Leo's lions

Our friend Leo Colgan is one of Munster's most prominent referees (his picture even features in the Munster program).  Anyway, we were at his house last night to play scrabble with himself and Tarah.  I asked him to give me his Lion's starting fifteen.  He thinks that Murray and Parling will be two players who will blossom on tour and work their way into contention.

1.  Healy
2.  Hubbard
3.  Jones
4.  Parling
5.  O'Connell (who will captain the side)
6.  O'Brien
7.  Tupuric
8.  Faletua (which comes up as 'false tuna' on autocorrect)
9.  Murray
10.  Sexton
11.  North
12.  Davies
13.  O'Driscoll
14.  Cuthbert
15.  Kearney

Ronan knows his dad's weak points

Ronan knows how to wind me up.  One time, after I had given out to him and had probably sent him to his room, he explained, 'when you treat me like that it makes me not want to support Munster any more!' 

Fair Play (Part 2)

My apologies to Nick for insulting his precious 'football' with the label 'Rugbolgy'. Although I have my worries about the elitist social demographics of rugby (Northern Crammer School Prods, Posh Private School Dubs, with Limerick seeming to be the only place in Ireland where the game is played demographically) I still much prefer it to soccer (that may in part be because I was always selected last for football, and was okay at rugby for a few years).

Anyway in my last post I sighted Paulo De Canio as an example of fair play. This link shows that his behaviour was not always great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TFVuHrwgyY&feature=related

Here is an example of fair play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i26S430NcZE&feature=related (Does anyone know what it was all about? Love the way he pronounces Leicester).

Sorry Nick I am putting this under 'Rugbology'!

PS: Thanks Daley Straggles and Mr.Spence for your book suggestions. I plan to use one in our small groups and give the other to a friend.

Fair Play!

I was watching the Republic verses France on Wednesday night. Obviously I was outraged by the 'hand of Henry.' In the context of that foul play I thought I would post this example of fair play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWdf5ZLbtYo

Also Mr. Spence suggested a book that would be helpful in sharing faith. I have forgotten which J.John book it was. If anyone has good recommendations on books to give a friend I would appreciate your advice.

I have labelled this post under 'rugbology' even though this is soccer not rugby.

The faith of ROG

We're just back from a short holiday in Switzerland. We had a great time and it was lovely to see Rachel and Jurg (Hi guys!). I read Ronan O'Gara's autobiography as my holiday reading. The book reminded me of what a great contribution O'Gara has made to Munster and Irish rugby. He wrote with great respect for his fellow players - particularly for David Humphries, his rival for the Irish jersey. However one thing that saddened me about the rugby scene was the heavy drinking sessions that followed significant events.

The following words fascinated me:

. . . I have a very strong Catholic faith and I'm a regular mass goer. I don't always get a chance to go on Sundays because of matches and travelling but I always make a point of going during the week. I don't go out of habit and I don't go to be seen. It is a conscious part of my life. I feel I've been very lucky in so many ways and I go there to pray and say thanks.

As I thought writing a blog on O'Gara's faith I was reminded of a wedding Caroline and I went to a few years ago. The bride was a sportsperson too and we reckoned that she valued her Catholic faith. We also enjoyed a very enthusiastic choir in her church.

We wondered what we should say if the topic of faith arose. How would we explain the difference between what we believe and what the Catholic church teaches? We decided that we should talk about how many of the ministries that the Catholic church attributes to the virgin Mary we attribute solely to Jesus. Yet having studied Galatians over the summer I think I would, first of all, want to explain the evangelical understanding of grace.

Evangelicals teach that grace is God's free, unmerited and undeserved favour and is made available to sinful humanity because of the finished work of the cross. Grace is received by faith - it is not earned but received by taking God at his word and trusting his promises. In grace a person who deserves to be an object of God's righteous anger is immediately adopted into the secure and privileged position of a son and heir, and because their position is based of grace and not what they deserve they can have a certain confidence of heaven. The person who has turned to God for his grace, enthorning Christ as their king, recieves the person of the Holy Spirit who enables them to become more and more like Jesus.

I have greatly enjoyed watching Ronan O'Gara play rugby and hope that he will continue to represent Munster and Ireland for a few more years. I respect the fact that he wants to mention his faith in his book. I am also glad that he has a consciousness of God. I am impressed that he is not motivated by habit but thankfullness. It is also my hope that he might grasp the greatness of grace and this would be his greatest sourse of joy and thanksgiving.

The religion of a Munster rugby player

I'm a fan of the Munster Rugby team. On 23rd April 2006 Caroline and I got to see them play Leinster in the semi-final of the European Cup. The match was at Lansdowne Road and it had caught the imagination of the nation. The Munster/Leinster rivalry reached a new level that day.

We had to pick up our tickets from the Radisson Hotel (there is a bit of a story to how we got them). To my delight the team was there. We were one of a small group of fans who clapped them on to their bus as they left for the stadium. It was 'hairs standing on the back of your neck' stuff! Although Caroline is a Dublin girl she was beginning to turn into a Munster fan.

