Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade
(bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)
I have tried, but I have to confess that I have never been able to watch a football game from the beginning until the end because of the agony I feel and see, not only among the football players, but also around me in the people who are watching it in person or in TV. It is uncommon to see people really «enjoying» the game. It is common to see the watchers agonizing over each movement that is done inside the field. I don’t see too much concern about the players. What I see is a big concern about winning or losing. And what I find strange is that in the same moment and in the same place, I have seen people yelling and screaming of joy and excitement, and at their side there are people crying, feeling defeated, sad and frustrated.
It was during a Marathon at the Special Olympics. A group of ten Special young boys and girls were running, competing with each other to arrive first and to be the first; to be the winner. Some of them were Down syndrome, some Autistic and others with other special challenges. There were thousands of people watching from the balcony.
They were running and running. People were roaring with excitement, with applauses and words of encouragement and support for those they expected to be their heroes. Of course some were faster than others, and consequently some were ahead of others. This was the purpose of the marathon. And of course the winners would be rewarded with special expensive medals. The losers, well… too bad. Nothing could be done about that. This was a competition and rules are rules.
At a certain a point of the race, a fifteen-year-old girl fell on the ground. It was obvious that not even the adversaries enjoyed that moment, but that fall, helping her to lose, would be helping others to win. That’s part of sports. That’s part of competition. Some have to lose in order that others can win. Rules are rules.
But something happened that completely changed the atmosphere. They were ten young people running and doing what they had been taught to do. They had been taught to run faster than others and to be ahead of others, because they were supposed to win. All the techniques had been taught and learned properly. But seeing their colleague in pain, all of them forgot that they were supposed to win. All of them stopped and came to her aid. One of the boys kissed her knee that had been scratched and told her. «This is going to help you feel better». Then all of them joined hands and kept running and arrived all together at the same time.
According to the story there was not one dry eye on the balconies. True human life is not about competition. True human life is about helping one another. True human life is about People Helping People.
Love and Peace
Fr. Bernardino Andrade