Pray Like a Champion Today!

PRAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

I hung this sign in the tunnel leading to the undercroft of our church where I am teaching youth a class this semester: “Special Forces Training in Holiness.”

In the video, (below), which I showed to my students, Coach Lou Holtz (Notre Dame Coach, 1986-1996) explains the “Play Like a Champion Today” sign in the tunnel leading from the locker room to the football field. Coach highlights three things his players should focus upon when they hit the sign as they run by it:

1. Think of all the people in your life who played a role in getting you to Notre Dame
2. All of the great athletes before you who helped build this great tradition.
3. Obligation to your teammates, not to let them down.

I asked my students to touch the sign “Pray Like a Champion Today” (shown in this photo, as they enter the undercroft) when they come and go from class, and remember …

1. All the people in your life who play a role in leading you into the Divine Life.
2. All of the saints and all of your ancestors who have built this tradition of holiness.
3. Your obligation to the living and deceased members of the Catholic Church, who are counting on you to “make a difference” with the the precious gift of life God has given you.

Fr Richard Heilman