Some know that I've been attending Traditional Latin Mass at St. Alphonsus Ligouri Shrine in downtown Baltimore. To do so from Montgomery County, I need to take I-95 into the city. Today and last week, the minute I got onto 95, the traffic thickened up and worsened as I approached I-395 towards Howard St. From there I could see the M&T Stadium and noticed the activity therein, not to mention the hoards of pedestrians, many clad in purple (the Ravens' color), swarming all over the streets heading towards the stadium.
Now consider that it's Sunday morning, when most Christian churches are holding various services, including Mass. It's painfully obvious that those hundreds of people that I saw didn't give a hoot about keeping holy the Lord's Day, else they'd be at church instead of hoofing it to a stadium for a football game. The three words going through my mind as I parked my car were "bread and circus".
If we wanted to know any reason why we are under God's judgment as a civilization right now, that is a clear reason. No doubt this scenario was repeated many times today across the country. I'm not saying anything is wrong with sports per se, but when they are put before one's duties to God, sports is made into a de facto idol.
As I was leaving Mass, I chatted with another Mass-goer about this matter. We both agreed that the world would be in much better shape if these people could evince the same dedication to God as they obviously do to football.
