Oh ye, disgrunted Catholics, I feel your pain too well…read more
When you were a kid, you went to church. You didn't want to, and you weren't quite sure why (especially since some weeks your parents left angrier than before), but you went. Maybe not every week, but most weeks. Your mind was a little sponge, so it soaked up all the repetitions of Catholic Mass, week after week, for years. For a while it seemed you could do a better job than the priest. Sure you didn't really comprehend what was being said, or think about it all that much, and those homilies read from a pre-written script seemed boring and unrelatable, but you put up with it. Maybe because your parents threatened you with discipline, but probably because you got to do something fun afterwards and you didn't want to spoil it.
But then something happened. Puberty. Church went from being boring to sucking, big time. What's that old man have to tell me about my life? There's no way anyone here could feel how I feel. The Catholic Church isn't exactly built for teenagers. Repetitions, hymns, conservative thought...the perfect mix to rebel against. So for one reason or another, you stopped going. Sure, sometimes you'd go with your family on Christmas or Easter just to shut them up, but now mass was something to be suffered through, a constant reminder of how you just wanted to break free of everything you grew up around. It was time to branch out, to try other things, be someone different.
Flash forward to current day. You're older, you're wiser, you're done with your rebellion stage. You've thought about giving church another shot, but you don't know where to start. Your mind keeps going back to those boring days at church with the priest reading off of a piece of paper that he didn't even write. You still remember all the songs and responses, but you don't want it to be an empty vessel. You need spiritual guidance, and you need to feel connected to what is happening and the people around you.
Well my friend, do I have a place for you. The Catholic Student Center at Washington University. What's that? You're not a student? You didn't even go to Wash U? Well, I won't tell anyone if you don't :) But seriously, having a formal connection to the university is NOT a requirement for attending. Yes, the chapel was built for Wash U students, and is located on the campus, but the church is welcoming to people of all faiths, backgrounds, and ages. When it is all said and done, it is another parish in the vast spider web of the St. Louis Archdiocese.
When I was going through a period of discernment in my 20's, I lived in south city. There were Catholic churches as far as the eye could see. So I tried them all out, at least a dozen, maybe more. A couple of them stuck for a little while, but ultimately left me feeling empty. So I decided to look at churches connected to colleges or universities. SLU was the obvious choice, but Wash U was closest to me, so I tried that out first.
I never made it to SLU.
I found spiritual fulfillment and a place where I belong at the CSC, and I recognized it instantly. This is a place where people go out of their way to make you feel connected. It's easy to make new friends, and the atmosphere is one where there is a sense of action. Things are always happening. Events are being planned, students are going on service trips, speakers are coming in to talk. The priest, Father Gary Braun, is not just a good priest, he is a good person. The Catholic Church is blessed that he chose the ministry instead of any number of other vocations, and there have been many occasions where I feel his homilies have saved my spiritual life.
The CSC is always welcoming, but focuses on the students. In fact, many of the non-students who attend do so because of the CSC's reputation of being open to all people and taking faith seriously. The first time I attended, I questioned whether I was visiting an actual Catholic church. What's this, people interacting with each other??? Uptempo songs??? A priest talking to you as though you're a real person???
Some of the best people I've met in my adult life have been through the CSC. These are good hearted people with an open mind, who found at the CSC what they couldn't find at any other parish. It's importance to the Catholic community cannot be overstated, and I am forever grateful that I found it at the time I did. I still attend Mass on a weekly basis, and it's almost always filled with people, sometimes spilling outside the chapel. The space has recently been renovated and looks and feels like an actual chapel now, with all the layout and accoutrements you'd expect for a church associated with a high dollar university. But none of that really matters to me. They could hold Mass in a refrigerator box and I'd still attend.
If you're lost spiritually, give the CSC a chance. It just might save your soul.
