"Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:"You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.'* What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you." - Acts 17:22-23
The ritual of a football game is an incredible thing. Dress code: Bucs gear. Behavior: Cheer for the Bucs, cheer against everyone else. Gestures: Stand when something exciting is happening and or wave your arms around passionately. Preparation: appropriate food and beverages, allotment of time, knowledge of the game. Responses: sing when the Megatron tells you to sing, yell when it tells you to yell, be quite when it tells you to be quiet.
This ritual which surrounds football has parts, players and community. It raises or depresses us. There is even a particular place where we go to participate in this ritual. This is true not just of football but of any sporting event, concert or many other examples. Sports could be considered an experience akin to religiosity, it is an altar where we place our time, attention and hopes.
Should St. Paul visit Champa bay and witness the behaviors surrounding our city, he'd point out the many altars where we practice religiosity. The fact that we as human enter into these ritualistic practices reveals that the human heart has a "religious sense." We yearn for an organized way to transcend ourselves and encounter something beyond us. Unfortunately, the altars of the world fail to satisfy the deepest aches of the human heart. The cathedrals of sport may elevate us for a temporary moment but fail to bestow eternal significance. Paul looked beneath the surface of the behavior of the Athenians and saw what their heart truly yearned for. May we look beneath the surface of our societal practices today and point out the One who truly responds to those deepest of desires.
Where might I affirm the religiosity of a person in my life and invite them to experience the gift of religiosity in Catholicism?
Father, give me the grace to enter into the Mass with the same passion I would enter into the Super Bowl.
Reflection by:
Father Chuck Dornquast
Did You Know...
Fr. Chuck Dornquast is a son of St. Joseph Parish in Zephyrhills. After graduating from Zephyrhills High School he entered seminary where he would spend the next 9 years. While in seminary he spent time at many of our diocesan parishes and discovered more and more the heart of Christ the High Priest within him. After ordination he spent his first 4 years of priesthood as the associate pastor of St. Lawrence in Tampa. He currently serves the Diocese of St. Petersburg as the Director of Vocations.
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