By Mary DeTurris Poust
It's that time of year, the season when baseball dominates the conversation and the TV screen. At least at our house. I live with two die-hard Yankee fans, a challenge for someone raised to be a die-hard Mets fan. I've learned to love the Yankees (marriage is about compromises, right?), but when push comes to shove in any Subway Series, I always revert to my roots. That long preface, then, should give some indication of just how good the story I'm about to post must be. After all, no self-respecting Mets fan is going to promote the Phillies, but this Philadelphia story goes way beyond baseball.
Mike Sweeney, a slugger for the Phillies, who are (choke, choke) headed to the National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants (in what is clearly a match-up designed to make any Mets fan's head explode) talks not about his baseball achievements but about his spiritual goals over on Fathers For Good today. Sweeney is s "staunch Catholic who is committed to pro-life causes, and open about his faith and what it means to him and his family," according to the "Newsworthy Dads" post.
From the story by James Breig:
Sweeney’s spiritual focus influences his playing because “my faith is everything to me. If my ‘god’ was baseball, I would be miserable because I would never be satisfied with what the game could bring me.”
On the other hand, he continued, because “my God is Jesus Christ, I have peace and am content because God has given me everything I could ever need.”
While a World Series ring would please him, Sweeney said that he has a more far-ranging goal.
“Eternal life is my destiny,” he explained. “That is a gift of God’s grace, and it is my focus. As great as it is making it to the post-season, my true joy in life comes from my relationship with God through Jesus Christ, reading God’s Word and receiving the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.”
Real the full story HERE. And then go buy some pinstripes and root for the YANKEES, as my friend Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester will be doing this post season. See Bishop Clark's take on "ABY syndrome" (Anybody But the Yankees) by clicking HERE.
