Sorry that it has been more than a month since I have written. All those Lutz toe-loops and twizzels during the Olympic figure skating competition made my head spin for days afterward.

However, I was once again so inspired by the bobsled competition, particularly because of the gold medal win for the U.S. four-man team, that I am considering renewing my quadrennial call for the Vatican to enter a bobsled team in the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia.
The Holy See takes sports seriously, given the Pontifical Council for the Laity has had a Church and Sport division since 2004.

It's probably too late for them to consider entering racewalkers in the 2012 London games, but c'mon, there have to be a couple of people in Vatican City who could handle a bobsled, right? The possibilities for international evangelization would be tremendous as their sleds, Spiritus and Dominus, speed along the track. Hey, if you don't like those, you're welcome to suggest other names for the Vatican's sleds.

Sports and religion in one bracket: There is a possibility -- albeit a slim one -- for an all-Catholic school Final Four in the NCAA men's tournament. Eight Catholic schools received bids on Sunday: Georgetown in the Midwest; Marquette in the East; Gonzaga and Xavier in the West; and Siena, Notre Dame, Villanova and St. Mary's of California in the South. How can you not cheer for Siena when their nickname is the Saints? But I'm torn, since those Saints face "my" Purdue Boilermakers in the first round. 

I want the Catholic schools to do well. My hope is that if I attended one of them, and that school goes deep into the tourney and gets an even bigger share of that TV money, that will be one less call and/or mailing I receive from that institution's development office asking me for money.

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No shortage of brats and blueberries during Sunday's Super Bowl meal, but it was an ample helping of Brees that made for a great celebration. I'll leave it to the so-called analysts to second guess the coaches and to provide a litany of what various players should have done. It's just fun when the team for which one is cheering wins.

Speaking of the MVP QB -- and pardon my Boilermaker bias, but pro sports definitely needs the classiness and humility of Drew Brees. His "aw shucks" approach appears genuine, and his name isn't in any police report. Is this the making of a true sports hero? We can only hope.

Lack of $tewardship: Stewardship obviously isn't a corporate concept. Why else would so many companies have invested $2.5 million for each of their Super Bowl commercials, and then provide uninspiring material? Like most of the ads that aired during the game, the mother and son Tebow ad left me with a "What's the big deal?" reaction. Worst example of lack of stewardship was the $2.5 million of our tax money that paid for the U.S. census spot.

So, are you ready for baseball season? OK, Lent first, then baseball season.

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During the decades I was involved in the radio and TV aspect of Catholic communications, I wondered aloud why the church didn’t invest in a Super Bowl spot or two and use that time for evangelization. This was pre-2002 -- prior to the revelation of the sex abuse scandal -- when the market might have been more receptive to that message. 

My contemporaries in that field didn't see it that way, nor did the Catholic decision makers, i.e., members of the U.S. bishops' communications committee. They did, however, believe there was value in having their own TV network -- the Catholic Television Network of America.  It died $10 million and 13 painful years after it was launched, and without having made a positive impact on the Catholic community. An idea with merit, but poorly executed.

Since the Super Bowl is still a good place to evangelize, I’m glad Focus on the Family is investing $2.5 million for a spot that is expected to have a pro-life, pro-family message. The spot will feature Pam Tebow, who reportedly will relate how she ignored doctors’ advice and refused to abort the baby she was carrying in 1987. The healthy boy to whom she gave birth is Tim, a Heisman Trophy winner and leader on two-time national football champion University of Florida.

The purchase of time and featuring the Tebows has provided fodder for sports writers and the sports talkradio crowd. Most of their reaction has been negative, e.g., “I don’t want to be preached to by some athlete” and “Keep your religion off the playing field.” 

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Another example of sports as religion comes courtesy of Peter Finney Jr, editor and general manager of the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He recently reported that less than two years after becoming archbishop of New Orleans, Archbishop Philip Hannan wrote and delivered the invocation for the Saints' first game -- Sept. 7, 1967 -- at Tulane Stadium. Here is the archbishop's "Prayer for the Saints":

"God, we ask your blessing upon all who participate in this event, and all who have supported our Saints. Our heavenly Father, who has instructed us that the 'saints by faith conquered kingdoms ... and overcame lions,' grant our Saints an increase of faith and strength so that they will not only overcome the Lions, but also the Bears, the Rams, the Giants and even those awesome people in Green Bay.

