A big tent

I have never forgotten an address given at the SJU commencement ceremony several years ago by a friend of mine, Tom Beaudoin. He challenged the graduates to remember that one of the best aspects of the Catholic Church was that it was "catholic" or universal. He described all the types of believers who claim to belong to this church and said "thank God there is room for all of them under this big tent." Lately, his words seem to be falling on deaf ears. We spend more time trying to push each other out from under the tent than we do living the gospel message of welcome, respect and love for one another. This past weekend while celebrating mass in the Twin Cities, I did a quick scan of the congregation. On one side of the church was a young couple, the wife obviously new to the English language because the man next to her was helping her to navigate the liturgy with a small booklet he held in front of her. It was touching to see them trying to participate and when (I assume) she would make a mistake, they would giggle. Toward the back of the church was a very unhappy looking elderly man who, before mass, had come up to a group of us and asked if we took communion in the hand. When I told him we did, he replied that the sisters had taught him as a child, if this ever happened, he would go to hell. His comments reminded me of how much similiar teachings were being carried into the church and how much unnecessary torment some of us shoulder when we come before God. Finally, my eye caught the group of confirmation students who were there on retreat that day. One of them, in the very front row, looked as though he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. He just looked tired, unhappy and unconvinced this was the right place to be but (again, I assume) he didn't have much choice. All three of these people, sitting in different parts of the church were obviously the extremes...many who filled in the spaces around them blended into one presence...but it reminded me of how diverse we are as a church and how wonderful that is...the voice of God calling us from wherever we are in body, mind or spirit to this conversion of heart, this rebirth, this new life. Those three people helped me appreciate the unity of Faith, not the factions that we seem to be fixated on these days. The church could be this great unifying reality in our world that seems so hopelessly splintered if only we would focus on what brings us together rather than what differentiates my understanding of belief from yours.