Ijournal entry 091216 #37. September, Month of Our Lady of Sorrows. Aphorism by Hans Von Balthasar. Quotes by Fr. Josę La Boy, St. Jose Escrivá, and St. Raphael Kalinowski. Article: "Tired of Politics? Join the Club!", by AMANDA EVINGER. Article: "The Neo-Pagan Limits of the Olympics" by JOHN PAUL MEENAN. YouTube video: by Mike Maturen and Juan Munoz: Acceptance speeches
“Jesus Christ Himself revealed to Blessed Veronica of Binasco, that, He is more pleased in seeing His Mother compassionated than Himself.” He said to her: ‘My daughter, tears shed for My Passion are dear to Me; but as I loved My Mother Mary with an immense love, the meditation on the torments which She endured at My death is even more agreeable to Me.’
Info from this site: www.fatima.org/essentials/requests/devotion_of_seven_sorrows.pdf
Info from this site: www.fatima.org/essentials/requests/devotion_of_seven_sorrows.pdf
By Hans Von Balthasar
"Almost everything in the usual guidelines for spiritual progress is based on the unspoken principle: I must grow. When religion is not founded on security anxiety, the impulse toward “higher culture”, “spiritual refinement”, and so on, often plays the decisive role. We can live our whole life without ever realizing the meaning of: I must decrease. Not decrease exteriorly and grow interiorly; not decrease through mortification in order to increase in virtue according to the spiritual man; not decrease in “appearances” in order to grow in “essence”; but quite simply: he must grow, I must decrease"
"Almost everything in the usual guidelines for spiritual progress is based on the unspoken principle: I must grow. When religion is not founded on security anxiety, the impulse toward “higher culture”, “spiritual refinement”, and so on, often plays the decisive role. We can live our whole life without ever realizing the meaning of: I must decrease. Not decrease exteriorly and grow interiorly; not decrease through mortification in order to increase in virtue according to the spiritual man; not decrease in “appearances” in order to grow in “essence”; but quite simply: he must grow, I must decrease"
- MTA = Understandable how when He grows, the "I" becomes smaller and smaller. It no longer is about what the "I" must do. As one decreases through mortification in order to increase in virtue, it will be about Jesus growing, increasing, and bringing about the necessary virtues that transforms and changes the spiritual life more and more.)
🔴 "The demands of our faith are not “favors” we do for God, but existential obligations. That is why Christ reminds us, 'When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do'". Fr. Josę La Boy
(Luke 17:10).
⚫️ "We must convince ourselves that the worst enemy of a rock is not a pickaxe or any other such implement, no matter how sharp it is. No, its worst enemy is the constant flow of water which drop by drop enters the crevices until it ruins the rock’s structure". By St. Jose Escrivá
🔴 "I like to find at least a few moments each day spent in doing good for others out of love for God. These few moments, almost unnoticeably used, bring something like rays of peace and comfort behind them; they unite us with people and God by a pure feeling of tender sweetness". By St. Raphael Kalinowski"
(Luke 17:10).
⚫️ "We must convince ourselves that the worst enemy of a rock is not a pickaxe or any other such implement, no matter how sharp it is. No, its worst enemy is the constant flow of water which drop by drop enters the crevices until it ruins the rock’s structure". By St. Jose Escrivá
🔴 "I like to find at least a few moments each day spent in doing good for others out of love for God. These few moments, almost unnoticeably used, bring something like rays of peace and comfort behind them; they unite us with people and God by a pure feeling of tender sweetness". By St. Raphael Kalinowski"
This is an entry that is right on time, it is in sync with an article in this week's Clarion Herald, our diocesan newspaper. The article was entitled "The Challenge of Forming Consciences For Faithful Citizenship". The article can be found here:
clarionherald.info/clarion/images/article_images/____2016_issues/09_10_16/faithful_citizenship1.pdf
The decision to journal this info was made several weeks ago. Also a recent email from someone, my PIC2, was right on the cusp on this entry about the topic of voting. The person asked who would be receiving my vote? Had to respond by saying that my first consideration was not to vote. Upon seriously considering this, it seemed an unwise choice. Because women at one time were denied, and Black people have died, not voting was a decision that needed to be overwhelmingly overridden.
