Religion and the Good of the City

REPORT 1: THE CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE CITY 9 The way the historical understanding of the doctrine of the church, the ecclesia, framed its par- ticular ways of holding together the true, the good (including social justice), and the beautiful had disappeared from their consciousness. [...] And the Christian home would be robbed of moments of annunciation, those moments that arise in our life whenever we welcome the stranger and hear the human story, moments revealed to us in the narrative of Abraham and Sarah when they welcomed the three strangers who lingered by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 13). [...] Do faithful communities also have a capacity and a responsibility, on behalf of the whole of the city, to provide the beauty of holiness in the places of worship they build and for the encounters within its precincts? [...] Chrysostom tells us that “art is given to us by God so we may hold the world together.” A renewed sense of this public vocation of churches enhances the life of all, whether they simply pass by on the street and give a moment’s attention to the loveliness of a church or enter and hear and see and dwell in the presence of beauty in word, song, music, painting, sculpture, and all the other ways Chri [...] This would be a new way to express the understanding that lies at the heart of our religious traditions: that churches exist for the life of the world, and that through this understanding the faithful live as friends to all—including “the least of these my brothers and sisters.” REPORT 1: THE CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE CITY 13 RENEWAL IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE: A BIBLI