The Tombs of Catholicism

I always thought of Rome as being the heart of Roman Catholicism. The Pope is there, the Vatican is there, and a deep rich history. Catholics from all over the world travel to Rome to visit this place of intriguing religious history.

But when I went to Rome I found tombs.

I visited many churches while I was there, each completely breathtaking and gorgeous, but each completely silent. This silence was not just the silence from the lack of noise, but the silence of church itself. Each church was like walking into a beautiful tomb of what is now dead. Each church a stone monument of what once was alive, and no longer breathes. Walls that once saw the faithful practicing their faith fervently, now only see people wandering through with their cameras, their lack of reverence, and lack of knowledge of where they are. These churches still stand as reminders of a faith that once was, just as tombs stand as reminders of a person that once was. From a time when Catholics actually believed, and were willing to die for their faith.

Coming back to the United States, the lack of beauty in the church became undeniable. And the churches here may not be empty, but give it ten years and all those old people will be buried with their faith while their grandchildren forget about church entirely. If America's churches become grave monuments like the ones in Rome, they won't be for long. The beauty and history that keeps the churches in Rome preserved does not exist here. There are some beautiful churches here, but not comparable to the ones in Rome. Rome once had people of faith who gave their everything to the church, creating art from the depths of their souls, versus here where our souls are half invested and our churches are mediocre to say the least.

A church reflects the beauty and love of the souls who walk through the doors every Sunday. A church is sacred, and each person has a part to play in keeping it that way. When faith withers away, Mass is no longer said, Christ is no longer present, and the only ones who walk through the church are those who marvel upon the beauty that was once alive, that church becomes a tomb. Our faith, and the Eucharist, is what makes the Catholic Church alive. Without either, a sacred space of a church becomes a hollow memory of what once was. The empty churches in Rome were almost haunting, with their solemn presence and aching walls that long once again for the body of Christ.

The Catholic Church believes in the real presence of the body of Christ in the Eucharist which we are called to receive every Sunday. The people of the church are part of the body of Christ. We receive Him, and we leave the church with him dwelling within us. But if we the people of the church do not take the dwelling place of Christ within us seriously, how do we expect to keep a living church when the one inside us is not fully alive? The tombs of Rome became that way because the people became empty tombs first. They stopped receiving Jesus, they no longer welcomed Him into their lives, and their faith died. If we don't want the Catholic Church to become a cemetery of churches, we need to stop being a cemetery of the faithful.