What a delight to find candidates where it is possible to vote my conscience. Thought it could be the Independent candidates, but that proved to be a bust. From my point of view, they are not much better than the major candidates. After partaking of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this issue was discussed with the priest. Fr. Leo's suggestion was to check out the Green Party. While looking for that party on the web, info crossed my path about the American Solidarity Party. After viewing the video, it was comforting to see that in good conscience, it will be possible to vote not for the lesser of two evils, or to vote for the candidate most likely to win, but to vote for candidates with views similar to my own. Thank God for finding someone else looking for alternatives to what is being offered.
clarionherald.info/clarion/images/article_images/____2016_issues/09_10_16/faithful_citizenship1.pdf
The decision to journal this info was made several weeks ago. Also a recent email from someone, my PIC2, was right on the cusp on this entry about the topic of voting. The person asked who would be receiving my vote? Had to respond by saying that my first consideration was not to vote. Upon seriously considering this, it seemed an unwise choice. Because women at one time were denied, and Black people have died, not voting was a decision that needed to be overwhelmingly overridden.
What a delight to find candidates where it is possible to vote my conscience. Thought it could be the Independent candidates, but that proved to be a bust. From my point of view, they are not much better than the major candidates. After partaking of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this issue was discussed with the priest. Fr. Leo's suggestion was to check out the Green Party. While looking for that party on the web, info crossed my path about the American Solidarity Party. After viewing the video, it was comforting to see that in good conscience, it will be possible to vote not for the lesser of two evils, or to vote for the candidate most likely to win, but to vote for candidates with views similar to my own. Thank God for finding someone else looking for alternatives to what is being offered.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 "First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers,intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered on behalf of all men for kings and all those in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity" |
"Tired of Politics? Join the Club!", by AMANDA EVINGER
Info from this site:
www.ncregister.com/blog/evinger/tired-of-politics-join-the-club/
"The other day, I was getting pretty tired of the media-based brainwashing and mudslinging going on when it comes to two certain people in the world today, so I decided to look up the definition of what politics actually is. Wikipedia's definition is as follows:
Politics (from Greek: πολιτικός politikos, definition "of, for, or relating to citizens") is the process of making decisions applying to all members of a group. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state.
Indeed, it's as I suspected. Politics is about highly mature things like governance and creating a certain order in society aimed at (ideally) furthering the common good. So, what's up with CNN nowadays, not to mention the best of us Christians, when we get together to talk politics over cappuccinos? To put it bluntly, many of us tend to act a little like animals in front of grisly bones when it comes to discussing this lofty thing called “politics.”
If wisdom were on our side, we would use even politics to bring out the best in us – the chivalry, the compassion, the benevolence, the innate goodness woven into our souls by our Creator. Each one of us is truly capable of magnificent things, and so are our politicians. We must make God the God of our carefully chosen political stances, not just of our personal prayer lives when no one else is looking.
If we call ourselves Catholics, let us be Catholics from the moment we wake up to the moment we enter the voting booth to the moment we say our Act of Contrition at night. If we call ourselves followers of Christ, let us weigh our political decisions on His scale – that of the Ten Commandments. The political positions we hold must show the colors of a God-fearing heart; they must be evidence of the God of life we believe in and claim to cherish. They must testify to the beauty of Christian marriage and the tiny golden gift of an unborn child; they must uphold the right to liberty that has been won by bloodshed, and hail the dignity of hard work and the freedom of religion.
In the end, we have to heed the call to justice. In the book seriesIn Conversation With God, Fr. Francis Fernandez explains:
Justice is founded on the inviolable dignity of the human person, created in God's image and likeness and destined to enjoy eternal happiness forever in heaven. ... Proper regard fro the rights of individuals begins with the just ordering of civil law, to the upholding of which we Christians have to contribute with all of our strength as exemplary Christians, beginning with laws that defend the right to life, that first of all rights, from the very moment of conception.
