Future of Catholicism

[Loki]

Look how their churches look:

I tell you, I would MUCH rather go to this church, and worship God in Spirit and in truth along with the children of God, and be filled with the Holy Spirit and joy unspeakable, than visit some ancient, lifeless church building.

[PaleoEuropean]

I tell you, I would MUCH rather go to this church, and worship God in Spirit and in truth along with the children of God, and be filled with the Holy Spirit and joy unspeakable, than visit some ancient, lifeless church building.

Exactly the congregation makes the church not the other way around. God is in your heart not your pocket book are architecture.

[PrettyFarFromOkay]

I am always astounded how shallow people can be.... Do you really think God looks at how pretty our buildings are... NO!! If you have any basic knowledge of what Jesus preached when he walked the earth, then you would understand that what matters to God is what your HEART looks like...

And the care you take when building a church or making religious art can be a sign of what’s in your heart. Many of the most beautiful churches took over a century to build. It’s a sign of great devotion to spend your entire life laboring on a project knowing that you’ll never even see it completed. All for the greater glory of God and creating an environment that inculcates reverence.

[Loki]

It isn't a church, it is a retreat center from what I can see. It doesn't matter what church you belong to, you can go to a retreat center and practice your own denomination.

For example, the lecture I went to on Friday night was at a Christian retreat center. You'll have different Christian groups that come there for seminars, or retreats a few days long, led by their own spiritual leader. The retreat center is just a place where you can have these events.

The retreat center I was at on Friday has a large prayer garden, in the shape of a cross. As you walk along the garden and explore its niches, there are markers which spell out the lines of the Lord's Prayer. At the top of the garden was an area with three life-size crosses and a grassy area for you to sit and read or meditate or do whatever it is you want to do.

The retreat center just provides a space which groups can use for conferences, seminars or spiritual retreats (with or without a prayer or church leader).

No I think it's an actual religous group, they sound like Unitarians almost...

[Loki]

And the care you take when building a church or making religious art can be a sign of what’s in your heart. Many of the most beautiful churches took over a century to build. It’s a sign of great devotion to spend your entire life laboring on a project knowing that you’ll never even see it completed. All for the greater glory of God and creating an environment that inculcates reverence.

Sure, all kudos to those who have spent their time and devotion to create that to the glory of God. That's not my point, though. You won't be more blessed by God if you go into a pretty church... and it doesn't make you any more holy. If you pray to God, he is not going to look first what your surroundings look like... no way, he looks straight at what is in your heart!

[PaleoEuropean]

And the care you take when building a church or making religious art can be a sign of what’s in your heart. Many of the most beautiful churches took over a century to build. It’s a sign of great devotion to spend your entire life laboring on a project knowing that you’ll never even see it completed. All for the greater glory of God and creating an environment that inculcates reverence.

Yea but they were funded privately by feudal lords who could care less and built them just for power most of the time.

[PrettyFarFromOkay]

You won't be more blessed by God if you go into a pretty church... and it doesn't make you any more holy. If you pray to God, he is not going to look first what your surroundings look like...

No one is suggesting that.

[PaleoEuropean]

Don't worry, thankfully Latinos are leaving the Catholic church in droves, preferring genuine faith in God, and joining Pentecostal churches en masse in countries like Brazil and elsewhere. This is also beginning to impact the US and Mexican Hispanic populations.

I know a lot of people who did missionary work in Mexico, they even build houses for Mexican converts.

[JosephK]

Sure, all kudos to those who have spent their time and devotion to create that to the glory of God. That's not my point, though. You won't be more blessed by God if you go into a pretty church... and it doesn't make you any more holy. If you pray to God, he is not going to look first what your surroundings look like... no way, he looks straight at what is in your heart!

The beauty of a Church is the result of the beauty of its people. An empty people will have an empty church.

[Kamal900]

I'm thinking in joining the Greek Orthodox Christianity like many Levantine Christians are.