The story of the famous Glasgow football club, Celtic FC is fascinating. It was founded in 1887 by an Irish Marist Brother called Brother Walfrid. He began the club with the intention of using it as a means of fundraising to alleviate poverty among the poor immigrants, mostly Irish, living in Glasgow at the time. Specifically, his charity was called the ‘Poor Children’s Dinner Table’. Anyhow, I’m pretty sure that when I mentioned Celtic, that one of your first thoughts may have been the name of their so-called arch-rivals: Rangers. We imagine the world in this way. What gives Celtic their identity is that they are the ‘Catholic’ club, while Rangers are the ‘Protestant’ club. Identity is everything – but what happens when one side disappears? When we have no rival anymore, our identity can slip.
In a way, that’s what its like to be a Catholic in Ireland today. We could be identified as being ‘traditional’, ‘conservative’, ‘un-enlightened’, ‘stuck in the past’. We might even feel like this ourselves, even though we may come to Mass on a regular basis.
So, what does it mean to be a Catholic? Especially if we choose, carefully, not to define ourselves in terms of groups who are not Catholic. This is a difficult question to answer. When we think ‘Catholic’, in our mind we might compare it to being ‘Protestant’. Or, in our pluralistic and multicultural world, we imagine ourselves as not being a Hindu, or not being a Muslim, or whatever. So, if we cannot take refuge in the safe place of comparing ourselves to others, then, again: what does it mean to be Catholic?
Maybe it means that you are a good person. But, sure, there are people who are very good and are not Catholic. Maybe it means that you are a Christian. But, sure, there are people who are wonderful Christians and are not Catholic.
So, there are answers to this question, answers that may be regularly on our own lips that are kind of safe answers, but which do not really give us an insight into what being Catholic actually is.
My understanding, which I hope is based clearly on the Church’s understanding, is that being a Catholic means to be involved in the Catholic Church.
That means to be part of, a member of, the One Church of Christ. It means that my faith is not mine alone, but that rather, my faith, or, our faith is actually a participation in Christ’s faith, because Christ is the one human being who is completely faithful to his Father, to Our Father.
So, Our Father, God in heaven, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Moses, the God of Jesus Christ is One God. And, this One God sent his Son, the anointed One, to redeem us, which means to gather us together again into One Humanity in the Kingdom of God.
And so, this Sunday we celebrate Mission Sunday. This is the Sunday when we remember that the Church carries out the Mission of Christ to the World. And, because we are part of one humanity, broken, suffering and imperfect as it is, because by being human ourselves we already participate in one humanity, so we reach out to the poorer Churches and offer them some material support.
This really is a work of grace, because by being generous with what we have, by putting our money where our mouth is, our faith is made real and tangible. To be a Catholic is to be in solidarity with all of humanity – rich and poor alike.
On the 2nd January 1971, a disaster happened at Ibrox, the home of Rangers Football Club. It is known as the ‘Ibrox disaster’. 66 people lost their lives when people were crushed trying to exit the stadium after the game. By all accounts, it was a horrific incident. The amazing thing is that before the end of that month, on 27 January 1971, a fundraiser match was played at Scotland’s national stadium, Hampden Park. The teams were: Scotland X1 and Rangers/Celtic Select.
The Rangers/Celtic Select team was captained by John Greig and included Bobby Charlton and George Best of Manchester United, Peter Bonetti of Chelsea, Jardine, Smith, Henderson, Johnston, McCloy and Conn of Rangers and Celtic were represented by Murdoch, McNeill, Johnstone, Brogan and Hood.
The Scotland X1 team was taken from Jim Cruikshank (Hearts), Pat Stanton (Hibernian), Joe Harper and Bobby Clark (Aberdeen), John O'Hare and Archie Gemmill (Derby County), Bobby Moncur (Newcastle), Charlie Cooke (Chelsea), Tommy McLean (kilmarnock), Peter Lorimer (Leeds United), Tommy Gemmell and Davie Hay (Celtic), and Ron McKinnon, Colin Stein and Sandy Jardine (Rangers).Celtic manager Jock Stein said:
I would like to think there could be no greater silent memorial to the disaster victims than the joining together of the fans here at Hampden tonight to tumble the barriers which have besmirched Scottish football so often in the past.
Rangers manager Willie Waddell said:
This was a Rangers commitment, but we were not left on our own. Celtic rallied to our side immediately. Bobby Charlton personnified the willingness of his fellow footballers when he said "I'm thrilled to be asked. Just tell me when you want me and where."
Sometimes it is in suffering that we are brought together into the One Humanity imagined for us by Christ Jesus who suffered and died, that all may be one.
(Source for information: http://www.celticprogrammesonline.com/PROGRAMME%20COVERS/7071/scotlandXI/scotlandXI7071h.htm )
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