And now for the bombshell: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are children of God. They were created masterfully by our good God, in His image and likeness, capable of towering greatness and sanctity. Whether they acknowledge this or act like it is, of course, a cause of immense concern. Regardless, they are people. They have families, they eat and drink and sleep and enjoy watching the sunset. They are, in some fashion, worthy of at least a shred of our respect and especially, our prayers.
To this I plead guilty – I admit. How many times do I lift up political candidates in prayer with a merciful heart to God on high, begging Him to change her heart and one day gain the Beatific Vision? Get real! When I hear some of their names, I don't just grow horns — I grow something like spiked antlers drenched in poison, from a monstrous elk of Montana.
Is my anger really helping? And the gossip and slander – is it taking our country the route it needs to go – not to mention the entire world, which is watching America's political scene like a hawk? Of course not. Join me in trying to change the tide. No – sorry – join me in changing the tide. Our country is too broken and sinful to have citizens that are just trying to better her.
Condemn the sin? Absolutely, absolutely. Condemn the sinner? Not necessarily. Tired of politics? Yes – actually no. Tired of what politics has become? Definitely. Ladies and gentlemen, let's letreal politics flower and come to life among us. An organized but limited government which sacrifices itself to keep America “one nation, under God, with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” may sound like a dream, but with enough prayer and plenty of fighting spirit, it's one dream that just might come close to true"
Info from this site:
www.ncregister.com/blog/evinger/tired-of-politics-join-the-club/
"The other day, I was getting pretty tired of the media-based brainwashing and mudslinging going on when it comes to two certain people in the world today, so I decided to look up the definition of what politics actually is. Wikipedia's definition is as follows:
Politics (from Greek: πολιτικός politikos, definition "of, for, or relating to citizens") is the process of making decisions applying to all members of a group. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state.
Indeed, it's as I suspected. Politics is about highly mature things like governance and creating a certain order in society aimed at (ideally) furthering the common good. So, what's up with CNN nowadays, not to mention the best of us Christians, when we get together to talk politics over cappuccinos? To put it bluntly, many of us tend to act a little like animals in front of grisly bones when it comes to discussing this lofty thing called “politics.”
If wisdom were on our side, we would use even politics to bring out the best in us – the chivalry, the compassion, the benevolence, the innate goodness woven into our souls by our Creator. Each one of us is truly capable of magnificent things, and so are our politicians. We must make God the God of our carefully chosen political stances, not just of our personal prayer lives when no one else is looking.
If we call ourselves Catholics, let us be Catholics from the moment we wake up to the moment we enter the voting booth to the moment we say our Act of Contrition at night. If we call ourselves followers of Christ, let us weigh our political decisions on His scale – that of the Ten Commandments. The political positions we hold must show the colors of a God-fearing heart; they must be evidence of the God of life we believe in and claim to cherish. They must testify to the beauty of Christian marriage and the tiny golden gift of an unborn child; they must uphold the right to liberty that has been won by bloodshed, and hail the dignity of hard work and the freedom of religion.
In the end, we have to heed the call to justice. In the book seriesIn Conversation With God, Fr. Francis Fernandez explains:
Justice is founded on the inviolable dignity of the human person, created in God's image and likeness and destined to enjoy eternal happiness forever in heaven. ... Proper regard fro the rights of individuals begins with the just ordering of civil law, to the upholding of which we Christians have to contribute with all of our strength as exemplary Christians, beginning with laws that defend the right to life, that first of all rights, from the very moment of conception.
And now for the bombshell: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are children of God. They were created masterfully by our good God, in His image and likeness, capable of towering greatness and sanctity. Whether they acknowledge this or act like it is, of course, a cause of immense concern. Regardless, they are people. They have families, they eat and drink and sleep and enjoy watching the sunset. They are, in some fashion, worthy of at least a shred of our respect and especially, our prayers.
