Sandlot

[Benny, guy in Dodgers hat, has just brought along Smalls to be part of the team, but the guys on the team don't want him.]

I loved this movie growing up.  I wish I had a childhood like this.  None the less, this movie speaks to a current issue that we have today, but also something about our faith.  It speaks of bullying, the team calling him a "geek, L-7 weenie," and all sorts of other insults.  So the Smalls can't play baseball right now, does that mean he is a loser?  So often kids make fun of other people when they have faults of their own.  We need people like Benny to stand up to the bullies of our world.  We need those who see the person on the outside looking in to bring them in, and defend them. Notice the criteria that Benny uses to argue for why Smalls should be allowed to play because Yeah-yeah is part of the game, which means other people should be allowed too.  How else do you think that Yeah-yeah learned how to play in the first place?  Somebody was nice enough to show him how to play.

This leads into the point that is important about our faith.  We are meant to share our faith, not meant to keep it in all the time.  This group of ball players would have been happy to keep playing the way they have always been playing, but if they did that, then their time would eventually die out, just like our faith.  "Faith is not a personal treasure like a bank account or something to be kept in a strong box. A faith that is not shared with others might as well be embalmed." -Pope Francis.  Pope Francis states this so well.  We are meant to have a faith that is contagious and outreaching.  We, as a Church, have been in a defensive mode for so long, but we are not meant to hold on to our life, but rather lose it for His sake.  It is risk that God requires of us.  Attempt to live outside your comfort zone.  Reach out to the so called "losers."  Love people, bring them along to things.  Take the time this weekend to invite somebody to Mass.