On the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the Pope closes the Jubilee of Sport with a mass, reminding everyone that sport can be a “means of reconciliation and meeting”.
By Kielce Gussie
In the Saint-Pierre Basilica in front of thousands of athletes of all levels, backgrounds and sports, Pope Leo XIV presided over mass to close the sports jubilee and celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
In his homily, the Pope has thought about how the link between Trinity and Sport may seem “unusual”. However, he stressed that, as each good human activity reflects the infinite beauty of God in one way or another, “sport is certainly part of it”.
Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims and athletes from the Saint-Pierre basilica for the sports jubilee (@vaticica media)
Sport, continued Pope Leo, can help us meet God because they challenge “us to connect to others and others, not only externally but also, and above all, internally”. Otherwise, sport becomes “nothing more than an empty competition from swollen Egos”.
Sports require giving
During sporting events, Italian words use to encourage athletes is “dual”, which literally means “to give”. The pope urged everyone to think about this. Sports are more than physical achievements, he argued. They demand that athletes give themselves for others – “for our personal improvement, for our sports supporters, for our loved ones, our coaches and colleagues, for the most public, and even for our opponents.”
As Pope St. John Paul, an athlete himself, said, “sport is the joy of life, a game, a celebration. He must be favored by “by recovering his pure gratuity, his ability to forge bonds of friendship, to encourage dialogue and openness to others”.
Loneliness, digital and competitive company
Pope Leo then suggested three things that make sport a good way to develop human and Christian values: loneliness, digital society and competitive society.
First, loneliness massively marks our society when the accent went from “we” to “me”. This led to a decreasing concern for others. However, sports can offer a solution to this deficit. The Pope stressed how sports teach the value of working together and sharing.
Consequently, sports can “become an important means of reconciliation and meeting: between peoples and communities, schools, workplaces and families”.
Pope Leo chairs the mass to close the sports jubilee (@vaticica media)
By turning to the constantly increasing digital company that we face every day, Pope Leo stressed that sports can help counter the effects of technology that can divide people. They offer an alternative to virtual worlds and help “preserve healthy contact with nature and with real life, where real love is lived”.
The third aspect is competitive society, which seems to defend only the strong. Sports, on the other hand, can teach us to lose. They force us to “face one of the deepest truths of our human condition: our fragility, our limits and our imperfections”. It is essential because it is through these experiences that our hearts open to hope.
Pope Leo destroyed the idea that athletes who never lose or do not make mistakes. “The champions do not work perfectly, but real men and women, who, when they fall, find the courage to get back on their feet,” he said.
“No one was born champion”
Pope John Paul II was not the only saint to be an athlete. Sports have played an important role in the life of many modern saints – “both as a personal discipline and as a means of evangelization”.
Pope Leo remembers the Bleassed Pier Giorgio Frassati, the patron saint of athletes, who will be canonized on September 7 of this year. He stressed that Frassati’s life shows us that “no one was born champion, no one was born Saint”. It is a daily training and brings us one more step from our final championship.
Closing, Pope Leo XIV challenged the athletes present with a mission: “To reflect in all your activities the love of the Trinitarian God, for your property and for that of your brothers and sisters.” Userping them to confide in Mary, who will help them towards the “greatest victory of all: the price of eternal life”.