"May they continue to tame the Redskins and fetter the Falcons as well as the Eagles. Give to our owners and coaches the continued ability to be as wise as serpents and simple as doves, so that no good talent will dodge our draft. Grant to our fans perseverance in their devotion and unlimited lung power, tempered with a sense of charity to all, including the referees.

"May our beloved 'Bedlam Bowl' be a source of good fellowship, and may the 'Saints Come Marching In' be a victory march for all, now and in eternity."

And maybe next season, like the archbishop did more than 42 years ago, we'll once again be praying about "those awesome people in Green Bay."

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Most priests will tell you that they already have enough to do. But in his World Communications Day message, Pope Benedict XVI suggests that they communicate via the "digital marketplace." For the May 16 observance, the pope writes, "Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, Web sites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis."    

Sports as religion: No Brett Favre hating here, but I don't even get enthused about the color purple during Advent and Lent. I sure as heck wasn't going to cheer when an NFC North rival was wearing it. So yesterday I was cheering for all the Saints. Wait, I feel a hymn coming on.

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Several hours after learning of the Haiti earthquake, I called my friend and former coworker, photojournalist  Karen Callaway, who is the photo editor at the Catholic New World, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago. She was in a somber mood. “There’s always a place in my heart for Haiti,” she said.
In the early ‘90s, Karen went to Haiti and photographed the people and conditions in which they lived. The images, shot and published in black and white, were haunting, and so powerful one could almost smell the sewage that flowed in the streets, the infection oozing from children’s open sores.
I recalled the frustration she felt in wanting to “do something” to help the people she had met, but not knowing what to do and if what she would do would even be enough. She continued to show and tell the story of what she had witnessed, supported organizations that brought relief to Haiti, and always kept that place in her heart for those she had met. Many have described the desolation and destruction that engulfs Haiti, but it is Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services, who provides us with an image that speaks to our faith. The archbishop noted that after he learned of the earthquake, he went to St. Peter’s Basilica where he prayed before the Pieta.
“Haiti is the broken, bloody body of Jesus in the arms of his mother,” Archbishop Dolan said of why he chose to pray there.
If you have ever studied the Pieta you understand the archbishop’s thinking. Haiti is about Christ’s brokenness and bloodiness. Even before the earthquake, Haiti was broken and bloody. Now, there are more breaks and more blood flowing. One is reminded of the adage that God doesn’t give us any more than we can handle. If that is true, there is no group of people handling more than the Haitians.   
Reading the accounts of Tuesday’s earthquake and looking at dozens of photos that have been posted from Haiti since then, the only words I could use in reply were in the form of a prayer: “God, please help them.” I have no doubt God is helping – through us. The donations that have been made and which will be made this weekend are certainly part of what God will do through us.
But the value of prayer cannot be overlooked. As Archbishop Dolan put it, “It is impossible to exaggerate the high power of prayer.” Prayer forces us to focus on what we see and hear from Haiti. It is more than a mumbled “Lord, hear our prayer” to a petition in the Prayer of the Faithful. It is more than waiting for the next big news story to occupy our minds. It is connecting with the broken and the bloodied; it is making them part of our lives, being cognizant that once their story no longer garners headlines it is still our story.
Our financial contributions are a short-term response; our prayers are a long-term commitment. And always, as Karen Callaway noted, a place in our hearts.

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Holy day of obligation: Given the amount of stuff that accumulates on my desk, National Clean Off Your Desk Day should have its own season.

For the record: Home teams playing at the Bradley Center when Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki is present have each won. The Marquette men's basketball team won on Wednesday and the Milwaukee Admirals won on Saturday. Not sure if it was the archbishop or the Elvis impersonator, but Saturday night's 12,000-plus crowd was the Admirals' biggest of the season. If his presence does, in fact, help the home teams, the Brewers, Bucks and Wave might want to offer him a season ticket.

Space case: Speaking of facilities that hold a lot of people, one wonders if major archdiocesan events, e.g., the installation of an archbishop, might not be more community-friendly events if they were held in places like the Milwaukee Theatre or the U.S. Cellular Arena. The cost and potential liturgical obstacles would be offset by the fact that the former holds 4,100 people while the latter holds more than 10,000. When Archbishop Listecki was installed Jan. 4 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 1,000 people attended,  including approximately 240 of whom watched the telecast in the atrium. When Bishop Paul Sirba was ordained and installed for the Diocese of Duluth, Minn., on Dec. 14, the event was carried on TV and attendees still filled all 2,300 seats in the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.    

