October 23, 2012. Birthday in Leon

I just returned from an amazing birthday celebration outside a small cafe near the great cathedral. About fifteen of my camino friends planned this, complete with a piece of birthday cake with two candles lit: a candle in the shape of a "five" and another in the shape of a "six"; hence, fifty six years old !!!! I even got some gifts.
This is an amazing group of people from a variety of countries and cultures. And I love them for the care they have given me, I being the elder of the group.
This journey is an amazing one because of the people and their very large hearts.
I sat on the cathedral being enveloped by history, architecture and phenomenal stained-glass windows. When listening to the story of the cathedral through a hand-held audio component, I was deeply moved by passion and faith that guided the process of construction in the 13th century and the massive renovations centuries later. But was one sentence that captured the purpose and mission of this grand cathedral: "it is only when the cathedral is filled with people worshipping at the Eucharist that the true beauty of the space comes alive." This is a loose translation but comes very close to the exact wording.
People wonder at why the external stained glass or extensive architecture or the expense involved in such a building of worship? Why spend all this money when it could go to feeding the poor? My hope is that the building can transform those who enter through prayer and worship into people who want to live out Matthew 25 more concretely. Thomas Merton had a moment of deep conversion when sitting in a beautiful church. His witness alone makes it all worth it.
There is a difference between beauty and ostentatious, overly extravagant ornamentation. The cathedral I sit in is simple and beautiful: beautifully simple or simply beautiful.
But the true beauty is found in the people worshipping at the Eucharist. A beautiful cathedral is only a museum without people worshipping TODAY, in the present. The purpose of all beautiful art and architecture is to transform the human soul into rich "soil" for God's Love to take root. Buen camino. Padre