as a word to describe a people, a community of believers in union with Christ. And even when describing a people it can mean the smallest grouping - the domestic church, to the largest - the universal church. The focus of out attention in this series will be the place where local church celebrates the mysteries of our faith as a parish.

The church building provides a place for the community of faith to respond to Jesus’ invitation to become one with him in the praise and thanksgiving of God, whom he called “Abba.” Here, we recognize Christ in “the breaking of the bread,” in the proclamation of our sacred stories, and in the very assembly gathered here to remember how God claimed us as a chosen people.

In this place, the church remembers the blessings and covenants of the past. It unites itself with Christ in the New Covenant and responds to Christ’s command to “Do this in memory of me.” And so this building must serve the action of the assembly as it celebrates the mystery of redemption. It is the place where the presence of Christ is experienced in all of its manifestations - the gathered assembly, the proclamation of the Word, the sharing and the reservation of the Eucharist, and in the person of the presiding priest.

The liturgy that we celebrate here is the source and summit of our Christian life, a life marked by daily acts of self-sacrifice and concern for the poor and alienated, the sick and imprisoned, both within and beyond our circle of family and friends. The hospitality and care that must characterize the daily life of a Christian should also be present where Christians gather.

This climate of hospitality makes it possible for the church to be a school where children and adults learn how to love one another. The respect and dignity shown to each person who crosses the threshold of the church - whether stranger or friend, young or old, able or disabled - is the same hospitality and openness that characterized Jesus’ ministry. The design of the entrance and the interior and exterior gathering spaces can be expression of that hospitality.

Churches have long been understood as places of sanctuary or safety. In our own day, churches can be a second home for the households who come together each week to celebrate the Eucharist, and who come to mark the significant moments of the lives of each of its members.