AMDG
I’ve
shared much of the following with two Confirmation classes and hope that the
current class, sponsors, parents, and everyone else young and old will read
this too. So often sports simulate life
and are great analogies for reality. Danny Abramowicz, former All-Pro wide receiver and later coach (Offensive Coordinator) for the New Orleans Saints, does it all the time on his TV program on Men's Spirituality, "Crossing the Goal" on EWTN and ewtn.com Wednesdays at 11 pm Eastern. He speaks at Men’s Conferences all over the United States.
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The Communion of Saints (Longmans 1893):
The Church Triumphant, Church Militant, & Church Expectant
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This Sunday, the eve of Candlemas Day when
Simeon prophesized that the Christ child will be “a revelation of light to the gentiles” (Luke 2:32), most of us will be watching the Super Bowl at least for the ads. You know what? YOU’RE IN THE SUPER BOWL…….not that
Super Bowl, but the much bigger Super Bowl of life…..every one of us. How much time is left on the clock? You may still be toward the end of the 1st
Quarter. Or you may be in the 4th
Quarter and not much time left. What’s
the score in your case? Do you have a
good lead? Or are you behind, playing
catch up in your preparation for eternity?
In our Super Bowl, the real one,
it’s Team
Light against Team Darkness.
Which team are you on? In this
very serious game of life, the stakes are high…….Eternity…….eternal happiness
with God in Heaven or……Hell. The forces
of evil, the demons of addiction, and the idols of power, prestige, money, and illicit pleasure play for
Team Darkness. We play by the
rules…….the Ten Commandments and the teachings of the Church. Team Darkness only plays by the rules when
convenient and beneficial to them. They
play to win by any means……every dirty trick imaginable that they can get away
with for their selfish pursuits. They’re clever and they’re
mean. They win when they get you to be
on their side for eternity. Since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden,
life has been a battle between the forces of good and evil........a struggle “with
the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present
darkness, with the evil spirits.......” (Ephesians 6:12).
We,
the Church Militant are the players.
Our coach is the Church that Jesus Christ founded…….the word that He
inspired (the Bible) and Church teaching on its application, its guidance. Our fans are the saints in heaven (Church
Triumphant) and the poor souls in Purgatory (Church Expectant or Church Suffering). They pray for us and cheer us on. When we join the team, we’re baptized with
water and the Holy Spirit during pre-game warm-ups, usually as a baby, to get us
ready with sanctifying grace, the divine life in our souls, as members of the
Church.
Before every play we say a quick
prayer for God’s help. The player, who
fumbles the ball by committing a mortal sin, is relegated to the bench because
he’s useless in that state. But there’s Confession to clean our souls, to get
up and keep going, and get back into the game for Team Light. It’s for venial sins as well to
examine how we’re doing, learn from our mistakes, and gain graces to become a
better player. During time-outs (at
Mass), we receive the nutrition of the Eucharist, Christ Himself…….our
sacramental Power Ade so to speak. After
a serious injury, especially during old age, we receive the Anointing of the
Sick that gives us graces and often helps us recover and play a bigger role for
the team.
At half time we receive the sacrament of Confirmation,
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to come out stronger and tougher for the second
half. We may also receive the sacrament
of Matrimony or Holy Orders to obtain special particular graces for the state
of life or position we choose on the team.
Throughout this very real game of life, where
the stakes are eternity, we take some hard hits and sometimes are thrown for a big
loss. Each time we offer it up to the
Lord, keep trusting in His help and will, pick ourselves off the ground, and
keep going, never giving up. We block
for each other through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. We help each other in a spirit of love and
charity. In striving for the trophy,
eternal life, remember the words of the great coach, Vince Lombardi, a daily
communicant: “Winning isn’t everything;
IT’S THE ONLY THING” since by winning this game of life, we gain everything and
by losing we lose everything. LET’S GO
TEAM LIGHT!
Sports in Developing Virtue. St. Paul used sports in one of his
Epistles: “Do you not know that
in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way
as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict
training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a
crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running
aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to
my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). In other words Life
is like a race…..a struggle
toward the finish line.
Pope Francis and St. Pope John Paul
II love sports. The saint gave a homily
on sports and saw its value for developing virtue, saying: “St. Paul the Apostle proposed the image of
the athlete to the Christians of Corinth in order to illustrate Christian life
and as an example of effort and constancy.”
See
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St. Pope John Paul II enters Rome's Olympic stadium October 29, 2000 to say a mass for the athletes' Jubilee for the Holy Year and later watched a friendly soccer match between the Italian national team and a selection of foreign players in Italy.
