The entrance to La Sagrada Familia.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill."
—Mark 5:17
A pillar of La Sagrada Familia showing a tortoise supporting a spiraling stone pillar.
The Barcelona sun’s warm rays graced the 500 plus foot steeples guiding my eyes to the blue April skies above. My wife, Jackie, and I stepped forward on line as we awaited our turn to enter La Sagrada Família. From an ancient tortoise holding up a tree-trunk-like pillar to a scene of Joseph sweetly teaching a perhaps six-year old Jesus in his carpenter’s shop—if this was just the outside of this amazing Cathedral, what would the inside be like? Jackie and I walked into what felt like a rose-lit forest– stone pillars not going straight but bending like branches to support the roof!
I could (and have) go on for hours about how beautiful not only La Sagrada Família is, but also how inspiring the work of its primary architect Antoni Gaudí is. Before my wife and I even thought about traveling to Barcelona, I knew practically nothing about Gaudí.
The inside pillars of La Sagrada Familia reaching up to the rose-lit ceiling like branches bending to support a strong forest canopy.
But as we planned and eventually explored the city for a week, we spent almost full days at his most prominent architectural masterpieces– Palau Guell, Park Guell, and of course La Sagrada Família. At each stop, I learned and felt inspired not only by his avant garde and artisanal mind, but also his spirituality. As an America Media writer put it, Gaudí’s personal Catholicism grew over time. And eventually, working on his final project La Sagrada Família, he would begin each day walking through Barcelona, going to confession, and then finally making his way to the construction site. When we visited his personal room that he spent the last part of his life in, I was amazed to find how simple it was. His bed, a kneeler to pray, and a wooden Crucifix. For someone who has such intricate feats of architecture, he lived his own life and faith with simple love and devotion.
A scene of stone from on the outside entrance of La Sagrada Familia depicting Joseph talking with a young Jesus in his carpentry workshop.
When I sat with today’s Gospel, the line that stuck out most to me was when Jesus assures both his followers and his critics, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” The laws were considered to help people keep a covenant with God, and Jesus was and is the true fulfillment of that covenant, that relational promise between God and God’s people. Jesus knows humans like and need structure and guidance. He himself was fully human as well as fully divine. I’m sure he liked things a certain way as well. And so, Jesus knew he was sent to build upon millenia of faith, history, and relationships between God and the people. Jesus honored the past, while pushing people toward the next step of love and relationship with God and with one another.
Pope Leo XIV has been visiting Spain this week, and it has been amazing to see his daily impact and teaching to the people of Spain. In addition, as you might know, he met with world-sensation Bad Bunny yesterday! But when I saw that Pope Leo was going to visit La Sagrada Família today, I couldn’t help but see its connection to today’s reading.
Antoni Gaudi's room where he lived much of the end of his life. Simply filled with just his bed, a nightstand, a chair, and a kneeler placed in front of a wooden Crucifix.
I only learned this week from Anthony R. Lusvardi, S.J. 's article in America that Gaudí inherited the work of building La Sagrada Família. When he came on, the crypt was still not finished, but still, it was begun without him, and he soon knew it would be finished without him. He did not demolish the previous builder’s work. He built upon it. Similarly, the teams of architects and builders worked for decades on finishing La Sagrada Família, trying to honor and interpret his groundwork and designs, while using modern engineering. Honoring the past, while building the future.
As my colleague pointed out when I described this to her, Pope Leo can be seen in a similar light to Pope Francis. In so many ways, Leo has honored and built upon the work Francis started—synodality, care for the poor, peace—while hearing the needs of today and responding as the Spirit leads him.
So, I leave you with my own questions as I think about this faithful builders—Jesus, Gaudí, and Leo: how can I build upon the gifts, faith, and love given to me, not abolish them and start fresh, but use them as a foundation for my own life and faith? How can I sow seeds of peace and faith that I may not see grow? And finally, how can I allow God to soften my sometimes hardened heart and allow me to see the beauty of the world and human-made wonders alongside one another?
Andrew Craig '17, MATM '19 is the Assistant Director of Communications and Operations for The Church in the 21st Century Center. He wrote the above reflection for Wednesday, June 10, 2026. It is shared with his permission.
Learn more about La Sagrada Familia here.
Read Pope Leo XIV's encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas here.
Learn more about Pray It Forward here.