To this I plead guilty – I admit. How many times do I lift up political candidates in prayer with a merciful heart to God on high, begging Him to change her heart and one day gain the Beatific Vision? Get real! When I hear some of their names, I don't just grow horns — I grow something like spiked antlers drenched in poison, from a monstrous elk of Montana.
Is my anger really helping? And the gossip and slander – is it taking our country the route it needs to go – not to mention the entire world, which is watching America's political scene like a hawk? Of course not. Join me in trying to change the tide. No – sorry – join me in changing the tide. Our country is too broken and sinful to have citizens that are just trying to better her.
Condemn the sin? Absolutely, absolutely. Condemn the sinner? Not necessarily. Tired of politics? Yes – actually no. Tired of what politics has become? Definitely. Ladies and gentlemen, let's letreal politics flower and come to life among us. An organized but limited government which sacrifices itself to keep America “one nation, under God, with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” may sound like a dream, but with enough prayer and plenty of fighting spirit, it's one dream that just might come close to true"
"The Neo-Pagan Limits of the Olympics" by JOHN PAUL MEENAN
Info from this site :
www.crisismagazine.com/2016/neo-pagan-limits-olympics
The Neo-Pagan Limits of the Olympics
"...Rio, a city in a country in a continent mired in unmanageable debt and corruption. Surrounded by poverty-stricken favelas, the city has poured billions into Olympic venues, security, advertising, all to watch a few thousand overhyped young athletes strive to excel at their chosen sport.
Don’t get me wrong: I do not harbor any dislike, to say nothing of hatred, for athletics. In fact, I have enjoyed many pleasant hours playing various kinds of games at a recreational level, even though, partly due to the circumstances of my life, I mostly enjoy solitary physical activities, cycling, kayaking and hiking. Perhaps I find them more conducive to prayer and reflection, or perhaps it is connected in some subconscious way to the memory that no one wanted to pick me for a team as a wee lad. You know, past traumas and all that.
So allow me to clarify that I find it very difficult to care about professional sports that have, by and large, become a bloated, idolatrous entity, blown vastly out of proportion to their importance to our culture.
As the well-worn analogy goes, sports arenas are our new cathedrals, and the players our new panoply of saints, to whom we offer devotion and praise. Grown men quite literally weep and gnash their teeth when their team seems to be on the verge of losing, or winning; people riot in the streets regardless of the outcome. Much of our lives revolves around sports, and even those who are not “fans” (short, of course, for “fanatics”) are caught up in the hype of the big events, the current Olympics, the World Cup, the Stanley Cup, the Super Bowl, and so on.
I have never been one for this charade, not least for the reason that I would rather ride a bike than watch another man do so.
Of course, watching sports does give one a sense of vicarious enjoyment, especially if one participates in the sport in question. Seeing the cyclists of the Tour de France pedalling through the glorious scenery of the Pyrenees, one can imagine oneself doing the same thing, perhaps a tad slower, of course, on a less expensive bike, and with a bit more clothing.
Yet what have sports become? We may judge the value with which we hold a thing by how much money and time we are willing to spend on it, and we as a culture spend far too much of these valuable entities on this ultimately rather utilitarian activity. Parents devote their entire weekends driving their children, boys and now girls, from game to game, tournament to tournament. Sunday Mass? Prayer? Cultural activities? Reading? Music? Family time? Do most modern families even consider such a scale of priorities?
At the professional level, sports have become a money-driven machine, with their millionaire players selling their set of skills to the highest bidder amongst the billionaire owners. Team loyalty? So long as they pay me enough; and if “my team” does not perform well, I can be traded before the playoffs. Geographical loyalty, and rooting for the “home team”? How many players are actually from, or care a fig for, the town or city whose name the team adopts, or even from a contiguous region or country, for which they play? How many actually even live there?
The Olympics brings this charade to its apogee, or nadir as the case may be, with untold billions now thrown into its gaping, insatiable maw (at the last venue, the impoverished Russians will be paying off the $15 billion tag for Sochi perhaps until judgement day, and Rio will be no different. Montreal just finished paying off its own debt from the more-sober era of the 1976 Olympics a few years ago).
