The Winter Games
Have you been watching the Winter Olympics? I LOVE the Winter Games. Every fourth February for two weeks, I spend all my free time in front of the television, hooked on every winter sport. Well, not every winter sport. I'm not crazy about watching cross country skiing, or that thing where they ski a while, then stop and shoot, then ski some more then stop and shoot again. It's called the Biathalon and I really don't get it.
But, I watch everything else. And the funny thing is ,except for hockey, I don't watch any of the winter sports any other time. I haven't seen a ski jump or a speed skate in four years and I probably won't see one again for another four years. But the Olympics are just special.
Maybe it's the stories. There are always such good stories. Like Rena Inoue, the American figure skater who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998, a year and a half after her father had died from the same disease. She's healthy now and at this Olympics, she and her partner John Baldwin made Olympic history by being the first couple ever to land a throw triple Axel.
Or there's the Russian figure skating pair, Marinin and Totmiyanina. In October, 2004 he was attempting to lift her over his head and dropped her headfirst onto the ice. She recovered from her injuries, but he had some serious issues with his confidence. But, he overcame them and they won the gold medal.
Or there's Lindsey Kildow, an American skier. She suffered a terrible crash on the first Monday of the games. She spent Monday night and part of Tuesday in the hospital but was back on the slopes before the end of the week, still trying to win a medal. The best she could do was 7th place in the Super G, but she still competed in 4 events.
Of course, sometimes the stories don't have happy endings, like Bode Miller, the American skier. Before the games, he was expected to win multiple medals. Affter five events, his Olympic medal count is zero.
I guess that's what I like about the Olympics; the fact that these kids, and most of them are kids in their late teens and early twenties, have so much determination and give up so much to participate. You don't just get up one day and say to yourself, I'd like to be a ski jumper or a figure skater. It takes years and years of practice.
Most of these athletes have been practicing every day of their lives, many of them since they were just little kids. They've given up friends, other activities, sometimes even their families to train at their sport. Meanwhile, thousands of other kids just like them are also training all over the world. And just a handful will ever make it to the Olympics, let alone win a medal. Sometimes the difference between first place and a medal and fourth place and no medal is hundredths of a second. The time it takes to snap your fingers separates the gold medal winner and those who win no medal at all.
It's also dangerous. With the exception of curling, many of these people have been badly injured many times. Croatian skier Janica Kostelic has had eleven knee surgeries. She won a gold and a silver medal in Torino. Broken bones are just part of the deal. So why do they do it?
Is it the medal itself? After all, the gold medal isn't really gold at all. It's silver with a thin gold plate. It's only worth a few hundred dollars. No, it's not the value of the medal.
Is it all the money an athlete earns for winning the gold? No, they don't earn all that much, especially considering what it cost for all those years of training, all the travel, all the competitions. Generally speaking, most Olympic athletes, at least here in America will never get rich by becoming professional ski jumpers or bob sled drivers.
Some of the more prominent athletes, like the figure skaters, will earn a nice living from their sport, but I don't think it's about the money either.
I think the thing that motivates the Olympic athletes is the drive to be the best in the world at what they do. These are the best of the best, from every country (at least every country where it gets cold) competing for that top spot.
Imagine what it must feel like to stand on that podium, in front of all those people, and to have that medal hung around your neck. You're the very best in the world at what you do. Then as you stand there, they play YOUR country's National Anthem as they raise YOUR flag on that center flag pole.
That's when you see the diminutive female figure skaters and the macho manly skiers begin to tear up. A lot of the guys try to hold it in, but most of the time, they can't. How could you experience THAT moment that you've been working toward your entire life and not be overcome with emotion. THAT'S what motivates them.
Can there be any experience in this life that's more wonderful than standing on that gold medal podium? Yes, I think there are a few; your wedding day; the day your child is born are two that come to mind, but if you're 20 years old and single and your whole life revolves around your sport, winning the gold has to be the best day of your life.
Now, none of us is likely to ever win an Olympic gold medal, but, there's another day which we all hope to experience that will be so much better, there's nothing to compare it to. This day will be so wonderful that it will make those Olympians forget that they ever won a gold medal. Our joy will be so complete that we can't even begin to understand what it will be like. It's the day when we all hope to stand before Jesus and hear Him say “Well done, good and faithful servant. I have a place prepared just for you.” What a day that will be!
Like the Olympians, we'll never experience that day unless we prepare for it every single day of our lives. Jesus never said it would be easy. We have to train and practice. We have to listen to our coaches, we have to read and study, and we have to exercise our Christianity every day. Why wouldn't we want to? After all, the reward is the ultimate reward; an eternity of joy and happiness.
