I know it’s somewhat sacrilegious to put this in a headline, but let me explain.
For lo these many weeks of Lent I have attempted to practice a good Lent. For the most part, it has been successful and deeply satisfying experience. But it must be said that the contemplative, reflective nature of Lent is particularly difficult during March Madness.
For one thing, homilies calling for charity remind of the “charity line” in basketball. Hope-another blessed virtue-is the stuff of collegiate basketball at this time of year as well-although the object of the virtue and the game are significantly different to be sure. Faith, as scripture recounts, is the assurance of things hoped for but unseen-need I say more?
As we entered Holy Week I couldn’t help but offer up an intercessory prayer on Palm Sunday for my beloved, underdog Kansas University Jayhawks. Tonight’s final game promises to be quite a passionate affair. However, after we win, I will enter ever more deeply into this wonderfully sacred week. If we lose, all the more evidence that Satan is alive and well.
Dan Spencer III has been married to his wife Linda for 48 years. They are the parents of 4 married children and have 16 grandchildren. Dan is Catholic revert, author with Our Sunday Visitor, and national Catholic speaker. He has appeared on numerous national catholic media outlets such as EWTN’s The Journey Home, Vatican Radio, At Home with Jim & Joy, Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo and The Choices We Face with Ralph Martin and Peter Herbeck, discussing topics of concern to families including the role of parents in safeguarding their children. He is the co-founder of the Catholic Business Network, and the past Executive Director of National Fellowship of Catholic Men. In 2015, he founded Project Patriarch for men over 50 years old to examine the role of Christian grandfathers in the lives of their grandchildren. That project has now been integrated with his most recent grandparenting ministry, Legacy of Faith, which helps educate and equip grandparents, in collaboration with their married children, to spiritually influence their grandchildren and future generations to remain faithful to Christ. Dan and his wife are active lay leaders in their parish and throughout the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas for over 25 years.