The visual image of an empty church, especially a majestic church, a European Cathedral, tells the compelling story many of us find ourselves in in N America. J R Rozko, who redid my blog here a couple weeks ago (thanks a million JR!!) used the picture of an empty church in Toronto as the new header.  I don’t know the name of the church. But it is a symbol of what has become commonplace in both Canada and the northern United States. The exceptions are the mega church facilities, which are becoming few and far between in Canada (except for maybe Alberta) and are, I would argue, only a few generations from the same fate in the United States (at least the north that is). I could go on here about mega churches and their role in bringing about this state of affairs, but I leave that for yet another post.

These are the images of our time. In the YouTube video below, Father Robert Barron comments on the empty churches in Europe (HT here). He delivers a compelling challenge at the end. I thought I’d put it here in thanks to Rozko for his hard work on my blog, and the haunting reminder of the new situation we are in that now heads this blog. Thanks also to Nathan Colquhoun (and his storyboard solutions) for all his help on this blog over the years. What do you think about Barron’s theories about European culture, history and the empty churches? How far away are we from following the same history in N America? (I’m away in Canada for some R&R so my interactions may be sparse).