We all have days when our faith is put to the test. We all have days when we'd just as soon pull the covers up over our heads and stay in bed. But, like the Olympians, we don't get better without being challenged.
I once had someone tell me that she had prayed for more patience, but things just kept going wrong. After we talked for a few minutes she said to me, “I guess my patience isn't going to get stronger unlsess I have a chance to exercise it.” How right she was.
We don't know how tough the judging will be. We hope and pray that it's merciful and not just. Because, if the Judge is just, most of us probably won't make it. But if He's merciful, as we pray that He will be, we just might get in.
In our responsorial psalm we sang:
"The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion."
"As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him."
And, so we have hope.
What's the difference between winning and losing? We don't know. We hope it's not as small as a few hundredths of a second. We hope and pray that "He crowns us with kindness and compassion."
But, we don't know for sure, so doesn't it make sense to train as hard as we possibly can, every day?
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a time when our training is more intense than usual. The Church asks that we do a few minimal things. Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Abstain from meat on Friday,
It's supposed to be a time of preparing for Christ's death and glorious resurrection. We can give up chocolate, or booze, or television, or something, but that's not the kind of training we need. That's not going to get us on that gold medal podium. That's the least we can do. We should be using the time to build up our spiritual muscles. Pray more. Go to church more often. Go out of you way to help others.
This coming Tuesday is our monthly Eucharistic Adoration. What a perfect day to get ready for Lent. Spend an hour, or more, in the Presence of Jesus, praying for a meaningful, successful Lent.
If you're going to give up chocolate, or cigarettes, or some other pleasure, take the money you save and give it to the poor. If you're going to give up television, use the time for spiritual reading, or going to church, or volunteering. We may tend to think of Lent in a negative way, as a time to give things up. It should be a positive time. A time to give. After all, we're preparing for Christ's Resurrection and eventually our own.
Our preparation for Easter is like our Olympians preparation for a preliminary event. We want to do it right because our final judgement will be based on our total performance in this race, our human race to eternal life.
Like many of the Olympic events, our score is cumulative. When our race is over, we'll be judged on the total of all of our days. But, unlike the Olympians, we get do-overs as often as we want. God has given us the sacrament of reconcilliation. We can confess our sins, do the appropriate penance, and our slate is clean. We can start our race all over again.
In the end, we want to be on that top step, we want to go for the gold. But, instead of the National Anthem, we want to hear the sound of angels singing as Jesus welcomes us to our heavenly home.
But, I watch everything else. And the funny thing is ,except for hockey, I don't watch any of the winter sports any other time. I haven't seen a ski jump or a speed skate in four years and I probably won't see one again for another four years. But the Olympics are just special.
Maybe it's the stories. There are always such good stories. Like Rena Inoue, the American figure skater who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998, a year and a half after her father had died from the same disease. She's healthy now and at this Olympics, she and her partner John Baldwin made Olympic history by being the first couple ever to land a throw triple Axel.
Or there's the Russian figure skating pair, Marinin and Totmiyanina. In October, 2004 he was attempting to lift her over his head and dropped her headfirst onto the ice. She recovered from her injuries, but he had some serious issues with his confidence. But, he overcame them and they won the gold medal.
Or there's Lindsey Kildow, an American skier. She suffered a terrible crash on the first Monday of the games. She spent Monday night and part of Tuesday in the hospital but was back on the slopes before the end of the week, still trying to win a medal. The best she could do was 7th place in the Super G, but she still competed in 4 events.
Of course, sometimes the stories don't have happy endings, like Bode Miller, the American skier. Before the games, he was expected to win multiple medals. Affter five events, his Olympic medal count is zero.
I guess that's what I like about the Olympics; the fact that these kids, and most of them are kids in their late teens and early twenties, have so much determination and give up so much to participate. You don't just get up one day and say to yourself, I'd like to be a ski jumper or a figure skater. It takes years and years of practice.
Most of these athletes have been practicing every day of their lives, many of them since they were just little kids. They've given up friends, other activities, sometimes even their families to train at their sport. Meanwhile, thousands of other kids just like them are also training all over the world. And just a handful will ever make it to the Olympics, let alone win a medal. Sometimes the difference between first place and a medal and fourth place and no medal is hundredths of a second. The time it takes to snap your fingers separates the gold medal winner and those who win no medal at all.
It's also dangerous. With the exception of curling, many of these people have been badly injured many times. Croatian skier Janica Kostelic has had eleven knee surgeries. She won a gold and a silver medal in Torino. Broken bones are just part of the deal. So why do they do it?
