Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 189 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 189 - Part I. How does the liturgy affect the spaces in which we live?

(Youcat answer) By his victory, Christ has penetrated all places in the world. He himself is the true Temple, and the worship of God “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24) is no longer bound up with a particular place. Nevertheless, the Christian world is filled with churches and sacred signs, because men need specific places in which to meet and signs to remind them of this new reality. Every house of God is a symbol for our heavenly Father’s house, to which we are journeying.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1179) The worship "in Spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:24) of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the "living stones," gathered to be "built into a spiritual house" (1 Pet 2:4-5). For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth: incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, "we are the temple of the living God" (2 Cor 6:16). 

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Certainly one can pray anywhere - in the forest, on the beach, in bed. But since we men are not merely spiritual but also have a body, we need to see, hear, and feel one another; we need a specific place if we want to meet so as to be the Body of Christ; we must kneel down if we want to worship God; we must eat the transformed bread when it is offered; we must set our bodies in motion when he calls us. And a cross on the roadside will remind us of who owns the world and where our journey is taking us.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1180) When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted (Cf. DH 4), Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply gathering places but signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ.  

(This question: How does the liturgy affect the spaces in which we live? is continued)