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Why do you (or others if you don’t), wear sports attire (hats, jerseys, shirts, etc.)? Is it because of the history of the team? Is it because of the experiences you’ve had watching the team play on your own or with friends and family? Is it because of the love of the game, and although you’re a fan of the game in general, you have a particular connection with a specific team?
It’s probably a few, if not all, of these answers. I think the biggest reason why people wear their sports team’s logos is to have a sense of belonging—that when you go out and see someone else who’s a fan of the same team, you feel good—you might give a nod, a smile, or you might even start up a conversation.
Yet you don’t see too many people sporting religious attire. Why is that? Why is it easier to show our loyalty to a sports team than to God?
I think it’s because the reasons we think of when wearing something that acknowledges our faith are not the ones mentioned above. There are people who wear their sports team to try to show off—to be prideful, to initiate confrontation against rivals, to prove somehow that they are better than other teams’ fans. We don’t want to be confronted about our faith. We don’t want people to think that by wearing something religious we believe we are better than they are. And we shouldn’t.
But we should appreciate the history of our Church. We should remember the experiences we’ve had at Mass, in our community, in prayer. We should have a love for Christ and the Church He founded. Whether we grew up in the Church, or came into the Church later in life, we are here.
I think this is the reason why we should be more open to wearing religious attire. Not to be prideful, not to say that we are better than others, and not, as Michael Jackson would say, because we “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin.’” We should be more open to help give us a sense of belonging.
Maybe the reason people don’t wear more religious attire is because they don’t feel like they belong. They don’t feel as impassioned by Christ as they do a sports team. And this isn’t a “you” problem, but an “us” problem. It’s a both/and, not an either/or—the Church needs to be better at welcoming people, and those people also need to be more proactive in finding their home in the Church. There are probably many of you who had to put in some effort to get into sports—maybe it’s because you didn’t like the team or sport at first, but someone got you into it, and as you opened yourself to it, you found more than you expected. And just like your teams have their ups and downs, there are things that will bring you up within the Church, and things that will frustrate you. But we stay, and continue to work and live in the Church to make it better. Because it is, truly, where we belong.
