I wasn’t too sure about this video at first, given that projects like this have the potential to become quite hokey. And then a blast from the past flashed across the screen: Chris Spier, who had been a shortstop for the (now lamented) Montreal Expos when I was a kid — and who attended the same parish I did growing up. Seeing his brief cameo as he spoke about the role of faith in his life made the whole rest of the video real for me in a very personal way — as I am sure it would do for anyone who had admired the athletic talents of other baseball figures who appear in the video.

What I loved about this video was its sincerity. You really got the impression that these were real guys for whom faith was equally real. One manager spoke of organizing trips to local churches for his Catholic players when his team was on the road. Another spoke of meeting a fellow player in church one Sunday and discovering that they had that connection of faith. In a very powerful story, one player spoke of his reconciliation with another player after a very public altercation (he charged the mound and both teams wound up in a brawl). Heck, there is even a very credible tale of a beautiful miracle one coach lived, in a chapter called “The Chicken Runs at Midnight”. Want to know what that means? Get the video!

For me, though, the most powerful scenes were just brief flashes as I saw player going for communion, one with his family, another both receiving and then distributing communion as a Eucharistic minister. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our unity, and I just felt a connection with these men that went beyond any athletic accomplishment they might have had. To be honest, I hardly knew any of the sports figures in the DVD, as Montreal just isn’t the baseball town it once was. But I now knew these men as Catholics, and their testimonies inspired me.

Trust me: get the DVD. It is something worth watching as a family, something both adults and kids would enjoy. My rating: A.

P.S. As a final note, the Champions of Faith website mentions that it is possible to work with the “Champions of Faith” team to organize free public screenings of the DVD. If anyone in Montreal would be interested in doing this, leave a comment and perhaps a group can be formed to do exactly that!

His father was a medical doctor who served in his country’s army. One day, an enemy soldier managed to slip into their camp and surprised the doctor. The enemy aimed his gun to shoot him; but just at that moment, one of the army soldiers who had seen the enemy approaching stepped in and shot first. When the smoke cleared, the defending soldier was shot in the leg, while the enemy lay nearby, bleeding from his chest and unconscious.

The doctor did not even hesitate. He left his lucid and kneeling friend and ran to the unconscious enemy to take care of him, to the utter surprise of the other. That day, the doctor saved the life of the enemy soldier, who would have died, had he not received immediate assistance.

My friend told me, “This is my father’s legacy. He made no distinction between people; he knew that everyone is important and worthy enough to receive the best care. Now I want to be just like him.”

What incredible forgiveness and charity, and at the risk of his own life.

This is Our Father’s Legacy. He makes no distinction between us, but showers us all with Love and Healing, because we all come from Him.

Let’s continue His Legacy.

During the course of the evening, the subject of communism came up in our conversations with her husband. At the beginning of the 80s, harsh communist rule in Poland had given way to a mild communism. Though people were no longer arrested and thrown in jail without fair trial for their opinions, certain freedoms were still withheld from them, including certain rights of speech and press. My boss was doing her PhD at that time, working in the more “liberated” environment of academia. Because of this, she had access to certain reading materials that were forbidden to the rest of the population…including newly-released books professing certain “risky” ideas of democracy. Since her husband (a lawyer and history scholar) is a bookworm and an avid proponent of democracy, my boss offered to sneak some of these forbidden books to him. Just as this fact was mentioned, my boss burst into the room with the books in question!

They were all pocket size. They either had smooth leather coverings with nothing written on them, or soft covers with titles of other “acceptable” books. The writing inside was so extremely tiny that it could only be read with a good-quality magnifying glass. Though the pages were yellowed with time, they remained sturdy. The couple’s favourite book was one written about dialogues recorded between a cardinal with democratic ideas and a mild communist sharing the same jail cell. Each of us passed the books around carefully, holding them with awe. We had in our hands a piece of history.

I couldn’t help but admire the creativity that went into smuggling these books. The colours on the covers, the print size, the way my boss obtained… The creativity itself was a reason for joy, wonder and laughter at this party… Yet I’m sure this was no laughing matter at the time. Who would imagine ways like this unless they were under oppression?

How easily we take our freedom of expression and of life for granted. How precious it is! Which one of us could imagine having to do what my boss and her husband had to do to read a book?!? And yet, freedom can also easily be taken away from us, at any time, by any circumstance. We must never underestimate how important it is to safeguard it as a society, and, especially, to use it well, for the good of others, so that it is not taken away.

The human soul was made for freedom. Oppression may mask the soul for a moment; but it is only a mask. The soul eventually shines through with new ideas and solutions. As these are put into practice, the mask falls off, never to be put on again. A soul near its humanity, near its Image of God, cannot not be stifled forever.

Our freedom is a gift of God, a power after His Own Heart. We must never withhold it from anyone else. As we were given, so we give.