Look at beautiful Catholic Churches .Why can't catholics worship in a humble building?

Answer 1

I'm sorry but this strikes me as a very nonsensical question.

How could God NOT love beauty? Do you think He is displeased when His followers build a thing of beauty to honor and glorify Him?

Sure, we can worship and pray anywhere, but when a community gets together to build an official house for God they want it to be the most beautiful they can build. It is a labor of love.

And I don't know if you've noticed but even though Protestant churches might be more "simple" they still put out flowers and other things to decorate and beautify the temple.

Answer 2

Some do. My church, for instance, is in the basement of another building. No stained glass, no pews, no statues. Cement walls, crummy ceiling. That's okay. The community is great, people are warm and welcoming, and God is really present there; it's perhaps the best church I've ever been in.

Some churches (especially older ones), however, are big and beautiful because people thought that God's building should be the best possible. Oftentimes the decorations inside the church told visual stories so that non-literate Catholics could understand the Bible. Catholics need to remember, though, that what matters is the love and the faith that you show; not the pretty decorations. If the money can be better spent helping the poor, then it probably should be.

Answer 3

Actually the way Catholic Churches are adorned goes back many years and they are with reason, going back to the early Church, remembering that they were built under Judeo Christian laws, the Churches were built in accordance with the Old Testament description of how a Temple of God should be constructed, the best of everything, since it is a symbol of God's house on Earth.
This took a different twist in the medieval age where they were made to withstand the warring and nature of the times. It is here we get the Gothic look to the Churches, it wasn't until the Renaissance that we start to see the splendor and Windows come back into the Churches and Cathedrals we see now, returning to tradition.
The beauty of the Church has nothing to do with the humility of it's people. Most Christian congregations grow to large for their original humble settings and need to expand some too large to be personal any longer.
The Catholic Church is built to allow reflection, personal internalization of faith, and above all a reminder of the grace of God on earth, His home away from Home per say.
God bless and have a great and glorious day.

Answer 4

Catholics are Christians ! Catholic imaginative and prescient assigns symbolic intending to the somewhat some areas of the church construction, because it does to particularly a lot each thing else interior the international. The roof symbolizes charity, which covers a large number of sins; the floor symbolizes the beginning of religion and the humility of the detrimental; the columns characterize the Apostles, Bishops, and medical doctors; the vaulting represents the preachers who submit to up the lifeless weight of guy's disease heavenwards; and the beams characterize the champions of ecclesiastical acceptable who guard it with the sword. The nave symbolizes Noah's Ark and the Barque of St. Peter, exterior of which noone is saved. The process the East represents the Heavenly Jerusalem, and the course whence the Messiah will return in glory; West represents dying and evil.

Answer 5

You´re right, sometimes there is beauty in simplicity, as the Japanese say. Not all churches are breathtakingly beautiful either.

But the tabernacle is always the center-point of the Catholic Church.

For me a beautiful the tabernacle is humbling, because it mirrors the beauty of the human soul as it becomes the dwelling place of God through the Eucharist.

... all the best.

Answer 6

I have asked myself this same question at times in my life. I think the main reason we have cathedrals and ornate churchs, is because we feel strong about our faith and feel we should give the best treasures we have back to God. God deserves our best and we should give it to Him no matter what the cost. It's like in the New Testament when Mary Magdalene bathed Jesuss' feet with an expensive oil. The Apostles were upset that such wealth was being used when they thought it would be better to sell it and give the profits to the poor. Jesus said that Mary Magdalene was doing right and that we would always have the poor but would not have Him but for a little longer. We as Catholics should not ever not give God our very best. There are other biblical references that show God does not accept second best. God gave us life and I don't think we could ever give a gift that could ever come close to that.
Thanks
Don

Answer 7

Catholics have been around much longer than protestantism and has had more time to gather funds for such buildings. Catholics tend to have fewer churches whereas protestants can have many churches. In my town there is one corner that has a Southern Baptist church a methodist church a Missionary baptist church and a Christian church all within a few feet of each other. Catholics do not do this.

As far as I can see we have only one Catholic church in our city of about 50,000 people and it is downtown.

So my guess is when you have just one church that serves the whole city, you can afford the nice buildings but when you have small churches all opver the funds are not there.

This is just an opinion based on what I see.

Answer 8

Why can't Catholics worship in a beautiful Catholic Church?

Answer 9

I don't think it's that they can't --- but in my opinion why would you want to if you could have something grand and glorious like that? I don't think God wants us to purposefully make things ugly. He certainly didn't make the world ugly. I'm not saying that protestants need to worship in cathedrals, but I don't see why a Catholic wouldn't worship there if it is already there.

Look at the scripture describing the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. It sounds as though it was quite ornate and beautiful, not just plain and utilitarian.

Signed,

A Protestant who wishes that our churches weren't so ugly!

Answer 10

Many do. You are generalizing just a bit. But even in the poorest communities, the people tend to want to give to God the best of what they have. After all, even if their tabernacle is plain by comparison to those found in other areas, the Lord is present there.

Edited to add: "Can't" in your question implies an inability. Mass can be said anywhere there is a priest -- and has been, including not within a building at all.