Here we are just passed the midpoint of summer; and we hear the scriptures speaking of heat exhaustion and crowd defections. Surely, this summer we can hardly blame the heat as a major cause of distress and distraction.

Surely, there are those who grow nauseated by the themes of the homily or the tone of the homilist. Some will prefer to stay home and read the Sunday paper and drink gourmet coffee on their decks.

Others will sweat through every beastly Sunday morning with frowns on their face and beads of perspiration cascading from their brows. I remember one of my previous summers here in Eastham, when the heat had become so hot and the church closed up so tight; not only did it feel and smell like a sauna, but the candles were bent over like some kind of acrobat with a slipped disc.

Women complained about what the humidity was doing to their hair, and all the extra hair spray they needed. The men did not talk; because men do not talk about their most embarrassing moments like the Varnish Vexation, a condition which literally ripped the pants off even the most pious men.

25 years ago was the hottest August on record with temperatures well over 100 for several days. Many of these more than century old churches have pews that have never been refinished. The excessive heat softens the old varnish until it becomes a trap for the unsuspecting male pew-sitter. When the opening hymn signals the congregation to rise.

At that point the varnish attacks the seat of the pants like a million sticky fingers. The sound reverberating through the church sounds like the separation of Velcro. Women and children are terrified as the cacophony echoes from the arched ceilings to the tile floors in perfect acoustical harmony. And every man's face is crimson with embarrassment.

What is the point, that all churches should be air conditioned. It might help, but the real point, I raise is why do we come to Church? Yes, it is an obligation, it is something that we owe to God; but how much more he gives us in return. Jesus seeks to satisfy our hungers as much as he did the crowds in the gospel.

And like the crowds in the gospel we murmur and complain and often miss out on what Jesus offers for us to receive:

1. a sense of God's empowering presence 2. a place where God is worshipped and exalted 3. a place where long-lasting relationships/commitment are encouraged 4. where one is spiritually fed with God's word and Eucharist and one another's presence 5.where people search for repentance and a change of life, and experience God's serenity and mercy 6. where people reach out to bring the gospel to others by personal testimony of what God has done in my life. 7. where generosity and stewardship is fostered not by begging for money but by a response to the formation from the above.

If these are the genuine hungers of people today we have much need for soul searching. You (I) may not agree with the order of this list; but we can hardly disagree that everything on the list is gospel rooted.

There may be things for which you (I) hunger and others for which we must provide the food for feeding. To one degree or another we are responsible and no one is exempt from accountability.

So whenever it is possible we should air condition our churches, but when it is not possible, we will attempt to understand the human condition that does not adapt well to overcrowding and overheating. We will understand when people come to church in attire for survival, not for disrespect; but above all, we will understand that we come to worship and not to murmur and drive away, perhaps, those who are most in need of being here.