Today, I thought we might spend a few moments considering what we mean when we talk about “Spirituality”. For a Catholic, what does it mean to be spiritual? Often, people say that they are spiritual but not religious, what does that mean? I should add, here, that the genesis for this talk is two-fold. First, this is definitely a question I am preparing to answer on my upcoming ordination exam but it is also timely during Lent because the 3 devotions that Our Lord asks us to rededicate ourselves to are: prayer, fasting, and alms. The first one, prayer, has to do directly with our inner spirituality.

The Church in her graciousness has provided us with a clear set of guidelines for how to love God: Go to mass on Sundays, follow the 10 commandments, go to confession when in mortal sin, abstain from meat on Fridays, that sort of thing. However, if I am simply following the teaching of the Church, that is only the starting point; each Christian is individually known and loved by Our Lord, if you were the only person on earth, Jesus would have died on the cross just to save you. God desires a relationship with us and so for the Christian, spirituality is deeply personal and it is lived out of the individual dignity of each human being. We come together as the Body of Christ but we do so with our own personalities and spiritual gifts.

So, what is Catholic Spirituality? It is growth in personal holiness. The Second Vatican Council makes a universal call to holiness. It is not only monks, nuns, and priests who are to be holy. All of us are, too! Through baptism, each of us has a priestly identity. We have died with Christ and risen with him, in everything we do we carry him with us: work, family, suffering, and friendships. When we come to mass, we bring that whole experience with us and we essentially as a group place the outside world upon our altar and consecrate it through prayer. Our spirituality is individual but always, through love, looks to give itself away.

Spirituality is living the mystery of Christ, becoming like him, being filled with grace and the Holy Spirit. It is the science of applying the Gospel to Christian Life. A spiritual person will attempt to make every action and interior thought align with the Gospel. How can I be a Godly employee? How can I be a Father to my children in the same kind of way that God is a Father to me?

Now, spirituality is a science, meaning that it has broad explanatory power in the Christian life and it has methods. There are many schools of spirituality, none is better than another. The grace of the Holy Spirit doesn’t destroy who we are and make us robots, but He enlivens us just as we are with our personality quirks and all. So, you may not understand Jesuit Spiritual exercises but you may love St. Therese’s Little Way. You may not care for Lectio Divina but cannot get enough of the Benedictine spirituality of work. You may not be a mystic contemplative, but love the Liturgy of the Hours. There are many, many schools of spirituality; many tools to use in our pilgrimage towards holiness.

The basis, though, the common denominator is going to be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, Scripture, and faithfulness to the teachings of the Church. Here is why. The teachings of the Church are like the boundaries, within is all freedom but without is danger. The Church shows us how to use right reason for a good life. Spirituality goes beyond natural life, though, and seeks God himself, it seeks holiness and the imitation of Christ. For this, what better basis than the Mass where Our Lord gives himself directly to us? Or the sacraments, where we receive the grace of the Holy Spirit? Or the Scriptures, which reveal to us the Living Word? Spirituality will start with these and never leave them. Whatever devotions we may have, they do not obscure the Mass but lead us to it. Vatican 2 teaches that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. It is the God’s best gift. Knowing this, it becomes clear that claiming to be spiritual but not religious is impossible. You cannot be spiritual without religion, because religion is the source of spirituality! Without religion, spirituality is lost and selfish and lazy.

If you want to make progress in the spiritual life, first find God in the mass, and then take what you have received into your whole life. Study the Scriptures. Use the tools that are provided in these different schools of spirituality. In such a way do we take our place in the pilgrim Church and come to know God personally as Lord better and better every day until finally we may by his mercy stand in his very presence.