Is it the medal itself? After all, the gold medal isn't really gold at all. It's silver with a thin gold plate. It's only worth a few hundred dollars. No, it's not the value of the medal.
Is it all the money an athlete earns for winning the gold? No, they don't earn all that much, especially considering what it cost for all those years of training, all the travel, all the competitions. Generally speaking, most Olympic athletes, at least here in America will never get rich by becoming professional ski jumpers or bob sled drivers.
Some of the more prominent athletes, like the figure skaters, will earn a nice living from their sport, but I don't think it's about the money either.
I think the thing that motivates the Olympic athletes is the drive to be the best in the world at what they do. These are the best of the best, from every country (at least every country where it gets cold) competing for that top spot.
Imagine what it must feel like to stand on that podium, in front of all those people, and to have that medal hung around your neck. You're the very best in the world at what you do. Then as you stand there, they play YOUR country's National Anthem as they raise YOUR flag on that center flag pole.
That's when you see the diminutive female figure skaters and the macho manly skiers begin to tear up. A lot of the guys try to hold it in, but most of the time, they can't. How could you experience THAT moment that you've been working toward your entire life and not be overcome with emotion. THAT'S what motivates them.
Can there be any experience in this life that's more wonderful than standing on that gold medal podium? Yes, I think there are a few; your wedding day; the day your child is born are two that come to mind, but if you're 20 years old and single and your whole life revolves around your sport, winning the gold has to be the best day of your life.
Now, none of us is likely to ever win an Olympic gold medal, but, there's another day which we all hope to experience that will be so much better, there's nothing to compare it to. This day will be so wonderful that it will make those Olympians forget that they ever won a gold medal. Our joy will be so complete that we can't even begin to understand what it will be like. It's the day when we all hope to stand before Jesus and hear Him say “Well done, good and faithful servant. I have a place prepared just for you.” What a day that will be!
Like the Olympians, we'll never experience that day unless we prepare for it every single day of our lives. Jesus never said it would be easy. We have to train and practice. We have to listen to our coaches, we have to read and study, and we have to exercise our Christianity every day. Why wouldn't we want to? After all, the reward is the ultimate reward; an eternity of joy and happiness.
We all have days when our faith is put to the test. We all have days when we'd just as soon pull the covers up over our heads and stay in bed. But, like the Olympians, we don't get better without being challenged.
I once had someone tell me that she had prayed for more patience, but things just kept going wrong. After we talked for a few minutes she said to me, “I guess my patience isn't going to get stronger unlsess I have a chance to exercise it.” How right she was.
We don't know how tough the judging will be. We hope and pray that it's merciful and not just. Because, if the Judge is just, most of us probably won't make it. But if He's merciful, as we pray that He will be, we just might get in.
In our responsorial psalm we sang:
"The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion."
"As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him."
And, so we have hope.
What's the difference between winning and losing? We don't know. We hope it's not as small as a few hundredths of a second. We hope and pray that "He crowns us with kindness and compassion."
But, we don't know for sure, so doesn't it make sense to train as hard as we possibly can, every day?
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a time when our training is more intense than usual. The Church asks that we do a few minimal things. Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Abstain from meat on Friday,
It's supposed to be a time of preparing for Christ's death and glorious resurrection. We can give up chocolate, or booze, or television, or something, but that's not the kind of training we need. That's not going to get us on that gold medal podium. That's the least we can do. We should be using the time to build up our spiritual muscles. Pray more. Go to church more often. Go out of you way to help others.
This coming Tuesday is our monthly Eucharistic Adoration. What a perfect day to get ready for Lent. Spend an hour, or more, in the Presence of Jesus, praying for a meaningful, successful Lent.
If you're going to give up chocolate, or cigarettes, or some other pleasure, take the money you save and give it to the poor. If you're going to give up television, use the time for spiritual reading, or going to church, or volunteering. We may tend to think of Lent in a negative way, as a time to give things up. It should be a positive time. A time to give. After all, we're preparing for Christ's Resurrection and eventually our own.
Our preparation for Easter is like our Olympians preparation for a preliminary event. We want to do it right because our final judgement will be based on our total performance in this race, our human race to eternal life.
Like many of the Olympic events, our score is cumulative. When our race is over, we'll be judged on the total of all of our days. But, unlike the Olympians, we get do-overs as often as we want. God has given us the sacrament of reconcilliation. We can confess our sins, do the appropriate penance, and our slate is clean. We can start our race all over again.
In the end, we want to be on that top step, we want to go for the gold. But, instead of the National Anthem, we want to hear the sound of angels singing as Jesus welcomes us to our heavenly home.
posted by Mike at 4:25 PM
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