EASTERTIDE 2025. During the 40 days leading up to Easter I had many conversations with Muslims and Catholics about the meaning of fasting and feasting. Giving up something, to gain something.  The Muslims who come to our parish through our refugee programs learnt that Ramadan and Lent coincided this year but that we have very different approaches towards this sacred time. Whereas the month of fasting means full days of denying drink and food that ends with a festive meal in the evening for our refugee guests, Catholics, on the other hand, tend to observe Lent by doing something extra, rather than by giving up food or drink. For example, working as a volunteer on a project to serve an individual or the community at large becomes more and more of a trend. Giving time and talents is becoming the new way of fasting. During this Holy Year Lenten season, I chose to dedicate some extra time to addressing the disheartening plan to close 60% of catholic churches in The Netherlands by 2030 so that the remaining 40% can stay open. I felt compelled to act to develop a sustainable plan to keep our churches open.  The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin granted a 75-minute private audience at his office in the apostolic palace to listen to the plan. The multifunctional use of church buildings in which the sacred and the secular meet in the doing of good creates opportunities. After all, St. Peter’s Basilica functions as a museum during the day. Under its magnificent roof, tourists and pilgrims meet with different motivations but what everybody has in common after leaving the church is a sense of awe. How are human beings capable of creating so much beauty through art and architecture? And what kind of thinking and events have sustained religion for so many centuries?...