Upper Room now open

I am thrilled to finally announce the completion of a project that has been long in the planning and even longer in the dreaming. This Wednesday, SMU Catholic will officially dedicate the new Theological Education Resource Center at the Neuhoff Catholic Student Community Center. Thanks to the generous support of three charitable foundations and many individuals, the “Upper Room” as its already being called, is now home to an inviting and versatile atmosphere designed to accommodate many of the faith-learning and faith-sharing programs sponsored by our community on campus.

Don’t take my word for it. Please come see for yourself. All are invited to join in the dedication of the Upper Room on Wednesday, October 17 at 4:00 p.m. A short program will include a prayer of blessing and expressions of gratitude for all involved in making this happen.

The space is decked out in warm tones and bright light perfect for quiet study, group meetings, and our weekly /101/ mini-courses.  New computers, an LCD projector, sound system and a screen will accommodate most technological needs for presentations or movie nights. Just about everything in the room is on wheels making it ready for everything else we haven’t thought of yet, too.

A central feature of the room is its small lending library of titles chosen to help everyone from the moderately curious to the majorly confused (I’m usually both) continue asking big questions about life, God and how we fit together. Here are some examples of what you’ll find, just to name a few of the 200 new titles:
•    A Retreat With C. S. Lewis: Yielding to a Pursuing God
•    Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
•    Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are with What We Buy
•    The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
•    Does the Bible Really Say That? Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture
•    What Jesus Said and Why It Matters Now
•    When a Catholic Marries a Non-Catholic
•    Facing Forgiveness: A Catholic's Guide to Letting Go of Anger and Welcoming Reconcilation

The Resource Center and its library represent a vital supplement to our life together.  After all, the study of our Catholic faith is really the study of our life together – a life focused on following Jesus in the midst of our everyday blessings and challenges. None of these books have all the answers but many are filled with the kinds of questions pondered since Jesus called the first disciples, ones sure to lead us to a life richly and authentically lived.