At the stadium it was clear that the Munster supporters were more crafty than their Leinster counterparts - although the allocation of tickets was 50/50 it seemed that there were far more Munster fans than Leinster. We were standing in the South Terrace, in the heart of the Munster end. Before the match the Munster team came out for a warm up. They know how to work the crowd positioning themselves right in front of a sea of supporters. The crowd was rapturous. Caroline was now a Munster fan!

Munster won that match convincingly. My friend Niall, a Leinster supporter, didn't want to talk about it when I called over later that day. A few weeks later they won the competition in Cardiff.

One book produced about their cup campaign entitled 'Munster - Our Road to Glory.' It was the story told by the players themselves. It opens with the following words of Donncha O'Callaghan [one of the team]:

'When I was a boy in Cork, playing rugby for my school, I came across something on the pitch one day after I scored a try. I bent down and picked it up: it was a holy cross, on a chain. I stuffed it into my pocket, I still have it and I've never cleaned it up - there are probably still bits of the Christians stuck to it [his school was Christian Brothers College]. I keep the chain in an old make-up jar my sister gave me. In there I've a few religious things that are important to me. The lads slag me over the jar . . . Every now and then my mum picks up some holy water and puts a bit in there. I consider myself religious. Not in a big way - I'm not a religious freak or anything - but often I take out the jar and say a prayer to give thanks for the great family I have, for everything that has happened to me through rugby, for putting me in a dressing room like ours. . . .
I'd never prayed to ask for anything, but before the Biarritz match [the final] I did. I was about to pray as I normally would, but then I remember thinking, 'Please, just let us win this game.' I almost wanted to say sorry for doing it, for asking about a rugby match. It was possibly the wrong way to feel. But it meant so much to me, my friends and my family.'

There is so much that could be said about Donncha's words. I'd have to start by saying that he comes across as a very soft-hearted and sincere person. His religion is a reminder of the Catholicism that had such influence in Ireland only a couple of decades ago (the fact that the lads slag him about it is a reminder of how non-religious a country Ireland has become). Sadly his views seem superstitious. I am not sure why he thinks he can't ask for things in prayer, although I think he is right to think that it is wrong to be praying for a particular outcome to a rugby match. I presume evangelicals would be among the 'religious freaks' he is so keen to distance himself from. This was certainly a fascinating beginning to what was a very enjoyable book.

A verse out of context (Philippians 4:13)

A number of years ago the Fijians were playing in a 7 a-side rugby competition and they had “Phil. 4:13” written on their jerseys. The commentator pointed out that this was from the Bible, and impressively showed he had done his homework as he explained that the text read ‘I can do all things through him who gives me strength.’ However he should then have moved back to talking about rugby for he went of to tell the viewers “it’s from the book of Philistines, chapter 4, verse 13.”

The Apostle Paul writes: I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Does that mean that, in God, we could run a 3-minute mile or jump over a tall building? We have got to pay attention to the context if we want to properly understand this verse! Paul has talked about being partners in the gospel (1:5). We know that he is in chains as he writes (1:13). He tells the Philippians that he has been in situations of need and of plenty (4:12). Now he says he can do everything through him who gives us strength. He is saying that whatever the circumstances we can achieve all God would have us do. As one commentator writes, ‘No circumstance could ever arise which would be too much for Paul’s God, and therefore no circumstance could ever beat Paul’ (Alec Motyer). I don’t know what those rugby players were thinking when they had “Phil. 4:13” put on their rugby jerseys. Perhaps they simply wanted to give God credit, that anything they achieved was only possible because God is the one who gives us the strength to do we do. However, the promise of this verse isn’t about winning rugby tournaments. The promise is that we can live a life centred on the gospel, whatever our circumstances may be, through him who gives us strength. If we are ‘in Christ’ then we are gospel-partners who are to live a life worthy of the gospel (1:27). We can do this no matter what the situation. We might be placed in a difficult family setting. We might not always enjoy good health. We may feel that we don’t have some of the talents we would like to possess. We may be in a tough workplace or class. But remember this ‘I can do everything through him who gives me strength’—whatever our circumstances, in Jesus we can live a life worthy of the gospel.

There must be more than Munster!

On Saturday myself, my dad, Stephen and Laurence travelled to Cardiff for rugby's European Cup final. What an occasion! There must have been nearly 60,000 Munster supporters amongst the crowd. The noise was deafening. The match was absorbing. The outcome was delightful.

On the way across I read something striking in the Irish Times. On the back page of the sports supplement was an article that said the following, ‘Maybe in years to come, the sociologists will decide that the Munster phenomenon was down to people needing to identify with a big-hearted and inclusive movement at a time when there was a dearth of such churches.’

What a sad reflection on the life of many churches! What a challenge to Christian communities! Could we describe our fellowships as a 'big-hearted and inclusive movement'? After all we have a gospel that invites all to experience true life - a gospel for people from all provinces and nations, all cultures and languages, for sports fans and sports haters, and for the respectable and the notorious. We have a cause that is greater than any cup. We serve a God who is infinitely more magnificent than any team.