I stopped and paused while looking at the day’s Sports section of my newspaper. Trying to avoid reading about baseball in Chicago these days, I gravitated to the medal counts for the Olympics. Then it occurred to me – why do I care about medal counts? Does knowing the US has more medals than Sri Lanka actually mean anything to me? I paused, noting how many times over the years I spent time on this same endeavor. I don’t remember the medal count in the 1980 summer Olympics but remember that Kurt Thomas was not allowed to compete. I remember four years later Mary Lou Retton got her chance to dominate and usher in a new hair style for young women of the time. I remember Nadia Comaneci, Mark Spitz, Usain Bolt and Sugar Ray Leonard. I remember terror at the 1972 Olympics. I cringe at LeBron James beating South Sudan knowing that professionals at these Olympic games can never repeat the “Miracle on Ice” of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Yet in all this, the number of medals from Olympiad is lost on me soon after they conclude.
How should I really feel about the medal count?
Ignatian spirituality encourages us to find “God in all things.” This means recognizing the presence of God in every aspect of our lives, even in something as seemingly insignificant as medal counts. Where is God in medal counts? While the numbers themselves may not hold much significance, we can find God in the athletes who push the boundaries of their God-given talents, in the unity of different cultures coming together for a common goal, and in the display of sportsmanship and fair play.
Benedictine spirituality encourages us to seek God in all aspects of life, including everyday activities. St. Benedict advocated for a balanced life, where work (training), prayer, and leisure are all given their due importance. I appreciate the discipline and commitment athletes must have to compete at an Olympic level. Yet athletes cannot perform at their best without harmonizing proper rest and self-care with their training schedules. No matter how they fare, Olympic athletes are expected to show humility, integrity, and respect both in victory and defeat.
I discerned, but not well. The answers I search for in spirituality failed to satisfy my quest to understand the significance of medal counts for me. This deliberation on medal counts remained with me for several days – until at Mass it suddenly occurred to me that such counts were a focus on the wrong gold. After noting a gold ciborium filled with hosts, it finally hit me. That “gold” held the only reward that matters – eternal life with Jesus Christ!
In our faith, our true “medal” is not received around our necks but in the form of the Eucharist, reverently held in our hands and consumed on our tongues. This is the ultimate prize, the source of true fulfillment and joy. Our “medal count” should not be measured by the number of physical rewards we accumulate, but rather the spirituality we receive with the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ throughout the year; minimally the 52 weekends and numerous Holy Days that annually arise.
Our faith requires us to seek something far greater – a medal that transcends time and space, a medal that grants us eternal communion with our Lord and Savior.
It is crucial to remember that the pursuit of worldly gold should never overshadow the pursuit of our ultimate prize- eternal life with Jesus Christ. My true “medal count” lies in the hosts contained in that golden ciborium. Within the ciborium lies the source of true fulfillment and joy. It is through this sacrament that we are called to shift our focus from worldly achievements and accolades to the pursuit of a deeper relationship with God. Our faith teaches us that true fulfillment and joy are found in our communion with Christ, not in the accumulation of material rewards. The pursuit of worldly gold, such as medal counts, simply distracts us from our ultimate reward in eternity.
The Olympics symbolize the epitome of human achievement, where athletes from around the world compete for glory and honor. While winning a gold medal at the Olympics is undoubtedly a remarkable accomplishment, it pales in comparison to the profound significance of receiving the Eucharist. In the Gospel of John, Jesus proclaims,
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. John 6:56
This union with Christ is a source of grace that sustains and empowers us on our journey towards salvation.
Perhaps medal counts can remind us to shift our focus from worldly achievements to the pursuit of a deeper relationship with God. The Olympics, with all its grandeur and spectacle, can serve as a reminder of the fleeting nature of worldly success. Winning a gold medal at the Olympics, while a remarkable achievement, is ultimately a temporal and fleeting honor. The Eucharist, on the other hand, is eternal communion with Jesus Christ.
Only in Christ can we find true meaning and purpose in our lives. Our faith is the only medal we need. Go for the gold!
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REVEREND DR. GREGORY WEBSTER is a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by Francis Cardinal George in May 2014. Besides degrees in Chemistry, he has an M.A. in Theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary and a D.Bioethics degree in Catholic/Research Ethics from Loyola University of Chicago. This reflection originally appeared at Catholic Journal.
