Opening Day (Holy Week)…Opening Day (MLB)
April 6th, 2009… opening day for two important institutions. One, as you will read quite obviously, is much more important than the other. [The other simply lasts much longer than the first.]
The first “opening day” is Monday of Holy Week– the week leading up to the Triduum and Easter Sunday. Technically, Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday. Holy week signifies a time in our lives where we remember (commemorate) Christ’s passion, death and resurrection from the dead. It’s incredibly important. Easter begs us to ask the ever-philosophical “chicken or the egg” question – is Christmas or Easter more important? I won’t get into that here. Easter, whether more/less important than Christmas, is incredibly important for us because it signifies the culmination of salvation history in Christ’s conquering of death on the cross. Christ – the ultimate servant leader. I encourage everyone to make special time this week to take part in the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday – actually one continuous liturgy). Open your heart and your mind to what God is calling you to. The end of Lent can still be a fruitful time for you. Give it a great deal and you’ll receive a great deal in return.
The other institution (although, a bit difficult to talk about following that Holy Week piece) is Major League Baseball. MLB has been a part of my life since birth. Now, I’m not trying to convince the baseball-haters of the world that baseball is a great sport – heaven knows that soccer fans won’t convince me that soccer is a great sport – I simply want to call to mind that opening day for the 2009 season is today. This marks a special day for baseball fans everywhere when we know that basketball is ending soon 🙂 and we have sunny summer days at the ballpark to look forward to. Double-plays, stolen bases and home-runs.
A thought… if the Pirates win today, I suggest that they end the season early and end their pitiful 16-year streak of playing sub-.500 baseball. It would be a great thing for us Pirates fans to have a “winning season”. Just kidding – I guess.
Either way – Man up!