We watch the desperate athletes, after spending their entire lives training, trying to shave quite literally a thousandths of a second off the last recorded time, a result dependent upon so many other factors (wind, a cold virus, altitude, cloud cover, “climate change,” you name it) that “chance” has about as large a role as “effort.” Their whole lives revolve around their body and its training until, in their mid-twenties, it is worn out, and they are often left injured, disillusioned and depressed as they drift into sedentary middle-age. I wonder especially of the female athletes, delaying marriage and family, as they pummel and morph their bodies into lean, muscular male-like physiques, all for the sake of a gold bauble, or something far less.
Here is something to ponder: No matter how much humans train, some animal will always beat them handily. The world record holder for the 100 meter dash, Usain Bolt, ran it in 9.58 seconds. Compare the fastest human with Sarah the 11 year old cheetah, well into late-middle age for the large cat, who lies around most of the day, and who can run the same distance easily in 5.95 seconds. No one will ever out-wrestle a chimpanzee, even if defanged and declawed, for they have four times the strength of an adult male, nor out bench-press a gorilla, who could probably lift a humvee with ease and can bend tempered steel; and who will ever out-swim a dolphin, which can clock speeds of 25 miles per hour (Michael Phelps, the Olympic prodigy whose feats will likely never be repeated, swims at his best 6 miles per hour). And none of these animals “train” in our sense of the word. They’re just born that way.
Higher, faster, stronger? Scientists estimate that we are perhaps shaving off only 1/100 of a second on records each Olympics. And, as we have witnessed of late, many of these records are tainted by doping and other nefarious activities.
Whatever ‘excellence’ the Olympians are striving after, it is not specifically human excellence. There was a reason why the Olympics were, until recently, limited to amateurs, and forbidden to professionals. The originators of the Olympic ideal thought it unseemly and inhuman to devote one’s whole life and existence to “sport,” which should be a leisurely activity, done on the side. After all, there are many other higher, specifically human pastimes and virtues, music, art, science, literature, contemplation, which we do not share with animals, and which are far more fitting to cultivate. That was part of the sub-plot of the great 1981 Olympic film Chariots of Fire: Beware of making sports professional and all consuming, for we risk a loss of a significant part of our humanity.
The Church has always warned against the danger of such a “cult of the body,” a “neo-pagan notion” leading one “to sacrifice everything for [the body’s] sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports” (cf., CCC, #2289). Along with this idolization of the body goes a perverse hedonism, as we see in the spike in Tinder usage in the Olympic village, a smartphone app which allows its users to “hook up” with those whom one finds immediately attractive, by swiping their photo. To “facilitate” this fornicatory process, 450,000 condoms were handed out to the athletes. Given there are about 11,000 competitors, that’s about 41 condoms per person, or 82 per couple, which is saying something for a two-week event.
I would have thought sexual incontinence would decrease one’s athletic performance, draining one’s focus, attention, and determination (as you may recall from the first Rocky film, and, more historically, Roman legionaries).
Of course, I hope and presume most athletes do develop other skills and virtues besides sports and “hooking up,” particularly virtues of the mind and soul, to which the body is most definitely subordinate, so they can thrive in terms of what it really means to be human, beyond their brief, all-too-short athletic careers, over almost before they begin.
We must always bring ourselves back to reality and realize with the full focus of our intellect that most sports are simply a bunch of guys, and now girls, running, swimming, fighting, or throwing, hitting and chasing a piece of rubber around various kinds of surfaces, which animals (and now robots) can do far better. Such activities are not the point of life, at least of human life.
Yet much of our time, our energy, our focus, are consumed by them, and many men quite religiously spend their entire weekends and time off watching younger, fitter men (and women) do things they only wish they could do. Harmless fun, to an extent, I suppose; a vicarious form of warfare sublimating our aggression, perhaps; a way to perfect one’s body, yes, but only if one participates in “real life,” getting out of Plato’s illusory cave of televised entertainment, into the real world where we can live and move and have our being. It is all a matter of perspective, and we in our artificial modern age have sadly put the last things first, and first things last.
