Football (Soccer) and Catholicism

Picture of Javier "El Chicharito" Hernandez praying prior to a Mexico match.

If you are one of the few who have been following this blog since its inception then you know that most of the early blog posts contained a lot of football (soccer). And for the record, from now on I will use football to mean soccer. I don't watch or like American football *ducks* so no reason to get those confused.

As I wrote four years ago, (wow...) I played most sports growing up. In fact, I was named female MVP in eight grade because I never shied away from sports... even if it meant I was the only girl playing. I was that tomboy with scraped knees and bruises in skorts. lol. If I hadn't developed this anxiety disorder in high school (and thus having me transfer to a charter school) and/or messed up my right foot, I would've loved to have played football in high school and college. The sport actually helped rebuild the communication between my father and I in the last years of his life. (This story was included in the first Envoy Magazine article I wrote two years ago.) Needless to say, it has a special place in my heart for that and other reasons.

After my father passed away, I lost interest in a lot of things -- including football. Between that and my uber heavy course load, I eventually stopped watching the matches... though only for a couple of months. It wasn't until recently that I started to get back into the sport to the point where I once again prefer watching the matches to sleeping. lol. With Euro 2012 coming up (Go Rep. of Ireland!) as well as the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers (Go, USMNT!) starting this week, I thought it was a good time to finally write this post that I've been wanting to write.

You may not know this but there is a good relationship between football and Catholicism. A few years ago I was excited to learn that Bl. Pope John Paul II was a fan of my favorite football team, Liverpool F.C. as well as Barcelona (my favorite team in the Spanish League.) Liverpool's official website even got the scoop straight from the Vatican that he followed the career of a former goalkeeper who helped the team win the 2005 UEFA Champions League final. As a diehard Reds fan, this made me giddy. Of course, he's not the only Pope to say something on the sport. My beloved Pope Benedict XVI wrote about the importance of the sport (back when he was Cardinal Ratzinger) and even gave a list of the teams he was rooting for during the last World Cup. Though he is not as big of a fan as Bl. Pope JP II (though he does like my pick in the German League, Bayern Munich), he still knows how important it is to us and uses it to try to bring us closer to God.

Speaking of the World Cup (see what I did there? ;D), the winners of the last WC (Spain) made sure that the world knew who they were thanking for their triumph. Many of the players and staff dedicated the trophy to Our Lady and to the intercession of saints. The president of the Spanish football association as well as the team's coach dedicated the trophy to St. James. Player David Silva thanked Our Lady of Mount Carmel for the victory. When the team went to Mexico for a friendly match, they took the trophy and dedicated it to Our Lady of Guadalupe. For a country that is becoming more and more appallingly secularized, the team did good and I was proud to be of Spanish heritage when I heard of what they were doing. Before I move on from the last World Cup I also want to make note that Dutch player, Wesley Sneijder, even converted to Catholicism shortly before the World Cup began. Oh yeah! Of course, they are not the only ones who bring faith into the sport.

Watch a match between two predominantly Catholic countries and you'll see the majority of the players doing the sign of the cross as they walk on the pitch. Any of you watch the Brazil vs. Mexico match this past weekend? If so, then you saw the players doing just this. Mexican player Javier "El Chicharito" Hernandez is one of the most outwardly devout players, often kneeling on the pitch to pray mere seconds before it starts. He's done this in British Premier League where he plays for Manchester United. If you read Spanish or don't mind click Google Translate for the translation, in this interview he talks about how proud he is to be Catholic. If you're a fan of the Premier League, you may also be interested to hear that Liverpool FC's Steven Gerrard supposedly named his new baby daughter Lourdes after the town where Our Lady appeared AND that the Vatican recently gave Didier Drogba props for his crediting God for Chelsea's UEFA Champions League win last month. I didn't even know he was Catholic until recently either but this article really made me happy. A few years ago I wrote about how Italian Nicolas Legrottaglie and Brazilian Kaka (though he is not Catholic) were those outspoken against pre-martial sex, crediting their faith for their decisions to be chaste until they married.

