I have been a huge sports fan all my life. I enjoyed participating in athletics and have always rooted for our local teams. I am a proud “homer.”

This is one of the best times of the year for sports fans. The NCAA March Madness tournament never fails to generate excitement. At the same time, we have the NBA and the NHL heading toward the playoffs, and baseball finally started spring training after reaching a labor agreement. 

We also have all the youth leagues beginning their spring sports. The fields are full of athletes playing baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and more, and parents are on the go driving to practices and games. 

As good as all of this is, I find it bittersweet. Sports are great, but I fear they have become too important for many of us and could be hurting us spiritually.

When I was growing up and living my faith with my family, life revolved more around the liturgical calendar. The Church year begins in Advent, progresses to the beautiful Christmas season, followed by a period of ordinary time before Lent, then the glorious Easter season into summer and ordinary time until the next Advent. 

I think we have lost some of that. For many people, the calendar now revolves around sports seasons. It goes from football and the Super Bowl to basketball’s March Madness, then to spring training and the baseball season, and back to football, basketball, and hockey in the fall. Many of our young people participate in sports like soccer, lacrosse and swimming much of the year.

I feel particularly conflicted about the Sabbath. I have noticed and talked to many people whose priorities on weekends are not really God, taking a day of rest, spending more time in prayer, or going to Mass. Rather, they are about sporting events.

Pastors and others have lamented for years about how soccer and other sports have largely taken the place of Sunday Mass. Parents tell us they cannot make it to church on Sunday or have their kids in religious education because the schedule is full. As valuable as sports are, it is disheartening when playing and following athletics usurps the very place of God and the practice of religion in our lives. 

Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but I can’t help but think how great it would be if we had as much commitment to going to Mass as we do to watching a sporting event. If we had as much energy, joy and enthusiasm for singing at church as we do for cheering loudly for our kids and our favorite teams. If we devoted time to preparing for Sunday Mass by reflecting on the Scripture readings and our relationship with God as we do keeping up with the latest sports news.

In the most recent Super Bowl, I noticed that there was nearly seven hours of pregame “preparation” on television! It began around noon for a game that didn’t start until 6:30 p.m. Just imagine if we had that same kind of commitment to God and to religion, that we prepare well, pray well and celebrate well the countless gifts God has given us.

I realize it is often not a deliberate decision to put sports before God, so I encourage all of us to look at our lives and our schedules and see where our priorities truly lie. If we must choose between attending a sporting event or Mass, what do we do? Statistically the answer is clear. Many people give much more attention to their favorite sports teams than their participation in the Church. With a few weeks left in Lent, now is a great time to reflect on our lives and whether Mass, prayer and devotion to God top our list. 

God asks for only one hour a week at Mass, which is far less than we would spend on sports anyway. One hour out of 168 in a week. I understand that lives are busy – and often with good things – but I pray that it is not at the expense of our commitment to celebrate our faith on a regular basis. I am especially concerned about the message this sends to our young people when one hour a week at Mass seems less important than other activities.

We all need to stay connected to God. I think of what Jesus told us: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) When I was growing up, my parents and others were branches who kept me connected to Jesus and the Church. I’m afraid that for some those branches are being lopped off or broken because of other commitments and activities. 

Sports are wonderful gifts from God. Even in scripture, St. Paul talks about competing well, fighting the good fight, and finishing the race (2 Timothy 4). They are thrilling and beautiful to watch and play. They help us be physically fit. They teach us about hard work, perseverance, dealing with disappointment, handling success, the value of teamwork and so much more. 

So by all means, be a sports fan. Just make sure you’re a God fan first.

(Msgr. John Enzler, the president and CEO of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, writes the “Faith in Action” column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)