I use the number V to stress the fact that this education
is sophisticated. I remembered an
athlete who told me about teammates that were not communicating with her: “They
do not even know how to write.” It was
right, misspelling and no accents were common in their writings when communicating
in Spanish. We have mentioned in the
blog that education is the most important ingredient to be a champion. We quoted Albert Einstein: “My education is what limits my learning.” Something very simple as writing says very
much about the person who writes. One does
not want to follow rules; or simply, one does not want to learn rules. Pope Francisco says that being educated to
say thanks, and appreciative for what others do to us to make us better human
beings is half way to holiness. This is
why I tell athletes that being a “real champion” is close to being a saint. Real champions have what Francisco says
regarding being a saint. Real champions “learned
to feel” the three expressions that Francisco mentions. Learning belongs to feelings not to words,
and learning technique while swimming, biking or running needs an athlete
capable of knowing “what he/she feels:”
The family - 14. The three
expressions
Dear Brothers
and Sisters, Good morning!
Today’s catechesis will serve as a doorway
to a series of reflections on family life and what it’s really like to live in
a family, day in and day out. Imagine three expressions written above the
doorway; expressions I’ve already mentioned here in St Peter’s Square several
times before. The expressions are: “may I?”, “thank you”, and “pardon me”.
Indeed, these expressions open up the way to living well in your family, to
living in peace. They are simple expressions, but not so simple to put into
practice! They hold much power: the power to keep home life intact even when
tested with a thousand problems. But if they are absent, little holes can start
to crack open and the whole thing may even collapse… “good manners are already half the way to holiness”.
But be careful: history
has shown that good manners also can become a kind of formalism that masks a
dryness of soul and indifference toward the other person. It is often said,
“behind a lot of good manners lurk a lot of bad habits”. Not even religion is immune
from the risk of having formal observance sink into spiritual worldliness. The
Devil, tempting Jesus, boasts of good manners. Indeed, he presents himself as a
gentleman, a knight in shining armor. He even presents himself as a theologian
by quoting Holy Scripture. He appears to have everything right and neat on the
outside, but his intent is always to lead others astray from the truth of God’s
love. We, however, mean “good manners” only in the most authentic way,
according to which the habit of cultivating good relations is firmly rooted in
a love for the good and a respect for the other person. The family lives
according to this refined sense of loving.
I appreciate Francisco because he is able to humanize
holiness by presenting it as a learning process. It is just like seeing the creation of a
champion as a learning process. Nothing
out of the ordinary, it is just a lot of work.
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