Even in this country, where it's predominantly Protestant, we have our fair share of Catholic footballers. Eddie Gaven of the Columbus Crew as well as Luke Vercollone of the Charleston Battery belong to Catholic Athletes for Christ. Luke wrote a great article about his career and his vocation for Envoy Magazine. If you haven't already read it, I strongly suggest that you do. I also recently discovered a great website called Blessed 2 Play in which Eddie was interviewed about his faith (great 30 minute audio interview that includes the story of how he and his wife met... and how his wife converted to Catholicism). Also, I don't know if you remember but Chase Hilgenbrinck left the New England Revolution to become a priest. Oh yes, it's possible to have a priestly vocation and still love the game as the recent "clerical World Cup" news shows us. And one more piece of trivia for you... a Vatican City football team does indeed exist. I checked it out.

I do have so many other links and players I could talk about but maybe for another post. I think y'all get it. If you want to read an amusing post about how soccer is like Catholicism, go here. It's pretty spot on and I appreciated the comparisons as a Catholic.

And this is my post. I know, it's a lot of links but I do my research and I've been saving these links for a while now. I will undoubtedly occasionally write about the sport so y'all been warned. lol. I will try not to go overboard with it because I can become quite passionate about the sport -- and if you follow me on twitter you know that I can get a little too into it. lol. I hope some of you learned something new. :)

Anyway, I really want to take some time to pray before my mom gets home. I like my solo time to pray. :)

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless! :D

Born to Be Catholic?

Last night, mom and I were watching a show about angels which lead to an interesting conversation. Mom said that I seemed to have been born to be a devoted, and very religious, Catholic. She said that when I was a baby and used to smile and laugh in my sleep, she used to say to my dad "Look, she's talking to her little (guardian) angel." Apparently, I would be sound asleep and all of a sudden I would burst into laughter... and I would stay asleep. So, whenever that would happen my mom would say I was talking to an angel. So, when I was baptized at 3 months old, I soaked the poor priest with the water... while giggling my little baby tush off. lol. I seemed to enjoy being at church... and soaking the priest more. lol. Yeah, I was a mischievous baby, but so was my brother Moises when he was a baby. We did the exact same thing -- getting a priest wet while getting baptized -- at the same church, 14 years apart. Now, I should mention that my brother died when he was a baby over a decade before I was born. When I got to be around 4 years old, I used to go up to the windowsill, look up at the sky, crying, and say "Moises, YOUR mom is being mean to me." Whenever I got lectured I would look up at the sky and complain to my brother. Why? Because he's in heaven, duh. lol. I knew Moises had died completely innocent thus sending his soul straight to heaven. I was also very interested in what was inside the San Fernando Mission (which I got to finally visit twice - picture special one, two - when I was older) and about saints as a child. I remember being VERY interested in St. Francis of Assisi when I was about 7 years old without anyone, except the priest in Mass, mentioning him to me. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd immediately say that I wanted to be a nun. A Carmelite, to be exact. I was only 5-7 years old yet that was my dream "job." Oh, and I also had a Virgin Mary nightlight growing up because I used to be afraid of the dark.

Those are just example of things I would do when I was younger. According to my mom, I have always been very Catholic (except for those lost years in my teens) since my birth. I've always felt close to the Church. I even got confirmed early when I was taken to Mexico so I didn't have to wait until I was in my mid-late teens (though I wish they would've let me do it in my teens; that's another story). And, since I've returned to my "roots", I've tried to get my parents back to Mass and eventually completely back to the Church. I even get upset with my father when he refuses to take me to confession or Mass (I can't drive at the moment because of my anxiety). I will tear up (unintentionally, I REALLY love going to Mass and get very sad when I can't go) until he agrees. Actually, he's gotten better about that. He knows what time I usually like to go to Mass so he doesn't complain anymore. When I told my parents I would be majoring in Religious Studies, or that I wanted to attend a Catholic college/university, they weren't surprised. When I said I wanted to go talk to a priest, just to talk about certain things, they were a little puzzled but sort of understood.