While there are many positive aspects of sports, let us not abandon proper perspective by forgetting what it truly means to be human."
Info from this site :
www.crisismagazine.com/2016/neo-pagan-limits-olympics
The Neo-Pagan Limits of the Olympics
"...Rio, a city in a country in a continent mired in unmanageable debt and corruption. Surrounded by poverty-stricken favelas, the city has poured billions into Olympic venues, security, advertising, all to watch a few thousand overhyped young athletes strive to excel at their chosen sport.
Don’t get me wrong: I do not harbor any dislike, to say nothing of hatred, for athletics. In fact, I have enjoyed many pleasant hours playing various kinds of games at a recreational level, even though, partly due to the circumstances of my life, I mostly enjoy solitary physical activities, cycling, kayaking and hiking. Perhaps I find them more conducive to prayer and reflection, or perhaps it is connected in some subconscious way to the memory that no one wanted to pick me for a team as a wee lad. You know, past traumas and all that.
So allow me to clarify that I find it very difficult to care about professional sports that have, by and large, become a bloated, idolatrous entity, blown vastly out of proportion to their importance to our culture.
As the well-worn analogy goes, sports arenas are our new cathedrals, and the players our new panoply of saints, to whom we offer devotion and praise. Grown men quite literally weep and gnash their teeth when their team seems to be on the verge of losing, or winning; people riot in the streets regardless of the outcome. Much of our lives revolves around sports, and even those who are not “fans” (short, of course, for “fanatics”) are caught up in the hype of the big events, the current Olympics, the World Cup, the Stanley Cup, the Super Bowl, and so on.
I have never been one for this charade, not least for the reason that I would rather ride a bike than watch another man do so.
Of course, watching sports does give one a sense of vicarious enjoyment, especially if one participates in the sport in question. Seeing the cyclists of the Tour de France pedalling through the glorious scenery of the Pyrenees, one can imagine oneself doing the same thing, perhaps a tad slower, of course, on a less expensive bike, and with a bit more clothing.
Yet what have sports become? We may judge the value with which we hold a thing by how much money and time we are willing to spend on it, and we as a culture spend far too much of these valuable entities on this ultimately rather utilitarian activity. Parents devote their entire weekends driving their children, boys and now girls, from game to game, tournament to tournament. Sunday Mass? Prayer? Cultural activities? Reading? Music? Family time? Do most modern families even consider such a scale of priorities?
At the professional level, sports have become a money-driven machine, with their millionaire players selling their set of skills to the highest bidder amongst the billionaire owners. Team loyalty? So long as they pay me enough; and if “my team” does not perform well, I can be traded before the playoffs. Geographical loyalty, and rooting for the “home team”? How many players are actually from, or care a fig for, the town or city whose name the team adopts, or even from a contiguous region or country, for which they play? How many actually even live there?
The Olympics brings this charade to its apogee, or nadir as the case may be, with untold billions now thrown into its gaping, insatiable maw (at the last venue, the impoverished Russians will be paying off the $15 billion tag for Sochi perhaps until judgement day, and Rio will be no different. Montreal just finished paying off its own debt from the more-sober era of the 1976 Olympics a few years ago).
We watch the desperate athletes, after spending their entire lives training, trying to shave quite literally a thousandths of a second off the last recorded time, a result dependent upon so many other factors (wind, a cold virus, altitude, cloud cover, “climate change,” you name it) that “chance” has about as large a role as “effort.” Their whole lives revolve around their body and its training until, in their mid-twenties, it is worn out, and they are often left injured, disillusioned and depressed as they drift into sedentary middle-age. I wonder especially of the female athletes, delaying marriage and family, as they pummel and morph their bodies into lean, muscular male-like physiques, all for the sake of a gold bauble, or something far less.
