The other day I was attending a lecture by a scholar who is interested in architecture.

He spoke about why he considers façades to be the most important aspect of architecture given that this is what gets projected outward into the public realm.

Perhaps there is something neighbourly and civic-minded in this view.

Still, upon reflection, I think that the beauty of houses, buildings, tombs, and churches depends largely on the reverence shown toward what is inside.

The beauty of the home depends on reverence for the family who resides there.

The beauty of a building, with offices, for example, depends on reverence for the dignity of work being done there.

The beauty of graves depends on the reverence we have for the bodies we place in them.

And the beauty of churches depends on the reverence we have for God Himself, for the sacraments, for mysteries of the faith.

Beauty depends on reverence.