The Cathedral is beautiful as a building, but there are many beautiful buildings around. To be a beautiful building is not the primary purpose of a church. Churches are about awakening within us our sense of the presence of God. This building, the Cathedral, is just an instrument of His presence. By its location, architecture, artistry, and magnificence, the Cathedral as a building was masterfully designed to point people to the Father.
 
One of the great gifts of the Catholic faith is that it isn’t about a building, it’s about a person—a relationship with Jesus Christ. Buildings can help us develop that relationship. God is present in the Cathedral. He touches people there. This building is one of His instruments—a very special one—and one that we ought to be proud of and use well.
 
Buildings come and go, but their visuals, signs, and symbols can remind us what we’re all about—the relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
What we hope to do first through the restoration, then through the development of living ministry that extends beyond the Cathedral walls, is to lift hearts for more than a moment. Our goal is to encourage people to open their hearts to God more fully, and continue—or begin—their faith journey. We’re not interested in decorating a museum. Instead, we’re working to create a living, inspiring center of life-changing ministry.
 
My hope is that we can undertake some elements as part of this project that will encourage this to be a living place. Those could include the development of opportunities for sacred music beyond those we currently enjoy, and expanded outreach to the poor—a part of our mission which calls for greater attention.
 
I would hope that once we finish this project we will have an extraordinarily beautiful building which will be used in the appropriate ways to unite us as Catholics and encourage us—and the larger community—to deepen our relationship with Christ.