How do we build a church today without any walls

The piece below is the 'Thinking Anew' column, which appears in today's Irish Times.

Michael Commane
The late Leona Helmsley is reputed to have said: “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes”. The one-liner was identified with her for the rest of her life. No, she did not say it in public. At her trial her housekeeper said she overheard her saying it to someone.

The really rich, the people with “old money”, never talk about their wealth. Indeed, to do so would be the height of impropriety, ignorant too.

Money makes the world go round. Style, learning, sophistication, knowledge, almost all the good things of life are in some way or other linked to money. Or are they? Our schools, our universities, our health system, everything is in some way or other linked to the money that is available to do things.

People with money in their pocket can go to the dentist and have their teeth cared for. That cannot be a high priority for someone who is struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. At present in Ireland you can have a tooth extracted for free but you pay to protect it.

Analysts point out that the recent budget was kinder to the rich than to the poor. The churches play an important role in charitable works caring for the poor and less privileged. And so they should. It is a central part of the mission of the Christian message. The briefest of readings of the New Testament will show how Jesus goes out of his way to care for the poor and marginalised. And yet most churches are extremely wealthy organisations. The corporate wealth of the Catholic Church at a national and international level is simply mind-boggling. What gigantic sums would an audit of the Irish churches discover?

On the one hand the churches talk about the dangers of riches and on the other they are sitting on extraordinary wealth. And no matter how the churches try to avoid the issue, it is something that never goes away. But everything to do with money and riches is part of the air we breathe. To say otherwise is turning our faces away from reality. It’s attempting to play down the all-encompassing role that riches play in the world in which we live.

The churches are materialistic? Of course they are. Look at their finance portfolios.

In tomorrow’s Gospel (John 2: 13 — 22) on the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, we see the old chestnut turn up again. Buildings and wealth and commerce versus the spirit of the individual person. Jesus runs the money-changers out of the temple and explains that his programme is not about elegant buildings, rather about the soul of the person.

Immediately one can argue that the soul of humanity is often symbolised in architecture and other forms of human creativity – all depending on wealth to create or make.

It was 25 years ago that the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. It cost millions to build and maintain and yet it was the spirit of the people that caused its collapse. 

It’s far too glib to talk about people turning their back on wealth and money. The wealthiest person in the world can also be a profoundly spiritual person. Or can they? It’s dangerous to romanticise any aspect of poverty. And yet one has to admire great philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie and Chuck Feeney.

Maybe all we can do to celebrate tomorrow’s readings is to take a deeper look at the distribution of the wealth of the world, the wealth in Ireland. It’s most unlikely that anyone will say they are overpaid or that they have too much money. But we all know that there are far too many people who are not allowed reach their human potential because of the lack of resources. And that is totally contrary to the Gospel message.

As long as one person is denied basic human living conditions, how can we ever talk realistic words about the Gospel? It’s so easy to talk pious words, clichéd sentiments about the Word of God.

How at all do we or can we come to terms with tomorrow’s Gospel?