God has said to us, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt. 6:21). In short, our Lord reminds us whatever we invest our treasure in is the true god or the God we worship, whether we acknowledge it or not. With this in mind, I believe it would be fruitful to reflect on two changes made to BC’s campus this past summer: the construction of the Margot Connell Recreation Center and the destruction of the student chapel in Cushing Hall.
The Rec. Center is undoubtedly a welcome addition to BC’s campus. For any student who suffered through the Plex’s cramped quarters, dark lighting, and lack of air conditioning, the new athletic complex is long overdue. Further, continuing to support athletics and heath contributes to BC’s “Jesuit, Catholic ideal of cura personalis, or care of the whole person,” as stated on the new center’s website.
We should realize, however, that any appeal to cura personalis is empty if all aspects of the person are not cared for in proportion to each aspect’s importance. It would clearly be unfitting for BC to be hyper-concerned with fostering good flossing habits in students if it did not first care about fostering good psychological habits, which are objectively more important. Likewise, if BC wishes to cite Jesuit values, it must realize that for Catholics, there is one aspect of the person that is paramount. St. Ignatius expresses this in the first sentence of his Spiritual Exercises: “Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.”
Unfortunately, at the same time BC was supposedly pursuing cura personalis by enabling students to take better care of their bodies by constructing a new athletic center, it was inhibiting them from taking better care of their souls by destroying the Cushing Chapel. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Cushing Chapel, similar to the Plex, was a place of cramped quarters, dark lighting, and no air conditioning. Despite these limitations, it was the most accessible chapel, so it was frequently used for Eucharistic Adoration or personal prayer. Instead of planning an updated chapel in the Schiller building (which will replace Cushing), BC gave up on the chapel altogether.
What does this mean for Catholic students at BC? Currently, student groups have only one chapel on main campus to book for Masses, Eucharistic adoration, or prayer services: St. Joseph’s. Although one chapel in itself would not be scandalous, this chapel is in the basement of a freshman dorm located on the extremities of campus. It boasts walls of mostly whitewashed drywall and a cheap carpet. The few aspects that designate the room as a chapel include a movable altar and tabernacle and unembellished, single-color priestly vestments that are outshined by most of the congregation’s outfits.
Catholics, and therefore Jesuits, claim this chapel as the temple of Christ the King Who dwells in the tabernacle; however, even the most unimpressive section of the Rec. Center overshadows it. Although no one expects BC to spend the approximate $200 million it spent on the Rec. Center to build a chapel, the clear prioritizing of the gym makes it apparent where BC’s heart (and therefore its God) is. If BC wants to claim to be a Jesuit, Catholic school, it must realize that our true God is Jesus Christ. The only way that BC could wish to incline at least some of its student’s hearts toward God is to act like they find Him important.
As a Catholic myself, I often feel abandoned by the school that claims to support my growing in the Catholic Faith. I by no means want BC to abandon its holistic approach—that includes emphasizing physical health through the Rec. Center, fostering education in STEM through the Schiller Center, and encouraging interreligious dialogue through students of diverse faiths. I do think, however, that BC should recognize that its identity as a Catholic school means all these projects only have value when done for, in, with, and through Jesus Christ. As a start, I would recommend reaching out to Catholic communities already at BC, such as the St. Thomas More Society, Gratia Plena, Sons of St. Patrick, those who attend Sunday Mass, or The Torch, where students, by intentionally seeking BC’s true God, embody the Jesuit, Catholic mission of BC.
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