By Emily Mendez
Connecting Liturgy and Life
Editor’s note: For 2026, the weekly “Connecting Faith and Life” column has been renamed “Connecting Liturgy and Life.” The column consists of reflections on Part Two of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which focuses on the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
cf. CCC 1179-1199
I was baptized in the living room at our house. The normal place to be baptized is, of course, in a church. But at the time, our parish did not have a church building. Church buildings are places of deep and sacred meaning. They are where we grew up, where we were baptized, where we got married, where we had the funeral of someone we love, where our ancestors poured their heart and soul and money into building, and the place we gathered with a community we love. Our churches matter. And, maybe also, we have felt the grief of losing a church building we loved.
My parents’ house, when I was growing up, always had a painting of “the old church” hanging on the wall and, almost 40 years later, the painting is still there. Around the time I was born, the parish where my family belonged, St. John the Evangelist at that time in Elberfeld, went through a major transition. My father had grown up in the parish and gone to the school and our family has deep roots there. The coal company had moved in and the area around the church was to be strip-mined for coal. So, the church was forced to be torn down and a new church building was built a few miles away in Daylight, Indiana.
Even though a new church was built, the “old church” was remembered and cherished. Elements of the old church were saved and included in the new church; the stained glass, the Stations of the Cross and some of the artwork, among other things. Today, the parish cemetery is still located at the site where the old church stood, in the middle of what is now the Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife Area. Many of my ancestors are buried there.
There was a short time between when the old church was torn down and the new church was finished when the parish did not have a church building at all. Since this was the case when it was time for my baptism, I was baptized in my living room at our home with family and friends gathered. Where the people of God gather, there is the Church and, in this case, it was in our living room! Many parishes go through a time of change where the church building is unavailable for some reason and Mass is celebrated in a gym or basement or parish center. We can feel the difference, though, and usually long to be back in the church. We know it is our home; a place where God dwells with us, a true glimpse of heaven!
This section of the Catechism asks: Where is the Liturgy Celebrated? The normal celebration of the sacraments happens in the church building, but Jesus, in the Gospel of John, asks us to worship “in Spirit and in truth” and worship for Christians is not tied exclusively to any building or place, but to Christ himself and the assembly of the faithful (CCC1179). Where the people of God gather, there is the Church.
Throughout history, there have been times when the Church cannot gather in a church. During times of persecution, or for whatever reason, when this happens worship and the celebration of the sacraments can take place wherever the people of God are able to gather. However, church buildings carry special significance beyond being just a gathering space. They, “signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ” (CCC1180). They show the world the presence of God active with us and the presence of the people of God.
The Catechism also says, “The church has an eschatological significance,” meaning that when we step inside we step away from the sinful world and toward new life in Christ in the Father’s house (CCC1186). A church building is designed in its art and architecture to draw us into relationship with God and longing for heaven. We are all on a pilgrimage to heaven and our church buildings remind us of this. The next time you walk into a church, look around to see a glimpse of heaven!