Monday of the 4 Week of Lent
March 7, 2005
Does anybody like college basketball? I’m not a huge fan, except when it gets to be this time of the year. They call it March Madness. There’s a good reason why. When it gets down to the end of the season and to the tournaments, teams who are supposed to win sometimes don’t. Which means that teams who are supposed to lose sometimes win.
For example, this weekend four of the top ten teams in the country lost. I guess the biggest upset was Ohio State beating Illinois. It was the first time Illinois has lost all year. Ohio State scored on a three point shot with 5 seconds left in the game to win by 1. I didn’t see that game but imagine how exciting it must have been.
The number 3 team in the country, Kentucky, lost to Florida 53-52 . Florida pulled ahead when they made two free throws with just twelve seconds left in the game. Kentucky still had a chance to tie the game, but their shot at the buzzer was no good.
The number 6 team, Duke also lost. But they lost to number two North Carolina, so that was no surprise.
What was a surprise was that the number 7 team in the country, Kansas, lost to our own Missouri Tigers. That was an exciting game. Missouri and Kansas have a rivalry that goes all the way back to the Civil War. You talk about holding a grudge. At one point Missouri was ahead by 15 points but Kansas almost won the game in the last minutes. But Missouri hung on to end a four game losing streak to Kansas. I did see that game, and it WAS exciting.
Another game that was really exciting that I watched was played right here in St. Louis. SIU is the number 25 team in the country. They played the Bears from Southwest Missouri State. On paper, the game should have been a blowout and in the beginning it was. At the end of the first half SIU was ahead by 23 points. But the Bears made a miraculous recovery, tying the game with 2 minutes left. They held on to win the game by 4 points.
I know you’re probably thinking, “ok, deacon, thanks for the sports report. But where’s the homily? Did you spend the whole weekend watching basketball?” No, I didn’t spend the WHOLE weekend watching basketball. I did spend time doing other stuff. But I’ll admit I did spend some of the time I should have been working on a homily watching hoops. I don’t want to be like the prophet, without honor in his native place. But, as usual, the Holy Spirit provides. Today’s Gospel is about faith. The royal official had faith that Jesus would heal his son. There was no logical reason to believe it. But his faith was strong.
How much faith does it take for a bunch of 18, 19, 20 year old kids to believe that they can beat one of the top basketball teams in the country? How do a bunch of kids come out or the locker room after halftime, losing by 23 points, and believe that they can come back and win the game. There’s no logic to it. No one knew they could do it. But the players had faith in their own ability, faith in their teammates and faith in their coach.
[pause]
So how much faith do we have? Isaiah tells us in the first reading that when we get to heaven the “things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Instead there shall be rejoicing and happiness.” Does it make sense? Probably not. But we have faith.
No, I didn’t spend the WHOLE weekend watching basketball. I spent some time visiting hospital patients. Some of the people I visited were very ill. Some are nearing the end of this life. How can we bear to face death unless we believe that we’re going to a place where there is eternal life?
Now that we’re more than halfway through Lent, I hope that all of us have the kind of faith it takes to accept anything that life hands us, even death.
Does anybody like college basketball? I’m not a huge fan, except when it gets to be this time of the year. They call it March Madness. There’s a good reason why. When it gets down to the end of the season and to the tournaments, teams who are supposed to win sometimes don’t. Which means that teams who are supposed to lose sometimes win.
For example, this weekend four of the top ten teams in the country lost. I guess the biggest upset was Ohio State beating Illinois. It was the first time Illinois has lost all year. Ohio State scored on a three point shot with 5 seconds left in the game to win by 1. I didn’t see that game but imagine how exciting it must have been.
The number 3 team in the country, Kentucky, lost to Florida 53-52 . Florida pulled ahead when they made two free throws with just twelve seconds left in the game. Kentucky still had a chance to tie the game, but their shot at the buzzer was no good.
The number 6 team, Duke also lost. But they lost to number two North Carolina, so that was no surprise.
What was a surprise was that the number 7 team in the country, Kansas, lost to our own Missouri Tigers. That was an exciting game. Missouri and Kansas have a rivalry that goes all the way back to the Civil War. You talk about holding a grudge. At one point Missouri was ahead by 15 points but Kansas almost won the game in the last minutes. But Missouri hung on to end a four game losing streak to Kansas. I did see that game, and it WAS exciting.
Another game that was really exciting that I watched was played right here in St. Louis. SIU is the number 25 team in the country. They played the Bears from Southwest Missouri State. On paper, the game should have been a blowout and in the beginning it was. At the end of the first half SIU was ahead by 23 points. But the Bears made a miraculous recovery, tying the game with 2 minutes left. They held on to win the game by 4 points.
I know you’re probably thinking, “ok, deacon, thanks for the sports report. But where’s the homily? Did you spend the whole weekend watching basketball?” No, I didn’t spend the WHOLE weekend watching basketball. I did spend time doing other stuff. But I’ll admit I did spend some of the time I should have been working on a homily watching hoops. I don’t want to be like the prophet, without honor in his native place. But, as usual, the Holy Spirit provides. Today’s Gospel is about faith. The royal official had faith that Jesus would heal his son. There was no logical reason to believe it. But his faith was strong.
How much faith does it take for a bunch of 18, 19, 20 year old kids to believe that they can beat one of the top basketball teams in the country? How do a bunch of kids come out or the locker room after halftime, losing by 23 points, and believe that they can come back and win the game. There’s no logic to it. No one knew they could do it. But the players had faith in their own ability, faith in their teammates and faith in their coach.
[pause]
So how much faith do we have? Isaiah tells us in the first reading that when we get to heaven the “things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Instead there shall be rejoicing and happiness.” Does it make sense? Probably not. But we have faith.
No, I didn’t spend the WHOLE weekend watching basketball. I spent some time visiting hospital patients. Some of the people I visited were very ill. Some are nearing the end of this life. How can we bear to face death unless we believe that we’re going to a place where there is eternal life?
Now that we’re more than halfway through Lent, I hope that all of us have the kind of faith it takes to accept anything that life hands us, even death.
posted by Mike at 8:51 PM
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