So, all of this got me wondering... are any of us born to be Catholic? Do any of you think that some of us (who are cradle Catholics) were just born with a love the Church without getting encouraged to do so? I'm still thinking about this so I honestly don't have an answer. If any of you have any comments, please don't hesitate to leave 'em. I'm very curious to hear what others think. And, yes, you can e-mail me in case you don't want your comments going up on the blog. :D I look forward to hearing feedback. :D

Alright, well, I still have some things to do (including watching 2 saint movies, whoo!) so I should go. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Classes; More Pictures from the Mission; Soccer and Catholicism.

My apologies for taking a while to write another blog. Life has been that busy for me. I've even put my writing on hold for a few weeks but I am determined to get back to it today (as well as finishing St. Teresa of Avila's autobiography -- which I still haven't finished) because I start classes in about a month and I won't have much time after that.

Oh, and about that, I really lucked out and was able to return to a school I loved to finish my first degree (which I'll be done with next summer, whoo!). Just to give you an idea of how much school is going to take up my time -- I have History of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Images of Women in Literature, and Environmental Biology courses. Translation: I will have A LOT of reading and writing to do for 3 and a half months. All I want is to make it through the semester alive. Seriously, that's all I want. I want to be able to make it through without having major issues with my anxiety or health (this is the first time in a while that I'll have to attend my courses in classrooms) and without being completely burnt out. Prayers to St. Dymphna and St. Thomas Aquinas will be said on a nightly basis. Anywho, I am not going to stress myself out with the thought of how much I am going to suffer (haha) by changing topics into a more pleasant one.

Mom and I went back to the San Fernando Mission last Sunday. It was A LOT more crowded than expected but it was still lovely to walk around and relax. We even got to rest on a bench in the Bob Hope Memorial Garden. It was a hot day so to sit under the shade, with flowers and roses surrounding us, feeling the cool breeze come in, smelling the fragrance of the flowers as the breeze swept by... it was very lovely. I took more pictures that I wasn't able to take the previous time (because I'd run out of room on the memory card) but was able to take this time around. So, without further ado, the pictures from the latest trip to the Mission:


Picture of Pope John Paul II (obviously not taken by me) from his visit in 1987; A sign explaining the picture; A letter showing that the Pope did in fact come to L.A. when I was a baby (therefore I remember zip!).


A paint of the Madonna and Child Jesus that's inside the Convento (convent).


Angels at the beginning of a path that leads from the Convento to the side of the West Garden.


The path leads to the West Garden with a view of the Old Mission Church (tall building) and the building where workshops were set to show what life was back in the day.


Candles inside the old Mission church. You press the top button and it lights up. You can't shut it off, though. It'll do it itself. I tried. lol.


A smaller fountain hidden, near the entrance of the Bob Hope Memorial Garden.


A river/waterfall/creek thing inside the Bob Hope memorial garden. I'm a city girl, sue me. lol. It's so NICE in there.


Statue of Blessed Juniper Serra, the founder of the California Missions, with an native child; The plaque below the statue.

I hope y'all have enjoyed the pictures. Sorry, I go "tag happy" because I don't like other people taking credit (or not giving credit) when they take the pictures.

