Sermonette: May 9, 2022

Joe Kennedy, a former assistant coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Wash., lost his coaching job after refusing to stop kneeling in prayer with players and spectators on the field immediately after football games. He took his arguments to the Supreme Court on April 25, 2022, saying the school district violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to let him continue praying at the 50-yard line after games.

As a society, what have we come to? This man knelt midfield by himself, never asked anyone to join him, but eventually players and spectators joined him in prayer. When asked to quit, he didn’t, and lost his job. So many strange and offhand beliefs and expressions are accepted in our culture, but it isn’t accepted to take a knee and converse with God?

Before us are brave souls trying to set a good example of talking to God. We know we can do all things through him (cf. Philippians 4:13) and anything is possible with him (cf. Matthew 19:26), so why not have that conversation? Why not together, with Jesus, make a difference in this troubled world?

If things continue, then I expect the day will come when ashes won’t be allowed on foreheads in public after Ash Wednesday Mass and the making of the sign of the cross will be forbidden in public.

We need more people to witness to the love of Jesus, like Joe Kennedy, praying to bring Christ back into our lives. This is needed to reverse the mess we’ve gotten into. We need to return to God and regain our focus on him.