Often sports develops virtue, especially under a good
coach who teaches values (virtue). Catholic
athletes give their testimonies on www.blessed2play.org.
My daughter Naomi is on the Swim team of
Franciscan University of Steubenville.
When the swimmers complain during a hard workout, the coach will say “Offer
it up; let’s go.” Training requires a
lot of self-discipline. Urban Meyer,
coach of national champion Ohio State and Joe Lombardi, Offensive Coordinator
for the Detroit Lions endorse SportsLeader.org as a
virtue-based mentoring and motivation program for coaches. The blog sportsleaderusa.blogspot.org shares
stories from coaches all over the country on transforming lives. For more information contact Lou Judd - ljudd@sportsleader.org. Sports can only be justified in schools because of the values and virtues that they teach.
That’s what interscholastic and intercollegiate sports
are all about…..to develop self-discipline in training; constancy; perseverance
in not giving up; teamwork; charity
in encouraging and helping others on the team; sacrifice in unselfishly playing
for the team over self; humility
in taking correction and guidance; servant leadership; courage to take hard hits and face difficult
obstacles; mental toughness or focus; honesty in playing fair and doing what’s
right, responsibility in accepting assignments and doing one’s part on the team
with one’s best effort, sportsmanship with the opposing team, school
spirit. The National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (naia.org) for smaller colleges has a program for its
athletes called the “Champions of Character”.
See www.championsofcharacter.org
and its core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant
leadership. The student athlete can
learn even more virtue under adversity.
Sports is often a practice for life. Our game plan is the Bible and Church teaching
handed down from the apostles. What is the big prize for winning the very
serious real game of life? What are the
six words that will tell you that you won the Super Bowl trophy after the clock
ticks down to zero…..of course with God’s help and mercy. It all boils down to SIX words. “WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.…….enter into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew:25:21).
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Vocation.
These six words imply a VOCATION. What’s
that? It comes from the Latin word,
vocar, which means to call. A vocation
is then a CALLING from God, a mission from God.
You, each one of you have a special mission from God, a special mission
which He gave to no other, unique to you.
And that is what Confirmation is all about…..to give you the strength
and the grace to carry out that vocation or mission as soldiers of Christ. Confirmation will help you tap the
gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude,
knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord) and grow in virtue as we reap the
fruits of the Holy Spirit (charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and
chastity). We must take advantage of the
graces of Confirmation. Dear Holy
Spirit, set us on fire.
The gifts include GUTS, the courage
(fortitude) to do what is right, to stand up for what is right despite the
consequences. You may be
criticized. They may call you
names. They may tear you apart. You may lose fair weather friends. You may lose your job. But remember, no matter what happens, the
Lord is at your side and trust that He will help you through
it. In the long run, you will win. Things always work out for the best in the
long run for those who do the Lord’s will.
Trust Him. People will recognize
you in the long run. Are you going to
let your peers or friends lead you as you follow the crowd like Mary’s little
lamb in order to be popular or are you going to lead your peers?
To
Serve. “Well done good and faithful servant” implies two very
important principles. What are
they? #1) We are servants. We are to SERVE. Serve whom?
We are to serve God and His people.
“Whatever you do to the least of mine, you do it unto me” (Matthew
25:40). So serving people means serving
God. You are not only to be servants,
but also SERVANT LEADERS. We are to be
faithful to God, to His commandments, to the Church and its teachings, to our
vocation and mission, to our families.
Thy
Will Be Done. If we are servants of God, that means we are called to do the
master’s will. Each one of us must
always search for, i.e., discern #2) GOD’S WILL. Each one of us must frequently pray that God
will clearly show His will for our lives.
“Lord, what do you want me to do with my life? Guide me to the area where I can serve you
best.” We must strive to be the Lord’s
instruments. As servants we do all for
God. St. Ignatius Loyola had a beautiful
motto: “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” (AMDG) …..which
means “For the greater glory of God”.
Actually, we should strive to do
God’s will every day, every moment of our lives. A good rule is to say a MORNING OFFERING
every day: “Lord, please give me a good
day. I offer this day to you. Please help me to make this day pleasing to
you. Dear Holy Spirit, tell me what to
do and what to say this day. Don’t let
me do or say anything dumb.” Then during
the day, consult the Lord with every decision, big or small. Ask for His help. Converse with Him briefly during the day as
when walking, driving, or waiting. In
these ways, we are following St. Paul’s admonition; “PRAY ALWAYS”.
