Blessed Sacrament

I’m sitting in front of a beautiful tabernacle in an ancient 12th-century church in Estella, Spain: St Michael the Archangel. The quiet is amazing with no tourists or pilgrims. Except me and an elderly couple marveling beauty of the space, “ever ancient, ever new,” to quote St. Augustine.

According to a pamphlet explaining the various expressions of art, sculpture and architecture within the church building, different periods in the development of the arts are represented. The very structure, the “physicality” of the building, developed past the 12th century embracing Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque characteristics.

The Church must conserve the beauty of the past but must also remain open to CURRENT developments. New expressions of art and architecture can be just as beautiful. The Presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle is not contained or limited but ignites His very Presence WITHIN our own hearts. We become living, human “tabernacles” of Christ’s Presence, expressing our Catholic faith in ways the people of our 21st century can relate.

Like this building, we treasure the beauty of the past but must be free to give breath to new ways of praying, singing, doing theology, building churches, reaching young people and understanding human sexuality. But all new developments need to be tested with the very Truths of our Faith, so that past and present come together in a synthesis of love.

The Church must develop while remaining true to its essential truths. The Church must never become a museum.