IT'S SHOWTIME!!

by Fr. John Dresko

One of the absolute best times of the year for a baseball fan is spring training. After the football season ends in January, the baseball fan already begins to see the Florida or Arizona sun shining down upon the green fields waiting for the ball players to arrive. The only possible enjoyment for the baseball fan during these months is the "Hot Stove League," which stokes rumors of trades, free agents moving around from team to team and the promotion of hot rookies and demotions of duds.

The first days of spring training are reserved for pitchers and catchers. They need a little more time to limber up the arms and legs, and so they need a few extra days. Finally, the whole team arrives and after a week or so of practice, the exhibition games begin. It is these games that determine who will stay with a team, and who will go, either by trade, demotion or, worst of all, release. The rookies who practice with a big league team for the first time talk about finally getting to "The Show." It is not uncommon to see young rookie players running out ground balls full speed, diving into walls to catch fly balls, and blocking hard ground balls with their chests, all with the hope of making "The Show." It is also common to see self-assured veteran players take their time getting into shape, waving at fly balls that crash untouched into the outfield walls, and hot ground balls scoot through an infield that does not want to get injured, because they are saving themselves for the real season. Sadly, there are those veteran players who are just past their prime and don't know it-catchers who can't quite block that curve ball that got away, shortstops who really can't make the throw from the hole any more, batters who "just missed" that last fastball. These are the players who, if they are wise, will see the writing on the wall and retire. It is they who must leave "The Show."

Finally, however, the season arrives. Managers make their last roster decisions, some rookies are sent down to the minor leagues for a little more seasoning, then called back at the last minute because the veteran pitcher just pulled a muscle. Games start that really count in the standings, and everyone is convinced that, with a little luck, they could be the next world champs! All the off-season maneuvering, contract talks, labor disputes, etc. are put aside-The Show has begun, to weave its way through the summer and finish up when the cold autumn breezes begin to remind us of winter.

Our Christian life is very much like the preparation of a baseball team. We have journeyed through the time of Great Lent, which is our spring training. Some of us still have the wide-eyed enthusiasm of the rookie, diving into fasting head first, with the real understanding that our bodies are secondary to making "The Show." We use the time of Great Lent for our spiritual conditioning, exercising through prayer, repentance, fasting, participation in the services of the Church, and, of course, the Eucharist, which is truly the training table of Christian life-serving the balanced, nutritious Meal, which helps us take shape for "The Show." Alas, there are also among us the faded vets, who really don't "need" to fast (after all, that is an anachronistic ideal taken from a faded scripture­this is 1991!), who really don't "need" to pray (I say the Lord's Prayer every day, Father, whether I need to or not!), who really don't "need" to repent (after all, Father, I don't have any "real" sins-I don't do anything!), who really don't "need" to participate in the life of the Church (I can pray just as well at home, Father, and I'm not a fanatic about services!), and who really don't "need" the Eucharist (I'm not like those hypocrites, Father, who sin and stand in the communion line-I'm absolutely pure at least once a year when I come!). Just like the baseball players, those "vets" will be asked to leave "The Show."

For you see, "The Show" is given as a wonderful little tidbit, a morsel to savor, a flavor to taste, in our celebration of Pascha. All of our efforts during Great Lent are simply preparations, exercises, and calisthenics to make us "ready" for Pascha. If we don't train, if we don't take care of ourselves, if we don't "practice" our Faith, how can we be ready for "The Show?" For "The Show" is the Kingdom of God, and it is revealed to us on earth in our grand celebration of Pascha every year, and in each little celebration of Pascha that we see in every "normal" Eucharist on a Sunday morning.

But just like the baseball player, "The Show" is as successful in our lives only in direct proportion to our efforts in preparing. If we prepare weakly, our joy and celebration will be "weak," even if we think it is "strong." But if we have the desire of the rookie, the determination to make "The Show" no matter what, our celebration will be more joyous than we could have imagined. When the regular season starts for baseball, the fans, the manager, the team owner, yes, even the players themselves, expect that the performance will be "major league," worthy of the cost expended on the players, and the money invested by the fans in purchasing tickets. If the efforts of each player were simply the same as on the first day of spring training, the player would not participate in "The Show" for very long. So it is also with us. If we spent all of Great Lent preparing ourselves for Pascha by prayer, fasting, good deeds, almsgiving, etc., only to revert back to our old ways moments after arriving at "The Show," how long do you think we will last? Great Lent has been the BEGINNING of our repentance, the beginning of our efforts. Pascha is the crown of that effort, not the end of the effort.

It is said by wise baseball men that a player is never cut by a manager-a player always cuts himself. If they have the talent, they are all called to be in "The Show." It is only effort and desire that separate many players. As we gather for Pascha, may God grant that we each have the spiritual determination of a rookie to make this celebration of "The Show" a true experience of the Kingdom of God, for it is in the Resurrection of Christ that we each see that we are all called to be in "The Show." The only ones who don't make it are the ones who don't want to be there!