Becoming “Point B” Catholics

Catholicism has often been referred to as a “big tent” religion because of its ability to accommodate a relatively broad spectrum of spiritual practice and faith expression. A running joke gets at the idea this way: when Protestants disagree, they start a new denomination; when Catholics disagree, we start a new religious order. This “bend-but-don’t-break” quality is a rich part of our 2000 year-old heritage. It means that a diverse collection of people throughout history have practiced the same Catholic faith, yet looked very differently doing it.

Today at SMU, this is no less true. Some Catholics come to college from families where devotional prayers like the rosary or special petitions to saints are a regular part of their spiritual life.  Others arrive having developed a strong commitment to community service and social action.  Still others are attracted to the depth and breadth of the Church’s intellectual tradition. It might be that you are hardcore pro-life and sidewalk prayer outside an abortion clinic is what you do in your spare time. Or maybe you are a die-hard justice and peace advocate and getting arrested at the School of the Americas is an annual rite. Or maybe the “smells and bells” of a high mass are your thing – the more incense and Latin, the better. All of these practices can be authentic fruits of an active spiritual life and helpful for living a mature adult faith.

But maybe you’re like the majority of us, just barely making it to Mass most Sundays amidst hectic lives where we make time for serious prayer about as often as we make it to the gym, which, if you are like me, is embarrassingly not often. 

Our challenge is to recognize that which ever one of the above descriptions happens to be our starting point – call it “My Point A” – our goal must be to build upon it and strive toward a fuller, deeper encounter of Jesus in our life, thereby constantly moving from My Point A to some new Point B.  The sign that we are following Jesus is the continual conversion of our heart as we grow more aware of the grace of God that surrounds our life everyday.  Life as followers of Jesus must be marked by ongoing transformation as we learn to place our lives – the lofty and the ordinary, the sorrow and the joy – before Jesus.

When we begin to see our faith life characterized by what we are becoming, rather than what we are doing, there is a benefit to the whole community.  Tired labels used to describe one another like, “conservative” and “liberal”, “traditional” and “progressive” lose their usefulness in a hurry.  They no longer create factions among those who are seeking the same thing: an authentic and intimate relationship with Jesus that brings meaning and purpose to all that we are. The goal of SMU Catholic is not to build up the “Catholic clique” at SMU. It is not to get as many Catholics as possible doing the same Catholic things at the Catholic Center on any given day. Our goal is to invite everyone under the tent to become transformed by the presence of the Living God.  When ongoing conversion is the common denominator, then no matter what our starting point is today, we are always being called together by Jesus toward a new Point B.