I was looking forward to an evening of watching a Thursday night NFL game. I turned on the TV and could not get the game. I went over to the parish offices where a dedicated staff member was working late. He was more than happy to find the football game because, after all, that subscription had been paid. He expertly used the remote.
Still nothing. So, the staff person called the 1-800-Help line and told the representative that we had paid for access to football games on Thursday nights. He paused on the phone and then said, “OK, sorry about that.” He ended the call, shook his head and said to me, “Today is Wednesday.”
It is an easy connection between today’s global sports craze and the cheering spectators in the Coliseum of Rome or in the stadia of the ancient Olympics in Athens. There is something about competitive sports that has entertained humanity for millennia. Today, competitive sports is a billion-dollar industry. Professional football has newly been called America’s national pastime, but the rest of the world has its “football” mania, too. It is called soccer. Football can be an obsession and it can be an immersion into sloth. There are multiple hours over multiple evenings in any given week to have the opportunity to watch football. Sundays typically have three games. Fortunately, I have a day job that includes evenings, and I work on Sundays. Otherwise … .
Once, an unidentified parishioner called the Office of the Vicar General to complain about her new pastor, who mentioned in his introductory homily that he was one of the owners of an NFL team. The caller stated emphatically, “I do not go to church to hear about football!” The person was unaware that she had called my office to complain about me.
There is a lesson in all of this, even for those who eschew any sport’s metaphor for the life of faith. Whether I am in the stands of some stadium, all bundled up like a polar explorer, shouting encouragement with tens of thousands of other fans or I’m alone in my recliner decked out in logo-emblazoned sportswear, yelling with anonymous futility at the TV, spectators have no influence on the outcome of the game.
Since our youth, we know that Advent is a season of twofold waiting: For Jesus to be born anew each year at Christmas and for Jesus to come again at the end of time. Advent waiting is not a passive observance in the midst of the hectic season of the holidays. Even if we have all these things to do for our festive gatherings and even if it seems like a penance to wait in long checkout lines, this is not Advent.
Advent is an active season of penitence and ongoing conversion to prepare for the great feast of Christmas. The pews are not bleachers. If we do not want to be Advent spectators, then it is with a determined effort that we do some things in this season before Christmas. A brief look at any parish’s website and at The Catholic Spirit will confirm a beautiful array of Advent activities. Advent is always a reminder that we do the holidays, but God does Christmas for those who took the time during Advent to prepare for it.
If we are preoccupied with the holiday season, might we also be preoccupied with other worldly seasons as a way of life? At each Mass we receive the real presence of Jesus Christ and then are sent out into the world. Few of us will be players on the field of sports. All of us are called to be in the mission fields of faith.