Here is something to ponder: No matter how much humans train, some animal will always beat them handily. The world record holder for the 100 meter dash, Usain Bolt, ran it in 9.58 seconds. Compare the fastest human with Sarah the 11 year old cheetah, well into late-middle age for the large cat, who lies around most of the day, and who can run the same distance easily in 5.95 seconds. No one will ever out-wrestle a chimpanzee, even if defanged and declawed, for they have four times the strength of an adult male, nor out bench-press a gorilla, who could probably lift a humvee with ease and can bend tempered steel; and who will ever out-swim a dolphin, which can clock speeds of 25 miles per hour (Michael Phelps, the Olympic prodigy whose feats will likely never be repeated, swims at his best 6 miles per hour). And none of these animals “train” in our sense of the word. They’re just born that way.
Higher, faster, stronger? Scientists estimate that we are perhaps shaving off only 1/100 of a second on records each Olympics. And, as we have witnessed of late, many of these records are tainted by doping and other nefarious activities.
Whatever ‘excellence’ the Olympians are striving after, it is not specifically human excellence. There was a reason why the Olympics were, until recently, limited to amateurs, and forbidden to professionals. The originators of the Olympic ideal thought it unseemly and inhuman to devote one’s whole life and existence to “sport,” which should be a leisurely activity, done on the side. After all, there are many other higher, specifically human pastimes and virtues, music, art, science, literature, contemplation, which we do not share with animals, and which are far more fitting to cultivate. That was part of the sub-plot of the great 1981 Olympic film Chariots of Fire: Beware of making sports professional and all consuming, for we risk a loss of a significant part of our humanity.
The Church has always warned against the danger of such a “cult of the body,” a “neo-pagan notion” leading one “to sacrifice everything for [the body’s] sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports” (cf., CCC, #2289). Along with this idolization of the body goes a perverse hedonism, as we see in the spike in Tinder usage in the Olympic village, a smartphone app which allows its users to “hook up” with those whom one finds immediately attractive, by swiping their photo. To “facilitate” this fornicatory process, 450,000 condoms were handed out to the athletes. Given there are about 11,000 competitors, that’s about 41 condoms per person, or 82 per couple, which is saying something for a two-week event.
I would have thought sexual incontinence would decrease one’s athletic performance, draining one’s focus, attention, and determination (as you may recall from the first Rocky film, and, more historically, Roman legionaries).
Of course, I hope and presume most athletes do develop other skills and virtues besides sports and “hooking up,” particularly virtues of the mind and soul, to which the body is most definitely subordinate, so they can thrive in terms of what it really means to be human, beyond their brief, all-too-short athletic careers, over almost before they begin.
We must always bring ourselves back to reality and realize with the full focus of our intellect that most sports are simply a bunch of guys, and now girls, running, swimming, fighting, or throwing, hitting and chasing a piece of rubber around various kinds of surfaces, which animals (and now robots) can do far better. Such activities are not the point of life, at least of human life.
Yet much of our time, our energy, our focus, are consumed by them, and many men quite religiously spend their entire weekends and time off watching younger, fitter men (and women) do things they only wish they could do. Harmless fun, to an extent, I suppose; a vicarious form of warfare sublimating our aggression, perhaps; a way to perfect one’s body, yes, but only if one participates in “real life,” getting out of Plato’s illusory cave of televised entertainment, into the real world where we can live and move and have our being. It is all a matter of perspective, and we in our artificial modern age have sadly put the last things first, and first things last.
While there are many positive aspects of sports, let us not abandon proper perspective by forgetting what it truly means to be human."
Acceptance speech, by Mike Maturen
Link to the YouTube video.
http://www.solidarity-party.org/#!maturen-munoz-2016/kwhrm
Vice Presidential Speech, by Juan Munoz
Link to the YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/3Wxe5jqNxAs
Link to the YouTube video.
http://www.solidarity-party.org/#!maturen-munoz-2016/kwhrm
Vice Presidential Speech, by Juan Munoz
Link to the YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/3Wxe5jqNxAs