On the Roster
Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
There were two elderly men, Bill and Steve. They were devout Catholics who also had a life-long love of the game of baseball. They played together when they were young and coached their sons’ teams later in life. In their old age they avidly watched games together.
Eventually, Bill passed away. Some time later, he visited Steve in a dream.
“Steve! Steve! This is Bill!”
“Bill! Is it really you?”
“Yes! God has allowed me to visit you this one time.”
“Where are you Bill?”
“I’m in Heaven! Oh Steve, it’s amazing here. I can’t describe it.”
“That’s wonderful Bill, just incredible! Listen, though, can you tell me one thing?”
“What is it, Steve?”
“Is there Baseball in Heaven?”
Bill pauses for a moment. Then he slowly answers,
“Well, there’s good news and bad news there.”
“Okay, give me the good news first.”
“Yes, there’s baseball. We even have teams – I play all the time!”
“Okay, that is good news. So what’s the bad news?”
“Well,” Bill hesitates again, “You’re on tomorrow’s roster as our starting pitcher.”
Bad News or Good News?
I can’t remember where I first heard the joke above. I’d credit the source if I could. In any case, it came to my mind recently when I was attending the funeral of a fellow parishioner. He was a Catholic layman with a long and distinguished record of service to the Church in a number of capacities. He also had a love for sports and had volunteered countless hours to youth sports leagues. I think he would have appreciated the joke, if he knew it.
There’s something about it that’s always bothered me, however. The punchline is that Steve is about to die as well, that’s the “bad news.” But if he’s on tomorrow’s roster, that means he’ll be going straight to Heaven. That’s Good News. In fact, that’s the best possible news for a believing Christian, isn’t it?
God’s Friendship
Which brings us to the doctrine of Christian hope. This is not the secular concept of “hope,” which is little more than wishful thinking. Catholic Answers defines Christian hope as:
a Divine virtue by which we confidently expect, with God‘s help, to reach eternal felicity as well as to have at our disposal the means of securing it.
Let’s take note that we are to “confidently expect to reach eternal felicity,” but we can’t take it for granted. That would be the sin of presumption. There are conditions to making the heavenly roster.
First, we need God’s help. We can’t do it on our own. The definition specifies “the means of securing it” as a part of that help. We need to avail ourselves of those means if we want to remain in God’s friendship, to use the traditional terms. Foremost among those means are the sacraments. Of particular importance are the Holy Eucharist and, just as important, the much-neglected sacrament of Confession.
“Run so as to win!”
–1 Corinthians 9:24
Run to Win
Another bothersome point in the joke above is the implication that Steve will go directly to Heaven. Now, such a thing can certainly happen. Our understanding, however, is that only the great saints enjoy the Beatific Vision immediately upon their departure from this world. Most of us, even if we’re destined for Heaven, need to undergo purification in Purgatory. In a similar way, most ball players need to spend time, often years, in the minor leagues before they can move up to the Big Club.
Hope, then, is God’s assurance that we will, eventually, find a place on his roster . . . provided we follow the play book he’s given us. So, let’s take care to maintain our friendship with God. “Run so as to win!” as St. Paul urges us (1 Corinthians 9:24). Oh, and keep working on your fastball.