I have A LOT to do today, but before I go I just want to say how HAPPY I am to keep finding little connections between soccer and Catholicism. As I mentioned in the previous entry, I just found out (a week ago-ish) that a professional soccer player decided to quit his team to become a Catholic priest. How awesome is that?! Chase Hilgenbrinck played for the New England Revolution (and I am almost positive that I got to watch the final game he played with them) but, as stated in the Catholic News Agency website, he explained: "After years of discernment, I feel strongly that the Lord has called me to become a priest in the Catholic Church. Playing professional soccer has been my passion for a long time and I feel blessed to have successfully lived out this dream. My passion now is to do the will of God, which is wanting only what He wants for me. Though I will miss the game of soccer, I know that I am moving on to something much greater." You can read more about his story here (Soccer pro retires to pursue Catholic priesthood). Chase is truly an inspiration and I wish him nothing but the best. And all of this reminds me of Eddie Gaven, of the Columbus Crew (the other MLS team I love), and the rest of the members of Catholic Athletes for Christ. Though their vocation isn't the priesthood or other religious order, they still inspire other young, Catholic athletes not to be ashamed of their faith because, as sad as it is, it's becoming increasingly "uncool" to talk about your faith with friends as you're growing up. I say that anything negative anyone has to say about me regard my religion means bupkis to me. (And bupkis is a Yiddish term for "nothing") lol. In fact, I'm gonna be proud to say that I'm a Religious Studies major when I go back to school next month. So there. lol.

Alright, well, I've written a lot. Sorry. lol. I am going to go write, and read, and just relax and make the most of what is left of my summer vacation. Hopefully no more heavy weeks because I have a month left of freedom and I want that freedom to last me because I won't have any for months. *groan* lol.

'Til next time, thanks for reading and God Bless.
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Anxiety, Catholic Athletes for Christ, and Fr. Roderick and Facebook

Wow, what a crummy day. My anxiety was pretty high today; no doubt because of an unpleasant message I received yesterday. I tell ya, when it rains in a bummer-fest, it pours! I've been dealing with a lot of stress and just unpleasantness that's just elevated my anxiety. I'd been panic attack-free for a few weeks and then it went sky high on Tuesday with yesterday seeing another little bump. Luckily, my little sister (who's not so little -- she's 18!) knows just what to do and say to cheer me up! Thank goodness for little sisters, especially the one I have! I am so spoiling her for her birthday -- but I won't say how because she might read this and try to prevent me from doing it. lol.

One very cool thing I had a chance to check out was this website called Catholic Athletes for Christ. Being pretty athletic myself, I think the website and organization is a GREAT idea! I love how athletes from different sports (football, hockey, soccer, etc) have all joined together and have been vocal about the fact that they are Catholic and that they do what they do for God. These are the type of athletes kids should be looking up to! I was pleasantly surprised to see Eddie Gaven as one of the speakers 'cause I am all for soccer players speaking out for their faith. Eddie plays for the U.S. Men's National (soccer) Team as well as the Columbus Crew (and MLS team). He's also around my age, which is awesome because I don't know many young soccer stars who are willing to come forth with even a hint as to what their religion or views of faith are. I definitely recommend y'all to go check out the site here. I've also added the link on the right side column under "Favorite Catholic Sites" in case you ever need the link again.

Funny thing, I found out about this website by listening to Fr. Roderick's latest episode of the Daily Breakfast. Those who've read this blog long enough know how much I love his podcasts. Well, today someone mentioned the website on the feedback portion of the episode, I thought I'd check it out and I am glad I did. I was also glad to hear that I wasn't the only one unhappy with the new chat feature on Facebook. Fr. Roderick mention how the applications on the site have gotten overwhelming and just plain annoying... and I couldn't agree more. I remember back in early '05 when my school had just been added to the list of universities that were able to get an account on the site and how simple and well organized. I miss those days. I can't imagine how crazy his facebook profile can get in a matter of hours -- all the messages and applications invites. *shudders* There's a reason why I refuse to get a myspace and why I've deleted facebook before. I can't wait to hear what other people's reactions will be about the chat feature. Fr. Roderick asked us to leave back voice feedback about the topic. If anyone wants to hear the episode, click here or simply go to the "SQPN - Catholic Podcasts" link on the right hand side and look for the Daily Breakfast episode where "Facebook Fatigue" is mentioned.

Alright, well, I have yet to catch up on my missed sleep (been tired ALL day) and still have a ton of things to do so I should stop writing soon. lol. As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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