Catholic issues just keep rolling in; this one right here in Detroit.
A number of local priests have complained loudly (on TV & radio) that the Detroit Tigers baseball organization has scheduled the opening day baseball game at 1:00 PM on GOOD FRIDAY.
Thirty other baseball teams around the country have games on Good Friday BUT they all start AFTER 3:00 PM; the official time Jesus died.
Well, I guess I can look at this in a number of ways. There is no law saying baseball cannot be played on Good Friday or at least between 12:00 – 3:00 PM. If we make an exception for the Catholics, wouldn’t we have to do the same for all other religions and their “sacred” moments?
Are the priests ticked off that people will go to the game and not the church and the priests will miss out on donations or are they genuinely concerned about the lack of respect for Catholicism’s traditions?
When I was growing up my mother would not allow music to be played on Good Friday, no meat could be eaten and we could not act happy or play happy games. If it was a rainy, cloudy day, my mother would always say, see, earth is crying. And if there was a thunder & lightening storm between 12:00 & 3:00 PM, she would be ecstatic; just like in the movie The Robe.
We are a secular society and baseball is a secular sport that also happens to be a business and a well regulated business at that; schedules are schedules.
If Catholics would rather go to opening day and not church, that is their choice since it is, after all, their faith and traditions we are talking about. In the past, we had “blue laws” and in some areas, still have them, which prohibited stores from opening on Sundays or bars from serving liquor on Sundays, all designed to eliminate any and all distractions that would keep people from going to church and putting money in the collection box.
I think the priests that are crying foul today are the same type of cleric that pushed for blue laws in the old days; they want society to help get people into their church and that is just plain nonsense and should be treated as such.
I also consider the priests’ complaints as pure arrogance and they need to be made aware of the fact that their sacred day and time may be someone else’s opening day and carry the same reverence and importance.
A number of local priests have complained loudly (on TV & radio) that the Detroit Tigers baseball organization has scheduled the opening day baseball game at 1:00 PM on GOOD FRIDAY.
Thirty other baseball teams around the country have games on Good Friday BUT they all start AFTER 3:00 PM; the official time Jesus died.
Well, I guess I can look at this in a number of ways. There is no law saying baseball cannot be played on Good Friday or at least between 12:00 – 3:00 PM. If we make an exception for the Catholics, wouldn’t we have to do the same for all other religions and their “sacred” moments?
Are the priests ticked off that people will go to the game and not the church and the priests will miss out on donations or are they genuinely concerned about the lack of respect for Catholicism’s traditions?
When I was growing up my mother would not allow music to be played on Good Friday, no meat could be eaten and we could not act happy or play happy games. If it was a rainy, cloudy day, my mother would always say, see, earth is crying. And if there was a thunder & lightening storm between 12:00 & 3:00 PM, she would be ecstatic; just like in the movie The Robe.
We are a secular society and baseball is a secular sport that also happens to be a business and a well regulated business at that; schedules are schedules.
If Catholics would rather go to opening day and not church, that is their choice since it is, after all, their faith and traditions we are talking about. In the past, we had “blue laws” and in some areas, still have them, which prohibited stores from opening on Sundays or bars from serving liquor on Sundays, all designed to eliminate any and all distractions that would keep people from going to church and putting money in the collection box.
I think the priests that are crying foul today are the same type of cleric that pushed for blue laws in the old days; they want society to help get people into their church and that is just plain nonsense and should be treated as such.
I also consider the priests’ complaints as pure arrogance and they need to be made aware of the fact that their sacred day and time may be someone else’s opening day and carry the same reverence and importance.
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