Preaching to a congregation of college students during a Jan. 30 Mass at the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory emphasized that being a Catholic is a lifelong journey.

“We Catholics believe the Christian life is an ongoing process. We are all works in progress. We are all engaged in the journey of conversion, and we won’t complete that journey until we have lived out all of our days, according to God’s design,” he said.

Touching on that day’s Gospel reading from Luke 4: 21-30, in which the Nazarenes grew angry at Jesus, Cardinal Gregory’s homily dove into the topic of conversion. 

“Jesus dared to suggest the people of Nazareth could and should change, the same recommendation he still offers to all of us. In a word, it’s called conversion,” the cardinal said. 

Title, rank and status are not enough to gain access to heaven; a conversion of heart is necessary, he said.

“I grew up in Chicago, a city where clout mattered,” he joked, “And today’s Gospel suggests that clout alone is not enough.” 

Maria Ramos, a sophomore psychology major at the University of Maryland, appreciated that the homily targeted the young, college-aged community at the Catholic Student Center.

“I appreciated him trying to talk to us as young people, as college students. Talking about how being Catholic isn’t about clout, it’s about encountering Jesus,” Ramos said. 

Freshman business major Nick Moroney spoke with Cardinal Gregory before Mass began, and praised his kindness. 

“I was altar serving, so I was there when he first arrived. He was very kind, and you could tell he approached it with a lot of humility, and he came up to me and just had a quick conversation with me before Mass,” Moroney said. 

After Mass, the UMD chapter of the Knights of Columbus hosted a brunch for students. The price of admission was a canned food item or a donation to the St. Camillus Food Pantry in Silver Spring. 

“We planned the brunch because Cardinal Gregory was coming. We planned for a lot but were surprised by how many people came. We totally saw how his presence got a lot of people from the CSC together,” said Andrew Polcari, a freshman economics major and the head of the brunch committee for the Knights of Columbus. 

The brunch was the third one the Knights of Columbus have put on at the CSC, Moroney said.

Along with the brunch, there are other new projects going on at the Catholic Student Center. 

The Centered on Christ Campaign is an ongoing project to refurbish, expand and renovate various parts of the CSC campus to accommodate the growing number of students, said Owen Falco, a sophomore geology major and president of the CSC. 

The new Catholic Student Center will be able to accommodate 300-plus students in the common Barney Room, provide new offices and meeting rooms for Bible studies and counseling, and unveil a new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel in the center of the building, among other changes. 

Falco said the need to accommodate a growing number of students is a testament to the community at the CSC. 

“Once you come here, you give a piece of your heart and the Lord takes over all of it through the people in the community, and it changes your life forever,” Falco said. 

Members of the Catholic community at the University of Maryland are known popularly as “Catholic Terps” reflecting the university’s Terrapin turtle mascot and the nickname for its sports teams. The Catholic Student Center there has a special website with a logo featuring the University of Maryland’s Terrapin with a halo over its head.

(Jackie DiBartolomeo is a student at the University of Maryland.)