Please pray

…for the poor people of Rocky Mount, Virginia.

Flood? No. Earthquake? No. Boll-weevil swarm? No.

They will soon have a new priest living in their bucolic piedmont town. A tall geek you know.

…The Hoyas begin a long, hard Lent on Ash Wednesday. In order to win the Big East tournament, it will be necessary to beat UConn, then Pitt, then Syracuse (or St. John’s), then either Notre Dame, Louisville, or West Virginia–on four consecutive days in Madison Square Garden.

A Herculean feat. If they manage it, we can all take the rest of Lent off. (Kidding.)

After winning the Big East, the Hoyas will get to rest for two days before beginning the long march to Houston. But, seriously, you can have the NCAA tournament. All I care about is what happens in New York.

Except: Yes, I hate the North Carolina Tar Heels as much as any Hoyas fan should. But who could resist the Cinderella story of the 2010-11 UNC season? With demolishing Duke as the coup de grace?

It is almost enough to make a guy forget about the James Worthy thing forever.

–

…I never should have made fun of “The King’s Speech.” It is a beautiful movie. I cried like a woman through the whole thing.

Jimmer!

This morning I found myself in a church where I had been precisely once before–in 1994. Back then I was a 24-year-old nitwit, as opposed to the 40-year-old nitwit I am now.

Being back in this place, I realized: By the grace of God, I managed to spend most of my twenties praying. Then I realized: Dude, you pretty much spent your thirties praying, too.

So I may be a nitwit. But at least I have this going for me.

AND I know God loves me, because: Last year the Hoyas beat Duke. This year the Hoyas don’t even play Duke (except maybe in the NCAA tournament). But this year, the Hokies beat Duke!

Tech beating the little blueys was not the victory of the day yesterday, however. The victory of the day was Brigham Young marching into southern California, confronting an arena full of losers dressed-up as Mormon missionaries in mockery, and proceeding to whup San Diego State’s butt.

…Listen, I don’t mean to pester you. But we really have to deal with the metaphysics of morality. We have not begun to scratch the surface.

So far we have: the existence of God and religion. There is a moral law revealed by God, the Ten Commandments. We will face judgment and will either be punished or pitied. Faith is the foundation of morals.

But this is clearly not the whole story. There are non-believers with impeccable morals. Also, the Ten Commandments do not apply themselves to particular cases. One person may have a duty to act in one way, and another person in a different way, under identical circumstances.

And there is more: Don’t we perceive our options according to our habits? The question of whether or not to spend $2.50 for a cup of coffee is an altogether different question for someone who does so regularly versus someone who does not.

If we are going to be judged–and we are–then what are we going to be judged ON? Understanding how the Olympic judges score gymnastic routines is hard enough. What exactly are their criteria? But what about the all-knowing divine Judge? What are HIS?

Chime in, people.

Labor of Love

Let’s say you are a defensive linebacker. Let’s say the other team just scored a touchdown. Then they try a two-point conversion.

Let’s say you intercept a pass on their conversion attempt. You run the ball back to the OTHER end-zone.

How many points does your team get?

Two points, chief. Two points.

Did you know that? I have been a football fan all my life, and I did not know it until yesterday.

John Isner

Speaking of college football, Florida beat Charleston Southern 62-3.

Impressive victory. But the Gators did not cover the spread, which was 63 points.

Yesterday was quite a day.

I was sorry to see Andy Roddick knocked out of the U.S. Open so quickly. On the other hand, we tall guys have to stick together. (John Isner is 6′ 9″.)

…It’s time for some new Bests.

The overwhelming winner of the First-Anniversary poll was: “This blog is best enjoyed with a cold one.”

…Happy Labor Day! The “labor of love” is your patient indulgence of this tedious blog, written by one of the worst priests ever ordained.

…Here is a mysterious saying of Christ:

Sinai

Here is a dramatic painting by El Greco of the mountain where Moses fasted and prayed for forty days.

…Meanwhile, who could have predicted that…

West Virginia would handily beat Pitt? Villanova would beat Marquette? Syracuse would beat UConn after SIX overtimes? The Big East tournament is up for grabs.

And today, Virginia Tech almost beat UNC!

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(Quite a long highlight reel–the game was over 3 1/2 hours!)

Doxology à la St. Paul

Greg Monroe had a nice dunk in the first half, though he did not have a great game

If it were a contest of faithfulness to the holy Church, Mount St. Mary’s would probably win.

And if the Mount were allowed to put its seminarians on the orthodoxy team, then they would kick Georgetown’s b–t.

But in basketball, it was a different story.

The Hoyas and Mountaineers hadn’t played since 1962. Georgetown won by eleven points, but the game was actually closer than that. It was a battle–not a pretty battle, but a battle nonetheless.

The Hoyas missed two out of every three shots. The Mount hung in the game until the last two minutes. The Hoyas got the W, but J.T. III said that he is not pleased: “I expect more from this group.”

Speaking for myself, I will take the Hoya win.

On another subject: The people in church will be spared the Preacher this Sunday morning. The deacon will be preaching.

Hoyas' Coach John Thompson III

But for you gluttons for punishment, here is a homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent:

Brothers and sisters: To him who can strengthen you, according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God,
made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Romans 16:25-27)

Let’s listen again to the way St. Paul glorified God in the passage we heard from his letter to the Romans. He wrote: “To the only wise God be glory forever.”

May God be glorified, dear brothers and sisters.