TEN OBSERVATIONS ABOUT CATHOLICISM FOR THOSE NEW TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE (9 of 10) 

Sometimes, I confess, I hate this about other humans. Notice, I did not say that I hate people. The behavior of each one of us comes from the assumptions and priorities we assume as meaningful. I doubt that anyone does anything that they think is harmful to themselves. Even the seemingly stark and difficult path of being Catholic is meaningful only to those who have embraced its more celebrated nuances. The map of Teilhard de Chardin (unattributed) provides a framework of reasoning (by far not my only one) that helps me see that my 84.11 years on earth, while not even a drip in the bucket of time, is my time to discover that deeper part of my humanity and seek to fulfill my destiny, even through it is couched in the ambiguity and downright contradictions of original sin. Christ does what he says he will do and expects me to do the same. And this goes for any religion or human transaction, for that matter, my worth is determined by my doing what I say I will do. Catholicism means I pledge to continue to grow deeper in Christ Jesus (capasitas dei) by abandoning the promises of the world to make me happy. I must dig daily to keep Christ centered because Satan is like “…a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”

ONE CONVERSION IS NOT ENOUGH. I MUST TAKE UP MY CROSS DAILY AND FOLLOW IN THE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS OF CHRIST.

Christ is not only the answer to my deepest yearnings of my heart, but the only principle upon which I can rely to get me to heaven. If my Catholic Faith is like gold buried deeper in my humanity, then I must dig to extract it. Prayer becomes my shovel and pick. The point is, Christ gives me the instruments to dig and tells me where the treasure like (within the upper room of my inner self), but it is up to me to dig. Lest I just rely on my human strength to dig, Christ through the Holy Spirit overshadows me with energy that is not of this world, so that I have the stamina and stick-to-itiveness

Here is my ninth observation about Catholicism. Being Catholic is like standing on top of the earth and being happy with that, but making the additional step to always grow deeper. See Teilhard map (unattributed).

Each Eucharist on Sunday, we say the Creed to remind ourselves of what I said I would do at Baptism. It starts with the singular or personal “I believe in God….”. I repeat this over and over during my lifespan because each day is a lifetime unto itself. Eucharist is not just a rule that I must not break, but the way I am present to God by listening to the Word, offering myself once more as needing mercy, and receiving the very same body and blood that walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee those many years ago. Catholicism is the way because Christ is The Way.

Notice on the Teilhard map the two dimensions of reality, ongoing complexity, and consciousness as time moves all of us forward. Even though the Catholic Church is the repository of what is true, I am the one who says, “I believe in God…”. There is only One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism, and I am the only Catholic in space and time that takes that Christ revealed and can actualize. The Catholic Church’s magisterium helps me keep from being too heretical.

I own 84.11 years of that Teilhard timeline. It is up to me to abandon my earthly self using humility and obedience to God (Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven), to make it real in my sandbox.

Prayer is my daily plea to help my unbelief (St. Thomas Aquinas). If you want what is easy rather than what is right, don’t choose this way of life.

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