In our careers, we’ll win some and
we’ll lose some. When you win, give the
credit to God and those who helped you; when you lose, pick yourself off the
ground, learn from your mistakes, renew your faith, and bounce back. In any event, success belongs to God. As Mother Theresa said, “God does not ask us
to be successful, but to be faithful”.
Do your very best and let the Lord take care of the rest. Success is His problem. Learn from your mistakes. Accept your limitations, handicaps,
obstacles, and adverse circumstances.
Every saint has had to suffer.
Every saint sought His will and trusted.
Be grateful for adversity because that makes you more dependent upon
God. Recognize that your abilities and
talents are gifts from God. Then
success, when it does come, won’t go to your head and lead to your
downfall. Trust Him. The Lord will help you in an endeavor as far
as He wants it to go. The results are
His. God has used humble people with
limited abilities to do great things under the most difficult
circumstances. TRUST!
Thy
Kingdom Come. What is the Third Luminous Mystery of the rosary? THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM. You can also find it in the Our Father: We already alluded to: “Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven”. Each person
has a position on the team. That is a
special role in the Communion of Saints and the Mystical Body of Christ (all of
us with Christ as the head) in establishing the Lord’s Kingdom. The Communion of Saints consists of the
saints in heaven who serve as models, whom we ask to pray for us; the poor
souls in Purgatory who ask for our prayers; and all of us on earth with Christ
as the head.
What is that Kingdom we are aspiring
to establish? With the Lord’s help, we
aspire to make the world a place that acknowledges Christ as King without
forcing it on people…..to make the world a place of peace where people care
about each other….to serve each other instead of taking each other…..instead of
stomping upon each other to achieve our selfish ends. That’s what love is…..people serving each
other, people caring about each other. We must do our parts in establishing a Civilization
of Love, which Pope Paul VI promulgated and St. Pope John Paul II
reiterated.
You can do your part in establishing
the Kingdom. Any job in the world can be
an apostolate. Money may be important,
but more important is service……serving people with a good or service. Establishing the Kingdom is to put Christ
into the market place, to put Christ into Business, to put Christ into your
profession by putting love into it, and serving people through your career. God so often manifests His love to people
through us…..the way we love, the way we treat people, the way we serve people
in our jobs.
When Christ ascended into heaven, He
commanded the apostles: “Teach ye all nations…..”. Did He say that only to the apostles? That command is for all of us. We all have the duty to evangelize. That is to establish the Kingdom. We can establish the Kingdom in big ways or
little ways…..by PRAYER, by our EXAMPLE, by WORD in speaking out, and by DEED
or action. Don’t just keep the faith;
spread it! Do your part with His help
to establish the kingdom.
Can
you change the world? Everybody
doing their part on the team or Communion of Saints, WE can change the
world. You alone can do little to change
the world, but you can do something……a little today, a little tomorrow, a
little the next day, and the accumulation of many little things done every day
over a period of 20 or 30 years can add up to greatness…..as great as those so
called great people who have one or two major accomplishments and what about
all those little heroes out there who have done that little bit each day?
Soldiers
of Christ. Establishing the Kingdom
involves a great cultural-spiritual war that is going on today in the world, in
our country, and in our town…..an ongoing battle between good and evil. It involves many great moral issues and evils
that our Church has taken stands on…..the sacredness of life from conception to
natural death, the tremendous dignity of the person, social justice…..the fight
against the evils of abortion, contraception, euthanasia, premarital and
extramarital sex, gay marriage, pornography, the breakdown of the family,
secularism, racism, corruption in business, corruption in government, and many
other ethical issues. This is where you
will all have a special role as soldiers of Christ……i.e., a special mission or
vocation. You’ll need all of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit and the fruits that flow from them to discern and accomplish
your mission. Pray every day for the
discernment of God’s will for your life and trust.
Life is all about becoming holy
while discerning and carrying out your vocation to serve God and His people to
the best of your ability each day with the Lord’s help and work with others in
the Communion of Saints. Each one of us
has special gifts, talents, and skills to share. Working together as a team
becomes a great force for good; we can’t do it alone. Confirmation will give you the graces, the
strength, and the courage to carry out that vocation/mission. At the same time, don’t forget your quest for
holiness. No one can stand before the
throne of God in Heaven unless s/he is holy.
We have a choice: become holy
here on earth or become holy in Purgatory which is much more difficult.
Think about what God is calling you
to do and at least consider the religious life as a priest, brother, or
nun. As a religious, one can devote
him/herself more completely to God and serving His people without the distractions
of a family. Being a spouse and parent
is a vocation in itself. Make sure that
whatever career path you choose, serves God according to His will. Be alert to every little opportunity to
serve, whether alone or working with others.
