The word Restoration covers a vast array of items: from book binding to the forest, from shattered nerves to rundown neighborhoods, from buildings to suburbs, things most dear to us in life deserve restoring. Why? Because they decay from the injury of time, use and abuse.
Among things worth restoring, perhaps, the gold medal goes to Christian culture, which gave birth to a nostalgic book by Dr. John Senior, as he was witnessing the rapid dilapidating of the rich heritage of past Greco- Roman Culture.
Church restoration, then, applies to the physical temple which used to be center stage in Christian ages, and this, because the sanctuary elevated man above his menial surroundings and especially above himself. In church, man was in contact with the divine, the supernatural and the eternal. Seen from this sublime vantage point, all human problems shrunk and turned into a prayer, another reason to trust in God alone. In times of distress, plague and war, the whole town instinctively would find refuge in the church, ready to die there rather than give up one inch, as recurring persecutions proved it up to the present day.
In the context of a parish, the church itself is not merely a valuable real estate property, it is a family treasure filled with memories of ineffable joys and sufferings. It is an heirloom thick with generations where grandparents were buried, where children worshiped and got married and brought the grandchildren to the baptismal font. Is it to be wondered, then, that our own faithful are dearly attached to their physical temples and wish to insure their persistence and beauty for their own offspring in the next decades to come?
Also In This Issue:
• Letter from the District Superior
• Honoring Our Past: St. Vincent's in KC
• Interview with Fr. Michael Goldade
• News & Photos from the District
