How and Why Being Catholic is an Art

I am a convert to the Catholic branch of Christianity, from another branch, so my perspective may be a little different. I find that being Catholic is like being a classical artist or architect: Much of the material each one works with is common and earthy: paper, pen, pigment, canvas, or clay for the artist; suffering and the little acts of daily life for the Catholic. Yet the aim in both cases is transform these common materials, creating beauty from them—for the Catholic, beginning in your own life, and spreading out from there. In both cases, you have become part of something far bigger than yourself, however well or poorly you play your own small part. There are great examples to be inspired by: great classical art and architecture in the one case; the saints, beginning with Mary, and great Catholics we may know, in the other. You have to practice constantly if you want to succeed: your art for the artist; and for the Catholic, prayer, which is our supernatural access to God; attending Mass, a quiet miracle God shares with us that passes on the divine life; the practices of fasting, helping the poor, and making sacrifices; reading the Bible and the great writings of the Church; and attempts to practice virtue. Although in both cases there is a pattern to follow and a tradition to be part of, yet in both cases our own contribution will be completely individual, reflecting the unique personality of each artist, each Catholic responding to the unique circumstances around him or her. (The word “person” came into the world through the Church.) Finally, only a few will create masterpieces that will astound the world, but all are called to share in the making of beauty.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that you will never be considered an artist unless you have an innate talent along with the drive to succeed. However, anyone can become a Catholic: it just takes acceptance of a grace we do not deserve, and God promises to help us make a work of art, however imperfect, from our lives. No life is too humdrum, boring, low-down, broken, or impoverished to provide the raw material for a Catholic masterpiece. It is never too late to start: no one has made such a mess of their lives that they cannot, like the dying thief on the cross, turn to Jesus and ask for that grace: “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (I am sure I myself am more like that thief than I am like Mother Teresa, who used her time as an “artist” to create incredible beauty.) Prostitutes, murderers, and torturers are welcome. Like all of us, of course, they must pay the entry “ticket” of real repentance and reliance on grace alone for the salvation Christ earned us, but they are just as welcome as nice, socially-refined millionaire CEOs (who owe the same free ticket at the gate).

Becoming Catholic means coming into the Catholic Church (there is no authentic lone-wolf Catholicism). Salvation, although it can be expressed in many ways, is just that. The Catholic Church is like some great cathedral that takes a lifetime to know well—but is well worth even a short visit. (It is full of sinners, and at first glance it may appear terribly ugly, but it is also the “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.”) Like the great Cathedral of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, it is both very old and still being built—and we get to help. Being saved means being brought in, as a building stone, and made a part of that great spiritual cathedral that is the Church. The stones that adorn it vary from Michelangelo’s “Pieta” to Gothic gargoyles to simple but well-carved rectangular blocks of limestone. For those of us who have made it our home, we sing with David, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;/ I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Ps. 84.)

This blog is a very preliminary and personal approach to the art, and adventure, of being Catholic. I plan to add more, from varying perspectives. We will see how it goes. One thing I plan to do very soon is to add a lot of links to books, blogs, poetry, and great art that share more about the adventure than I ever can alone.

But, in line with my personal approach, I recommend to those interested my first two substantial posts, below, the first on why I became a Catholic, and the second a guided Bible study on the theological issue of "justification," or, "how we are saved."