Daily Catholic playbook September 25, 2024By Mark Viviano Special to the Catholic Review Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Full-Court Catholic The kickoff of football season has me thinking in terms of the playbook, the template each team puts together as a guide and action plan. One doesn’t have to be a football fan to understand the concept that there are planned methods to seek success, whether on the field or in our lives. That includes a daily plan for our spiritual lives as Catholics. The playbook I’m sharing starts with the opening coin toss. You’ve no doubt seen team captains gather at midfield with the referee at the start of each game. For us, that’s our morning wake-up, and here’s the good news: you’ve already won the coin toss! You’re alive, God has given you the gift of another day. Start with a prayer of thanksgiving for the opportunity granted. The winner of the coin toss then elects to kick off or receive. Our playbook always calls for us to receive: receive the love of God. It is by his love that we are created and why we exist. God’s love is ever-present, receive it in abundance. His love is what empowers us to proceed through each day. After electing to receive, we are then in position to return. In football, the receiving team returns the kickoff, while in this playbook we return the love we receive from God. It is our daily call and purpose. From Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” After we’ve received and returned, the next step in our daily playbook is a call to action: hand-off or pass. Share God’s love with all whom we encounter. His love is not for us to keep, but to offer to others. From John 13:34, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The playbook summary: Receive God’s love and return that love to our Creator. Then, filled with an abundance of his love, hand it off or pass it on to others. Just as coaches will say that success in football is rooted in the basics, our lives as Christians are rooted in the basics of the love from which God has created us. Read More Commentary Question Corner: When can Catholics sing the Advent hymn ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel?’ Rome and the Church in the U.S. A steady light: Pope Leo XIV’s top five moments of 2025 Theologian explores modern society’s manipulation of body and identity Corridors of gratitude Encountering Christ in neighbors facing detention, deportation and loss Copyright © 2024 Catholic Review Media Print
