Football & Mass in South Bend
GUEST COLUMN
Rivers Patou, that’s his real name — it says so in gold letters on his dark blue baseball cap — is a Catholic priest. He’s also the Chaplain of the Port of Houston. (You didn’t know Houston has a port? It does.)
I was with Rivers last fall in South Bend, Indiana. We were there with our friends, Tom and Jann Brunner, and a classmate and colleague of Jann’s, Patricia Nemec, for the purpose of watching Notre Dame play Texas. Tom, Jann, Pat, and Rivers graduated from Notre Dame. Because they are intelligent, sophisticated, and urbane, they lack that certain fervor frequently associated in the popular mind with Notre Dame partisans, a fervor deeply resented by non-Notre Dame fans. But if you assume that means Brunners, Pat, and Fr. Patou are indifferent to what happens to Notre Dame football, you would be greatly in error.
The occasion for me was all the more meaningful because my son, Tim, was with us. He lives in Virginia and works for Tom Daschle, the Democratic Leader in the U.S. Senate. Tim had never seen the Fighting Irish play. Given the horrific beating the Democrats are taking from Republicans these days, I thought it would be good for Tim to be a part of something that at least had a reasonable chance of winning, as in Notre Dame over Texas.
The Brunners live in South Bend. Tom’s a lawyer. Jann teaches at St. Joseph’s High School. They see the Irish play often, but Fr. Patou makes his South Bend pilgrimage once a year.
You May Also Enjoy
Once the principle is adopted that you can ignore the Universal Moral Law for pragmatic reasons, the door is wide open for all types of evils to enter.
The Empty Vanity of Science... Chrism Correction... The Pursuit of Raw Power... Where Is Heaven? Why Would I Want to Go There?... An Investment in the Betterment of Souls
A "Compassionate Conservative" Advises Pope Benedict XVI... Prolifers: Thanks for the Votes; We'll See You Again in Four Years... Benedict the Moderate?... A Case Study in the Theology of Apology... "Perhaps the Most Powerful Man in the Church in America"... more