Dear St. Rita Parishioners,

            I almost regret to inform you that I haven’t watched any of the Olympics. Not a single clip. I saw some photos, I think, but nothing more. This was not completely intentional on my part. I don’t have anything against the Olympics, and I know some people really enjoy them and get into them. As Catholics, the event itself brings up a few considerations that are worthy to ponder, namely the place of sports in our lives and, related, sports as a form of global competition.

            You may think that I am about to rant about the excessive time, energy, and importance that we give to sports as a culture, especially in the family. You would not be entirely wrong. But, before that, we should consider the importance of sport for our human and spiritual development and well-being. In an address to the Bologna Soccer Team in 1978, Pope St. John Paul II told the footballers that “you young sportsmen have a special place, because you offer, in a preeminent way, a spectacle of fortitude, loyalty and self-control, and also because you have to a marked extent the sense of honour, friendship and brotherly solidarity: virtues which the Church promotes and exalts.”[1] There is something energizing and motivating about seeking a worthy, common goal side-by-side with one’s brothers. The goal as such calls us out of ourselves, makes us look to something beyond ourselves, and helps us to realize that greatness is accomplished only with tremendous sacrifice. Our brothers not only support us in our weaknesses, but they also give us opportunity to consider them and their good, such that seeking the goal is not a merely selfish act (my own glorification) but is an achievement for the good of all involved, including those who the team represents.

            These human virtues are easily translatable to our relationship with God and our faith. While it is certain that seeking a goal that is contrary to God’s goodness (something sinful or evil) would turn these human virtues into vices, we remember that human virtue has great benefit in our journey of faith. The fortitude and self-control, for example, learned and taught in the context of sports are necessary foundations if we are to avoid sin and boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To seek the glory of God side-by-side with brothers and sisters in faith is likewise a motivating prospect with concrete applications in marriage, priesthood, religious (consecrated) life, and the life of the Universal Church. The common goal helps us to unite as one family of faith and to press forward despite the obstacles, knowing that we have God’s grace and the support of our spouse, our brother priests or religious, our fellow Christians. The common goal helps us to overcome interpersonal difficulties and mistakes, and even to forgive the sins of the other, because this journey of faith isn’t primarily about me. It’s about God and my neighbor.[2]

            Consider this truth on a global scale. In the Olympics, various countries from around the world come together to showcase their skills and talents, to represent their countries, and to win victories in a bloodless, almost peaceful way. This is a laudable goal, certainly, though it has not removed from us the scourge of war. Ideally, the drama of global competition would reflect a desire for all nations to put forward their best efforts in pursuit of excellence. While there is glory in victory and agony in defeat, there is still a common, unifying goal: excellence. What sometimes shakes out practically, however, is a battle over the ideologies of nations. Does my ideology produce better athletes than yours? The competition can become a search for validation of my ideals and my perspectives, especially if two countries are at odds with each other politically. For some older examples, consider Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner turned airman and POW survivor of Unbroken fame and his fellow Americans at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin (under the watchful gaze of one Adolf Hitler), the crew team from the University of Washington, whose story is detailed in The Boys in the Boat. (I highly recommend both books.) The point is this: global sports competitions are more likely to showcase differences between countries than work them out. In this way, sports can be, sadly, a proxy for and precursor to war. 

            This is not, of course, a reason not to watch the Olympics or to be patriotic about our country. We have much to be proud of in our country, and while no country is perfect, we owe much to our homeland, so much so that we cannot ever fully repay the debt. This patriotism, which is a form of the virtue of piety, is expressed in our efforts to love our country, to guide her towards truth and goodness and faith. These goals, subordinated to God, are not, however, exclusively for our own country. We can likewise have these desires and goals for every other country out there, and we can seek the proper role for our country for achieving those goals in those other countries. In this way, sporting competitions like the Olympics remain in their proper place. Sports are good, and we can engage in friendly competition. But what really matters is God.

            Translate this truth back into the family, and we find a similar dynamic. Sports for our children are an important part of their development and human growth. But why should we care about their development and growth? Is it just so they can be the best? Is it just so they can get into a good college? Is it just so they will be “successful” in life (whatever that means)? These are not fundamentally evil goals, but if they are not subordinated to God, they can be tools of damnation. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

            Parents have a responsibility for their children’s growth and development, but they have an even greater responsibility for their children’s souls. Parents must – on pain of sin – teach their children that God is more important than their sporting events. If parents do not ensure that their children go to Mass on Sunday (because of some sporting event, for example), the sin is not the child’s, but the parent’s (or parents’, depending), and it is mortal sin. If we so elevate human achievement that it eclipses God, we have made something else into our object of worship; we have made idols of sports or achievement or whatever, and idol-worship is forbidden. What is worse, we then teach these values to our children, and we put a Catholic moniker on it, when in reality we have taught a caricature of the faith that will only lead to Hell. Perhaps this is part of the reason the world is where it is right now. We have replaced God with human progress. We have subordinated Him to human achievement (including sports). We have turned what should be human virtues into human vices. 

In Christ,

Fr. Christensen

[1]https://www.laici.va/content/dam/laici/documenti/sport/eng/magisterium/jpii-pastoral-messages.pdf

[2] Joy, they stay, stands for Jesus – Others – Yourself: JOY. In that order.