Sports as religion: This has nothing to do with the outcome of Sunday's Packers-Cardinals game, but in reading the book "First Things First," by Kurt and Brenda Warner, one learns that she wasn't going to marry him because he -- a Catholic who graduated from a Catholic high school -- wasn't a "Christian." And he concurs! Uh, Kurt, check out the Scripture-based Catholic "playbook" we call the Catechism of the Catholic Church if you have any doubts about Catholics being Christian. Share it with your wife, too, because I'm not sure if Brenda's spiritual diet of fundamentalism fiber is laced with anti-Catholicism, but her claim that you weren't Christian is as faulty as yesterday's Packer defense.

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Yes, something did happen: My brother recently reminded me that I hadn't blogged since Nov. 25, and expressed concern that something had happened. Yes, something did happen -- the Holy See appointed an archbishop for Milwaukee (and a publisher for your Catholic Herald and www.chnonline.org), and our focus has been on his arrival.

We have published a heckuva welcome section to commemorate the start of the Archbishop Listecki era. Forty-four pages of material you won't read and see elsewhere. If you subscribe to the print edition of your Catholic Herald, it's with the publication you received Dec. 31. Otherwise, call (877) 769-7699  or visit elsewhere on this Web site to order your copy.

Landlord could help tenants: Just as your Catholic Herald has a new publisher, like us the Milwaukee Bucks also have a new landlord in Archbishop Listecki. Both the Bucks and your Herald rent their space from the archdiocese.

As I watched our workplace neighbors work/play so terribly against San Antonio Dec. 26, it dawned on me that Scott Skiles might welcome some assistance from the former player and coach who now heads the Milwaukee Archdiocese. As a player the archbishop was known for his tenacity; as a coach he taught players how to be aggressive. Given how much they have been losing lately, the Bucks have nothing to lose by seeking the archbishop's counsel. How 'bout it, Scott?     

Doing the right thing: Since Dec. 17, four Irish bishops -- two ordinaries and two auxiliaries -- have resigned in the wake of revelations that the Dublin Archdiocese covered up clergy sexual abuse allegations, and that in doing so put children at further risk of abuse.

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If you watched the telecast of the 49ers-Packers game last Sunday, did you notice that when Greg Jennings scored on a 64-yard TD pass in the second quarter, the camera operator and director were anticipating a Lambeau Leap?

Surprise! Instead of heading immediately for the fans in the stands, Jennings took a moment and knelt on one knee in the end zone. Might he been praying? Don't know, because the director dumped out of that shot in a hurry. After the commercial break, the network showed the replay of his delayed leap.

The Lambeau Leap is exciting to watch, but there's a poignancy when a player kneels and possibly prays after a big play -- a poignancy that should be incorporated into the telecasts by the producers. Unfortunately, the closest they get to allowing religion into the telecasts is the "Hail Mary pass" cliche.
Speaking of misdirected media, have you listened to Milwaukee's two "Christmas music" FM radio stations -- 95.7 and 99.1? Less variety in their music than in the cereal aisle at Aldi's. During random listening in less than a week, I heard "Jingle Bell Rock" by the late Bobby Helms seven times.  A nice enough song, but might it not be better for listeners and advertisers who covet those listeners if the stations used different music services so that the rotation of songs and artists would be greater?

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Given they were collectively a non-factor in determining the outcome of last year's U.S. presidential election, it was impressive to see the U.S. bishops muster their clout in getting federal funding for abortion removed from the House's Affordable Health Care for America Act last Saturday.

I would have loved to have heard the conversation between Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi when the former was "encouraging" -- the verb Catholic News Service used in its story -- the latter to allow the full House to vote on Rep. Bart Stupak's amendment that called for prohibition of that funding. The amendment by the Catholic Democrat from Michigan passed 240-194, and gave Pelosi the pro-life Democrats' votes she needed to pass the health care act. How badly did she need them? With a vote of 220-215, she had few votes to spare.

I hope the success bolstered the bishops' confidence as they're going to have to make an even greater effort when the Senate takes up the legislation, again when a joint committee works out the differences between the two chambers' versions, and still again if President Obama pressures members of the legislative branch to keep abortion funding in the act.

You can't please all of the people: Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, has taken the bishops, in particular Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, chairman of their pro-life committee, to task for working out a deal with Pelosi.

On her Web site, Brown writes, "There was a time when Catholic bishops wisely invested themselves in teaching their flock, preparing them to be the men and women of faith who could remold a nation and her politics by standing up for God and His truth. Currently, the USCCB’s leaders themselves appear to be all about politics... "

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