Isn’t it great? The sun is out. The birds are chirping. You can smell brats and burgers grilling in the neighborhood. School is just about wrapped up. Life is good. You know what makes all of this better? Baseball. Baseball is back. My Brewers are currently on a long winning streak and the Cubs are losing, so life is good. And to top THAT, it’s Easter season.
Wait. What’s that you say? Easter? I thought Easter ended on March 31st!
While most celebrate only on Easter Sunday, the celebration continues for 7 weeks! Crazy, right! I love the Easter season, partially because it overlaps with baseball season. It’s when I can finally start drinking soda again, which I gave up for Lent. But now that Lent and Easter are “over,” what now? What do we do? Does sacrifice end? The answer? No.
I’m going to explain this metaphorically with my #4 love: baseball (It trails God, Family, and Friends). Think of the Lenten season as spring training. All the baseball players (Catholics) come together on the first day (Ash Wednesday) to talk about goals and what they’re going to work on (Lenten sacrifice). Some players have really developed their power over the seasons, but they need to work on their fielding. As a result, they make that their priority for spring training. We Catholics do the same. We work on becoming better Catholics in Lent. We find a sacrifice or something we want to do better, and through our actions, we grow in our relationship with Christ, just as ‘ball players are working on becoming better players.
So, spring training goes on, and the players are working on getting better at their position. They play exhibition games and work extra hours in the cages or on the field. Opening Day is right around the corner.
Opening Day, metaphorically, can be considered Easter Sunday. The energy is high. Everyone wants to look his or her best. Everything they’ve been working on can now be applied into the game. It is a time of joy. The game is over and the energy is still high, regardless of a win or a loss. But now what? Well. The season goes on.
Baseball players don’t prepare for one game. They prepare for 162 games (even more if their team makes it to October). We Catholics shouldn’t just prepare for one day of Easter. Our sacrifice and growth with God applies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Now, I’m not saying that you can never eat chocolate or drink a soda EVER again. That’s not my point. My point is that our energy on Easter (Opening Day) should go on for, well, ever! We should continuously have the urge to become better Catholics. Lent is a great reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. But should our sacrifice to him only last 40 days? Or should they last 365 days?
So. There you have it. I’ve just compared the best sport to the best religion. Sacrifice and growth. It shouldn’t be restricted to 40 days, because God doesn’t love us for only 40 days. He loves us everyday. Love. Love Christ everyday. Show him that Lenten spirit everyday of the year. It doesn’t have to be extravagant. Maybe it’s reading a bible passage everyday, or making sure to get your daily prayer in. Because just like baseball players, we don’t celebrate our team for one day. We celebrate our faith everyday.
God Bless!
Wait. What’s that you say? Easter? I thought Easter ended on March 31st!
While most celebrate only on Easter Sunday, the celebration continues for 7 weeks! Crazy, right! I love the Easter season, partially because it overlaps with baseball season. It’s when I can finally start drinking soda again, which I gave up for Lent. But now that Lent and Easter are “over,” what now? What do we do? Does sacrifice end? The answer? No.
I’m going to explain this metaphorically with my #4 love: baseball (It trails God, Family, and Friends). Think of the Lenten season as spring training. All the baseball players (Catholics) come together on the first day (Ash Wednesday) to talk about goals and what they’re going to work on (Lenten sacrifice). Some players have really developed their power over the seasons, but they need to work on their fielding. As a result, they make that their priority for spring training. We Catholics do the same. We work on becoming better Catholics in Lent. We find a sacrifice or something we want to do better, and through our actions, we grow in our relationship with Christ, just as ‘ball players are working on becoming better players.
So, spring training goes on, and the players are working on getting better at their position. They play exhibition games and work extra hours in the cages or on the field. Opening Day is right around the corner.
Opening Day, metaphorically, can be considered Easter Sunday. The energy is high. Everyone wants to look his or her best. Everything they’ve been working on can now be applied into the game. It is a time of joy. The game is over and the energy is still high, regardless of a win or a loss. But now what? Well. The season goes on.
Baseball players don’t prepare for one game. They prepare for 162 games (even more if their team makes it to October). We Catholics shouldn’t just prepare for one day of Easter. Our sacrifice and growth with God applies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Now, I’m not saying that you can never eat chocolate or drink a soda EVER again. That’s not my point. My point is that our energy on Easter (Opening Day) should go on for, well, ever! We should continuously have the urge to become better Catholics. Lent is a great reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. But should our sacrifice to him only last 40 days? Or should they last 365 days?
So. There you have it. I’ve just compared the best sport to the best religion. Sacrifice and growth. It shouldn’t be restricted to 40 days, because God doesn’t love us for only 40 days. He loves us everyday. Love. Love Christ everyday. Show him that Lenten spirit everyday of the year. It doesn’t have to be extravagant. Maybe it’s reading a bible passage everyday, or making sure to get your daily prayer in. Because just like baseball players, we don’t celebrate our team for one day. We celebrate our faith everyday.
God Bless!
John Christianson is"just a simple guy with a simple name and not-so-simple thoughts." He Loves God, Baseball, and going to Disney with his family. He currently is a student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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