Religion Realized: Midd alumni share spirituality and understanding of Catholicism

The origin of the word “Catholic” comes from two Greek words — kata and holos — which together mean “according to the whole” and over time has been more simply translated into “universal.”

With Christianity as the most practiced religious tradition in the world, and Catholicism as the most practiced branch, claiming over one billion worshippers, this definition is fitting. Its huge following is based on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the importance of faith, all organized under the Pope, Benedict XVI.

“[Catholic] is the universal church,” said future Diocesan priest Scottie Gratton ’09.

“You can go anywhere in the world and you can pray in a Catholic church and you will be doing the exact same thing that someone else is doing halfway around the world,” he said.

Along with strength of community, Catholicism derives much of its appeal from its rich history and spiritual ties to the past. “There’s a real deep, deep tradition in Catholicism and I love that,” said Gratton.

“There’s things that we do that have been happening for over 2,000 years; every single tradition has its purpose.”

Practices such as adoration and communion work to achieve success in the overall purpose of the spiritual search: to experience a fulfilling connection with God and a faith with the power to open up one’s mind and soul.

“I’ll go into the chapel for an hour,” said Gratton, “and they’ll put the Eucharist out … and I’ll just sit there and listen in silence: ‘What is God trying to tell me, what is Jesus speaking in my heart right now?’ There are just certain aspects of that in Catholicism that I love.”

But what does it mean to be Catholic?

“I kind of went through the motions for a lot of my years,” described Gratton of his spiritual journey into the Catholic faith, “and it was at Middlebury that I started studying other religious traditions and figuring out that there’s a real identity in them. It helps you get closer to God no matter where you are on the spectrum and I decided I really want to understand more about what Catholicism is and it was here that I really started to say, “What does it mean to be Catholic? Is it possible for me to be like that?”

Along with beliefs common to all Christian faiths, Catholicism specifically adheres to two principal beliefs that must be accepted by all members of the Catholic Church. The first is belief in the Holy Trinity — that God is unified in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The second is the belief that Christ has a true presence in the sacrament of communion, or the Eucharist.

“When the priest changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, there is such a deep and profound sensation that you get when that happens …

There’s so much power to be received from it.”

The existence of the Eucharist is a huge part of what sets Catholicism apart from other sects of Christianity, that Jesus is physically present on earth in a “mysterious” way.

“Believing in [the Eucharist] does not mean you have to fully understand it,” explained Marie Lucci ’08.5, “because no one really can.”

Though these beliefs are essential to the Catholic faith, there is more to being Catholic than prayer and scripture. As true supporters of the creed “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” much of what Catholics identify with is the concept of giving back to the world community and, through that, creating a personal connection with God.

“It’s one thing to go to church every Sunday and say you’re Catholic,” said Gratton, “but there’s so much more out there. It was when I actually started doing things with the Church and helping people out that I realized how much I loved Catholicism and how much I just grew in love with God from it.”

Catholics see vocation as a calling from God, with deliberation under the principles of faith and reason. Much like wedding vows, one must make a vow to dedicate his or her life’s work to God.

Despite the complexity and enormity of the Catholic Church, Lucci has founded her faith on a personal and spiritual level.

In Catholicism, the call to action is a critical moment in the religious journey. For most, that call may be married life, but for Lucci, it is the sisterhood. At the early age of 15, she attended a youth conference where she first felt drawn to religious life.

“It was literally just like a moment,” said Lucci.

“It just felt like this inner hunger, this inner desire to do something bigger than myself, and this wanting to respond in a full, total way. It felt like that was the answer.”

Lucci is currently preparing to become a nun in an order in Spain, where she will also become involved with religious education programs. Once with the order, she will live a modest lifestyle under the three vows of the Catholic clergy: poverty, chastity and obedience. But to Lucci, her religion is more than just a set of rules and beliefs.

“It becomes a way of life, so what I believe of God’s love has to affect my life.”

This way of life is not an easy one. Lucci will be living in Spain indefinitely, and she must leave her friends and family life for a new one in her religious order. But Lucci sees the order as an opportunity to give her service and passion to a wider community by becoming “a sister to the world.”

The road to religious life is a long one, and despite the liberal nature of a Middlebury education, Lucci’s college experience helped her to question and ultimately confirm her religious aspirations.

“I was willing to put the intellectual side of studying ‘liberal things’ to the test,” she explained. “Does my faith hold up to that?”

And so far, Lucci’s faith has. Throughout her time at Middlebury College, Lucci tried to experience what it meant to be Catholic on a secular campus. In her endeavors, she became friends with a rabbi, tried out the dating scene and explored her education just like any other college student. The call to the sisterhood was always in the back of her mind, but she had come to Middlebury with the intention to keep her options open to other opportunities.

“A vocation is not something like a train — if you don’t get on, you’re going to miss it,” she said.

“A vocation is more like a natural spring. As you’re standing near it, you start seeing the water rising.”

After grappling with the choice between a traditional love life and the religious service, Marie made the ultimately difficult decision to travel abroad to an order where she will be completely immersed in her commitment to the three vows, as well as the strong community the order provides.

Though a vocation can be a very personal choice, Lucci sometimes feels as though hers is out of her control and in the hands of God.

“Looking back on my life, I keep seeing the same patterns and if I’m reading them kind of right, that’s who I am,” Lucci said.

Fully aware of the gravity of her decision to join a religious order, Lucci explained that the fulfillment she will experience while in God’s service is one she could not obtain in any other facet of her life and that, in the end, it will be more than worth the sacrifice.