“Citius, Altius, Fortius ... Faster, Higher, Stronger"

This coming Friday the Games of the 30^th Olympiad will be officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  For two weeks, athletes from around the world will gather in London to represent their countries, to contribute to peaceful international exchange, and to compete for gold.

At Little Flower Parish we have particular reason to celebrate as one of our fellow parishioners, Katie Ledecky, will compete as a member of the U.S. Swim Team and will be our nation’s youngest Olympian. We congratulate and thank Katie, her parents and brother, and we wish Katie the very best of luck in her competition!!

In recent years especially, sports have taken up an even greater place in people’s lives, to the point that we can say that sports are a “characteristic phenomena of the modern era.”  But there is the danger that sports might become for us an end in themselves, that we might lose sight of the deeper values and virtues of sport, and that we might fail to apply sport’s important lessons to the rest of our lives, including most importantly our spiritual lives.

Blessed Pope John Paul II celebrated the Olympic Games as “a fitting occasion to give thanks to God for the gift of sport, in which the human person exercises his body, intellect and will, recognizing these abilities as so many gifts of his Creator.”  An athlete himself, John Paul II also reminded us that, at their best, sports should help young people develop important values “such as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, sharing and solidarity.” 

Most of all, he pointed out that the great athletes we admire “sacrificed themselves for years, day after day, to achieve their results.”  He called this “the logic of sport, especially Olympic sport” and he reminded us that “it is also the logic of life: without sacrifices, important results are not obtained, or even genuine satisfaction.”

In ancient Corinth there was a stadium where the Isthmian Games were held.  It was fitting, therefore, that when St. Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians he used athletic competition as an image for Christian discipleship, and spoke of the logic of sport and life: “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things,” he wrote. “They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one … So run that you may obtain it!" (1 Cor. 9: 25, 24).

We are all called to wear the laurel of everlasting life in heaven.  But we must run the race of life and discipleship so as to win such a prize.  We must daily train and sacrifice, exercise self-control and practice the virtues, so that we can be strong “athletes of Christ.”  As we enjoy the Olympic Games these next two weeks, may the athletes we watch inspire us to recommit to the disciplines of the faith, and to run the race, so as to win the prize of everlasting glory.

The above will appear this weekend in the "Clergy Corner" of our parish bulletin at The Church of the Little Flower, Bethesda, MD.