The escalating World Cup fever as the competition moves on inspired me to ask a pertinent question: Is God present in sports? Can God and sports meet at some level?
As a Christian and a pastor of souls, I cannot refrain from accepting and seeking a thorough understanding of this current rapport between what is divine and what is human as the Biblical sources propose. In fact, the Word of God parallels one's spiritual advancement to a runner's hard preparation so as to win the first place in the competition.
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable" (1 Cor 9, 24-25). Even if the spiritual realm is far higher than what is simply and visibly seen and heard, "bodily training [still retains] some value" (1 Tim 4, 8).
Throughout various papal pronouncements, the Church kept portraying the constant relationship between God and sports. In his Angelus address to the English-speaking participants in the Jubilee of Sports People, convened in Rome on Sunday, October 29, 2000, Pope John Paul II told them: "Your passion for sport is a building block of human solidarity, friendship and goodwill among peoples. May your physical exertions be a part of your quest for the higher values which build character and give you dignity and a sense of achievement, in your own eyes and in the eyes of others. In Christian terms, life itself is a contest and a striving for goodness and holiness".
Another noteworthy pontifical allocution on the subject came out from the golden-mouthed Pontiff, Venerable Pope Pius XII. Speaking to the Italian Sports Centre, on August 5, 1955, the Holy Father regarded sports as an exceptional milieu whereby through the acquisition and living out of transcendental virtues, meeting God face-to-face by means of sporting activities becomes possible. "Fair play, which forbids resorting to subterfuges, docility and obedience to the wise directions of whoever is guiding the team exercise, a spirit of self-denial when it is necessary to stay on the sidelines for the good of one's 'colours', fidelity to one's commitments, modesty in triumphs, generosity towards the defeated, serenity in misfortune, patience with a not always fair audience, justice, if competitive sport is linked to freely negotiated financial interests, and, in general, chastity and temperance already recommended by the ancients themselves".
The seventh President of the International Olympic Committee, the Spanish sports official Juan Antonio Samarach Torelló, said: "Our philosophy proceeds from the belief that sport is an inalienable part of the educational process and a factor for promoting peace, friendship, cooperation and understanding among peoples." Is this statement not an explicit confirmation of the Church's centuries-old belief and living witness that an incarnational God sanctifies humanity through sports as well?