Episode Transcript
1
00:00:00,713 --> 00:00:02,397
We are coming into the footy finals.
2
00:00:02,722 --> 00:00:06,841
The teams who have been taking it one week at time will soon be one win,
3
00:00:06,841 --> 00:00:07,886
or loss,
4
00:00:07,886 --> 00:00:10,076
away from knowing how their season ends.
5
00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:15,418
Sport, any sport, is meant to celebrate the
abilities and character of the human person
6
00:00:15,418 --> 00:00:17,762
and ultimately build a better society
7
00:00:17,762 --> 00:00:19,957
through a vision of personal discipline,
8
00:00:19,957 --> 00:00:21,117
team work and commitment.
9
00:00:22,521 --> 00:00:24,720
But like just everything in life,
10
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:26,595
those noble ideals
11
00:00:26,595 --> 00:00:29,646
can be lured away by distractions, by excess,
12
00:00:29,646 --> 00:00:31,196
by corruption, by greed.
13
00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,274
This sporting pressure to succeed, to be seen as a winner,
14
00:00:36,274 --> 00:00:39,170
is the same sort of pressure that most of us encounter in life
15
00:00:39,170 --> 00:00:41,122
in some way, shape or form.
16
00:00:42,153 --> 00:00:44,798
Our behaviours can be distorted
17
00:00:44,798 --> 00:00:48,978
by our own desire to be seen as a success
18
00:00:48,978 --> 00:00:50,511
and high achiever,
19
00:00:50,511 --> 00:00:53,453
and we can fall prey to the temptation to follow the crowd.
20
00:00:53,769 --> 00:00:55,614
We see others who cut corners,
21
00:00:55,614 --> 00:00:59,708
who are dishonest, who bend the rules, who use people for their own advantage,
22
00:00:59,708 --> 00:01:02,539
and we think, well, if they can get away with it.
23
00:01:04,049 --> 00:01:06,000
Jesus says in the gospel,
24
00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,255
take the journey of life by the narrow way.
25
00:01:09,010 --> 00:01:11,869
It's narrow because not everybody follows this path.
26
00:01:12,169 --> 00:01:15,869
This is the road that requires sacrifice and wisdom and courage.
27
00:01:16,770 --> 00:01:18,478
It's easy to travel the wide road,
28
00:01:18,478 --> 00:01:21,435
to compromise and let others do our thinking for us.
29
00:01:21,906 --> 00:01:25,674
We can be pressured into doing things that we don’t really want to do,
30
00:01:25,674 --> 00:01:28,397
and then we end up being people that we don’t really want to be.
31
00:01:30,177 --> 00:01:33,840
The narrow way means choosing honesty ahead of deceit,
32
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,640
choosing courtesy ahead of gruffness,
33
00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,440
choosing acceptance ahead of prejudice,
34
00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,320
choosing compassion ahead of self-interest,
35
00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:45,150
choosing love of others ahead of love of self.
36
00:01:47,016 --> 00:01:50,560
Despite the temptations to travel the wide road,
37
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,164
Jesus teaches us to travel this narrow path.
38
00:01:54,048 --> 00:01:56,560
It's sometimes a lonely and difficult path,
39
00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,369
but this is the way Christ walked,
40
00:01:59,369 --> 00:02:02,751
and He promises to walk this path with us every step.