Through all of this the priorities of life must be #1- God; #2- Family;
then #3 job and career. So often the parent is torn between family and job.
Discernment of Vocation
How
do you know what your vocation is?
God has given each of you a special mission that may evolve over time,
but how does He tell us what it is?
1) You will feel an attraction to a certain
field, occupation, endeavor, or way of life.
You are drawn toward it. YOU LIKE
IT. You think you will enjoy the
challenge of it.
2) Abilities or Talents. I
would love to be a major league baseball player. But I can’t hit a fast ball; nor do I field
or throw well. That attraction to a field
must be backed up by ABILITY. God gave
each one of us special gifts. My gifts complement your gifts; your gifts
complement mine; and in this way each of us makes a contribution in the
Community and the Communion of Saints.
So go into a profession that will utilize your special gifts.
3) DESIRE. Do you like that profession enough to do
whatever it takes to do well in that profession…..perhaps years of study,
blood, sacrifice, and tears.
Of
course, the opportunity must be there as well.
The Lord will open doors to where He wants you to go.
4) Choose a profession where you
feel that you can MAKE A DIFFERENCE, to make your profession, your town, or the
world for that matter, just a little bit better because of you.
Pray every day for the discernment
of God’s will for your lives. At the
same time, you must discern a vocation to the Married Life, the Single Life, or
to the Religious Life.
Married
Life. How is the Married Life a
vocation? Dr. James Dobson wrote a
book: “Parenting Isn’t for
Cowards”. Married life involves the
privilege of creating with God a family of beautiful human beings, preparing
them to do their part in establishing the Kingdom and to prepare them for
eternity. Yes, each child has a free
will, but parents have a grave responsibility for the salvation of their
kids. Married life presents joy and
tears, highs and lows, conflict, frustration, you name it. No marriage is perfect. No family is perfect. It is the family that
nurtures religious vocations. The
greatest gift and privilege that a family can have is to produce a holy priest.
Is
the single or celibate life a vocation?
In what way? One can devote
himself or herself more completely to God and serving His people without the
distractions of a family. Don’t forget
the priorities in life: #1 GOD; #2)
FAMILY; and #3) JOB or profession.
The single lay person can serve as a
single individual on his or her own.
Many, however, prefer the backing and mutual support of a community of
like minded people, united to deepen their spirituality and to serve God and
His people. They may join a loose
community as Opus Dei or a lay community which makes promises of poverty,
chastity, and obedience. Others may join
a religious community that is more permanent and profound. They may wear a habit and make vows of
poverty, chastity, and obedience. These
religious communities serve the missions here and almost anywhere in the
world. Fr. Regis, the pastor of Sacred
Heart Church, is a Capuchin/Franciscan priest.
Fr. Tom is a secular priest, supported by the parish and the diocese. He took vows of chastity and obedience.
Each one of you has a vocation, a
mission in life. What do you think your
vocation or mission in life is? How do
you think you can effectively accomplish that mission? How do you think that you can effectively
serve God and His people in your profession?
Priestly
Vocations. I met a young priest at
the Charleston Skating Rink, where he was on an outing with his altar
servers. This shepherd of God said that
he just knew that he had a vocation to the priesthood. His greatest joy is celebrating the
Eucharist. His greatest satisfaction is
the people, especially the kids. His
greatest frustration is also the people.
There are all kinds, he says. I
guess the good, the bad, and the ugly.
He agrees that God calls as many
people as ever to the priesthood, but today many of these priestly vocations
are suffocated by the secular culture we are in and by dysfunctional
families. The shortage of vocations
today is a real crisis in the Church.
Some parishes can no longer have a full time pastor, let alone two or
three priests as in the past.
You may have a religious
vocation. Please think about it and pray
about it. It is sad that in the 150 year
plus history of this parish, we have had only four religious vocations. Pray for religious vocations and encourage
your friends and siblings who may have a vocation.
Ask priests, nuns, or lay
professionals: “How did you know you had a vocation to the priesthood? What are your greatest joys and satisfactions? What are your greatest frustrations?”
What should you do if you think that
you might have a religious vocation? Go
to your pastor, the vocations director of your diocese or religious order that
interests you. A visit or stay at a convent
or seminary could be easily arranged.
Think about what God is calling you
to do. Make sure that whatever career
path you choose serves God according to His will. Don’t just keep the faith; spread it every
day in big ways or little ways by prayer, example, word, and deed as we do our
part with His help to establish the kingdom.
Be alert to every little opportunity whether alone or working with
others.
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