As I was growing up, if there was one lesson I learned from sports, it was this – remember the fundamentals. If something was wrong, if you weren’t hitting your shots, if you weren’t hitting the ball, if you were making silly errors, chances are your technique was off. You were developing some bad habits, perhaps lazily assuming you would make the play, and then it starts to get into your head. And you lose confidence. You make mistakes. You begin to second guess yourself.
It’s at these times where my coach would devote a series of practices to work on fundamentals, to get back to the basics, to develop that good technique again and build the good habits. A good coach does this with their players. A parent does this with their kids, whether it be sport, schoolwork, or anything in life. Sometimes, we lose sight of things, the goal, the big picture, frustration sets in, and we develop bad habits. And so sometimes, we need to get back to the basics.
This is why I love sports and to use that as a tool to teach kids this, especially my son. If his baseball swing is off, he’s not hitting the ball, and he’s getting frustrated – we go out to the yard, and work on the basics of his swing. Take a deep breath, elbow up, step into your swing and most importantly, watch the ball hit the bat. Sure, there’s more details you can focus on, but those are the basics. And when we focus on the basics? Bam! He hits line drive after line drive!
This cycle repeats itself, over and over, not just in baseball, but throughout this game we call life. Every now and then, we’ve got to get back to the basics in our lives, get back to what is important.
Our faith and spiritual lives are no different. And really, this supersedes everything. And in light of what is happening in our global, Catholic church right now, it has never rung more true.
With the latest scandals, we may all have some doubt at times. Frustration may settle in and we may question it all. Our confidence in Christ’s Church may be shaken. But it’s in these times where the distractions mount, we need to remind ourselves that we put our trust in God and in One Man only – Jesus. We don’t put our ultimate trust in people. When we fail to live by this fundamental in life, and of our faith, we are doomed for disappointment and failure.
But it’s so easy to do, and simply look around the world and you see how so many of us put our trust in ourselves and the world, and we see the results. We get lazy, we build bad habits, we lose sight of the truth, the true God in our lives, and we start to worship other gods in our life. This happens in our families, our careers, our communities, and yes, unfortunately even in our churches.
Nothing is safe. Nothing is immune, and it’s at these times where we simply need to step back, remember what is True, and get back to the basics – and this is why I love our Catholic faith. Our faith provides so many avenues to do this – the daily readings, daily Mass, the Sacrament of Confession, and the overall premise of today’s readings and of our faith – The Eucharist. The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, Who we have eternal life in, and when we consume Him, He remains in us and we remain in Him. If we are confused, if we are hurt, if we are frustrated, we seek the wisdom and the knowledge and the understanding that resides in Him, and in Him only.
We get back to the basics and return to the fundamentals of our faith, and the One Truth in this world, and that is the Truth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. We put our trust in anything else and we will be disappointed.
