Resident Coach

Ave Maria:)

It's the height of NBA fever... Dallas and Miami teams must move to Miami homecourt -and if Dallas wings it... the ring is theirs! You can bet that Miami will put up the fight of their life - both teams for that matter.I am so excited. This is the way championship games ought to be played.. no dirty tricks.. with players displaying their skills even under utmost pressure - several players are'ill'..like Dirk of Dallas.. nursing a flu ..what a terrible time to get sick Dirk.. but he shows bravura, sheer fight till the last drop of blood - even succeeding in leading his team to a win inspite of the cough and fever- woweee... on the other side...Sir Wade is as gallant as ever... Dallas is the team I'm rooting for-- but hey, I know a great player when I see one... and i truly respect Wade. I'm watching the players from both teams show their prowess, courage, wisdom too -- for the championships it's not just talent and skills that count but wisdom and experience that gives the Edge in the finals...
and can't help marveling at the God who allows all these wonderful athletic moments to happen. If you play as well as any of these guys..would you not thank the One who gave you the strength, education, training and golden opportunities so that you could be a player of this stature.?
AH BUT YESSSS..sadly there will be players... who would not give a hoot of whence the talents and blessings in life come from -- worse, they figure They Done it Themselves..not owing the Creator any gratitude.Weird and outright ungrateful.

Sometimes we will see players , famous and well-awarded ones at that closing their eyes in prayer..either imploring God for the help and good luck they need ..or thanking the Lord profusely for the good breaks -- it's caught on international tv and I am so blest. How powerful can that image be?

Men and women all over the world practically idolize these great athletes..so to see them praying and acknowledging their God in public is sometimes more powerful than a seminar or sermon.

But the timing of the NBA championship couldn't have happened at a more precise time. Pentecost Sunday is the great feast for the month of June.
it celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, The Spirit's descent upon the Blessed Mother Mary and the apostles after Jesus had ascended to heaven.

where's the connection?
Basketball teams of the the calibre of the NBA are formed not for mere flash and media mileage but they are groomed to win. The owner of a team moves heaven and earth to recruit the best players.. even going as far as to import.. like Dirk who is German.. the Gasol brothers from Spain, one of them plays for the Lakers-- the team with perhaps the most wins.... and after you get the players signing them up with the best deals so that they stay with the team..the next problem is how to make them work as a team with a common goal----> to win that championship. This is where the Coach comes in-- his assignment can't be emphasized enough.It's the coach who determines the amount and style of training..and the coach who teaches the different "plays"... that only the team knows..the coach who studies each player, his strengths and weaknesses (in fact, the coach must also study the other teams' strengths and weaknesses) --a good coach must be able to bring out the best in each player and instill unity, trust... even friendship among the players -- these elements help bring home the trophies. 

In a game.. i think 3 time-outs are allowed each quarter... during a time-out the coach gives instructions of what to do, how to disable the enemy --- he has a vantage point since he can see the team progress from afar..he is stationery and can gauge well what is exactly happening.so at the crucial moments when a time-out is called and the last minutes are ticking, the coach's instructins are sooooooo VITAL.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THE TIME-OUTS FOR BOTH TEAMS HAVE BEEN USED UP MUCH TOO EARLY ..there's still a long way to go like 2-3 minutes.... what do the teams do????up to this point they have been so reliant on their coach from training to actual play-offs ..and then at the time they need to hear his voice the most ..he's not there!

There is a parallel to this NBA championship scenario and how the APostles felt after Jesus had "left" them. This was the time Jesus already ascended to heaven but not without giving them Last Instructions: Book of Acts 1..........

after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³ After his suffering, he (Jesus) presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴ On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵ For John baptized with^[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus is like the Coach whose presence the apsotles had grown so accustomed to..He trained them.. lived with them, was Big Brother, Teacher, Counselor and Provider the 3 years he had called them to be his disciples.For as long as Coach Jesus was around, they felt and assumed they could do anything...especially as they witnessed the Lord perform so many miracles going as far as raising the dead Lazarus to life!

As they listened to his powerful preaching, they had no negativity whatsoever to talk and propagate about this New Kingdom ... they didn't fear the Pharisees or Mother Nature's antics like a frightening storm at sea... FOR AS LONG AS THE BOSS WAS THERE.

but with Jesus ascended to heaven which they witnessed with their very own eyes..how in the whole wide world could they ever hope to finish the game Jesus  started.?

How would they preach? Their charisma was not even enough to attract fish..real fish to their fisherman's nets... and now the Lord expected them to to become Fishers of men?? Was Jesus hallucinating?

But Jesus had given them specific commands to carry on with his mission and to their credit, they trusted his promise that He would send the Helper (the Holy Spirit). It helped much that Mama Mary joined them in prayer those days they prayed and waited in the Upper Room..yes Mama Mary was temporary coach until the coming of the Holy Spirit.

In the NBA, if the Coach did his job well.. he will have a well-knit team which will not cave in to pressure during the last minutes of the game.With or with-out time-out, the team will know what to do, the hours of hard training will come to the fore, they will remember, they will not be rattled, they will put up an impregnable defense and they will deliver the necessary shots to win the game convincingly. They will win!

Jesus didnot gather the Apostles so that they would be a losing bunch.He made sure He would send them the Holy Spirit... and whe the Spirit came , the apostles were given the gifts they needed to continue Christ's work.

We are still playing the game...you and I.. let us play it well, let us play to win --to win souls for Jesus.. let us not rely on our own strength but pray to the Holy SPirit.. invite the Spirit, beg forgiveness for our sins and ask for a new mind and a new heart.It is the only way we can hope to be true disciples of our Lord. The Holy Spirit whom we recieved at our sacramental baptism is now our Resident Coach, always with us,molding us and  providing for our every need.

Awesome and true.

so don't worry what the score is right now.. the Spirit of Jesus is given to all who believe and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour.It's not an ordinary Feast this Pentecost , it's the Feast that rocked the world --purified then set hearts on fire with love for God!

a Joyous Pentecost Sunday to all!

come Holy Spirit, let your fire fall!

..Galatians 5...20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.       25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. ..
........................................God bless us all.......................te mye