Readings & Reflections

Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 22, 2012):

Jon 3:1-5, 10; I Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20

Readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 29, 2012):

Dt 18:15-20; I Cor 7:32-35; Mk 1:21-28

The McCabe Review:

Title:                "And God Said, 'It's Good'." 
Author:              Gary Graf
Publisher:         Ligouri/Triumph
Reviewed by:    Bruce McCabe

Praise God.....Is Tim Tebow out of bounds injecting his religion into his football? Are his critics out of bounds? I have to say I've been influenced by Gary Graf's intriguing book "And God Said 'It's Good'." Graf suggests that it's not by chance that there's a symbiosis between football and the Bible. He notes "It's good" is what the referee rules when the ball is kicked between the goal-posts as a field goal or the point after a touchdown.

Graf argues that football has made Sunday become something of a day of reckoning between us and our faiths and/or our obligations and allegiances to our favorite pastime. He dares to suggest that the games can be almost as inspiring, ennobling and uplifting as the injunctions we get from the pulpit. He correlates the language of football with the language of faith. Legends like Vince Lombardi and Johnny Unitas and others become icons that enjoy a "saintly" status. There are 11 players on a team, equal to the number of faithful apostles.

Arguably the most dramatic analogy is what's called the "Hail Mary" pass, a long, desperate heave thrown by a quarterback into a distant mob of teammates and opposing players with the hope that it will be caught by a teammate. There are also "immaculate receptions and conceptions'', "verses" and reverses and "resurrections" of careers and reputations.

Graf reasons that football, in all its incarnations and reincarnations, can resemble life itself. Figuratively, we drop passes, "miss" our assignments ("blocking and tackling"), get intercepted, fumble our attempts and efforts and get penalized for our derelictions or mistakes. Guilt-ridden players and teammates freely feel and plead with their mates for compassion and forgiveness of their errors and misplays.

Forgiveness in fact may be the answer. Forgive Tebow for thanking and crediting God with his agility and his spirituality and forgive those who can't quite see or understand and appreciate the excitement and novelty that he brings to a game that is, after all, only a game.

The book is available in the Bookstore or on line at www.glastonburyabbey.org. Also look there for books which have been recommended by Fathers Timothy and Nicholas.

Available in the Bookstore or at www.glastonburyabbey.org

Note:   The Bookstore is also recommending the following:   

(1) Richard Rohr's "A Lever and a Place to Stand: A Contemplative Stance in the Act of Prayer." Foreword by James W. Martin, S.J.  
(2) Cynthia Bourgeault's "Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening " and  
(3) Anne LeClair's "Listening Below the Noise: The Transformative Power of Silence."