Sports and Man’s Liturgical Nature

"It is the Cathedral of college football and worship happens here." rings the sound system of Tiger Stadium for every LSU home football game to some 100,000 plus fans. More than being poetic, this sentiment reveals something about man, sports, worship, and the relationship between them all.

Man has been defined in many ways throughout his history. Plato describes him as a featherless biped, Aristotle as a rational animal, others as a speaking animal, etc. All of these more or less hint at elements of truth (enter Diogenes). Another way I believe man can be defined is as a Liturgical Animal. By nature, men desire worship, and not just any worship, but liturgical worship. That is to say, a worship that has a structure--a certain ritual, chanting, involving the senses, emotions, and reason. This desire for worship may even be subconscious in some. People may not even know what it is or may have a vague understanding or what it is, but it is there. Man was made for worship, and he needs to find something to satiate that desire. The thing that will ultimately satisfy this desire is the eternal heavenly banquet. On Earth, satisfaction is found in its shadow, the Eucharistic Liturgy. But what of those who aren't religious? Where do some of them find the satiation of their liturgical cravings? People man find it in many different ways, but I think one of the main, if not the main place people try to find it is in sport.

Prima facia, there are perhaps a few similarities between sports and liturgy, but I think a deeper dive will reveal how similar they are. The two main ones I'd like top explore are communion and ritual. To start, liturgy is never an individual act. There is never only one person who participates in a liturgy. Canon 837 of the Church's code of canon law says "Liturgical actions are not private actions... Liturgical actions therefore belong to the whole body of the Church and manifest and affect it... Inasmuch as liturgical actions by their nature entail a common celebration, they are to be celebrated with the presence and active participation of the Christian faithful where possible." Liturgy is never private. Even when a priest celebrates a "private" Mass, the Blessed, the angels, and God HImself are present. Even etymologically speaking, liturgy comes from Greek and means "the work of the people." Liturgy is intrinsically communal. Sports are also intrinsically communal. One cannot play baseball by himself, race himself, box himself, or do any sport alone. Even in individual sports he is competing against someone. Not only are the athletes themselves communal, but even more obvious is the fact that the fans are communal. Much of what makes a game day experience so mystical is that it is a shared experience. What would attending a college football game be like without tailgating, or socializing with friends? It is a part of the experience, and a vital part of the experience. The need for communion with others is satiated both in liturgy and in sports.

What about the sports themselves? What similarities can be drawn between the two? Primarily, ritual. Ritual is rampant in both sports and liturgy. Without a ritualistic structure, they both fail to be what they are. To choose a specific sport, let's look at college football (though a plethora of other sports can be used). The community gathers in a location. They await. They prepare themselves. Then, it begins. Enter the priest, enter the players. The chants begin, the band begins the fight song. Our anticipation gives way to participation. These are only the beginnings, and we can see that the similarities are obvious. We watch as the priest makes present the Sacrifice of Calvary. We watch as the players sacrifice themselves for our entertainment. Our gaze is fixed upon the altar of Sacrifice. Our gaze is fixed on the field of glory. At certain points in the liturgy, more chanting is appriopirate. After the team scores, more music from the band is appropriate. Ritual is embedded and necessary for both.

One last aspect I'd like to briefly examine is mystery. After the words of institution and elevation of the host, the priest exclaims "The Mystery of Faith." It is at the liturgy's highpoint that mystery is most evident. Theologically, mysteries are not meant to be fully known, but rather are meant to be penetrated. This is not because they are irrational, but because they cannot be exhausted by the human intellect. They are an ever flowing and life giving stream from which we are called to drink. Our hearts are drawn to mystery. This is shown, albeit to a lesser degree, in sports. The entirety of the event is shrouded in mystery, and that is why we are there. Who is going to win the game? What is the final score going to be? Which players will be most impactful for the outcome? How will this game affect the team band its future going forward? The main difference between the mystery presented in liturgy and sports is that in sports the mysteries are exhausted. They are fully known. This is not because they are an ontologically higher form of mystery, but exactly the opposite. Though different, each has aspects of mystery that are quite homogenous and that reveal another aspect of man's liturgical nature.

Though sports are just the shadow of the shadow of the reality, they point to that reality for which we long. A religious person can attend sporting events and satisfy a part of his liturgical nature, provided that he recognizes that it is not the full reality and doesn't try to substitute it as such. Sports are a good and can and should be experienced. "What is man?" Sports gives an answers to that question: Man is a creature; a liturgical creature.