Super?
February 2nd, 2010For Sunday, February 7, 2010
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11

Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
The Super Bowl will be the big event this coming weekend. The NFL publicity machine has transformed the official NFL site (www.nfl.com) into a “Super Bowl only” production. Except for a few bits about other happenings in the league in the “Headlines” section, Web site content on the main page is exclusively Super Bowl. Marketers have used the event to sell everything from chips and salsa (coupons in last Sunday’s newspaper urging consumers to get these snacks for the big game) to satellite television subscriptions (call now to sign up and watch the big game in high definition). “Big game” has become the marketing euphemism of choice for those who don’t want to pay a licensing fee to the NFL for the use of their trade-marked name and logo. Of course, in the second half of January, it is commonly understood what the “big game” is. As everyone knows, it is not a reference to a basketball game between Skidmore and Rensselaer (no offense to them or any other NCAA division III schools).
Thirty-second advertising slots for the Super Bowl have sold out, with CBS reportedly garnering $2.5-3 million dollars for each spot (http://adage.com/superbowl10/article?article_id=141858). The game is always the biggest, most expensive advertising market of the year, far out-pacing events like the World Series, the NCAA championship game, the Academy Awards, and similar venues.
In an unusual stance, PepsiCo pulled out of advertising in this year’s Super Bowl. With the launch of its “Refresh” campaign that will distribute millions of dollars in grant money to non-profits selected by online voters, Pepsi executives felt that Super Bowl ads, with their exorbitant prices, might not fit the tone of the do-good theme of the campaign (See: http://www.refresheverything.com/).
The game this year will take place in south Florida. While Sun Life Stadium is home to the Miami Dolphins, the stadium itself is not in Miami-Dade County. It lies just across the county line in Broward County. But The Miami Herald is still the largest newspaper in the region. It’s touting special coverage every day this week including a regular “Super Bowl Section.” With an influx of tens of thousands of visitors for the week’s festivities leading up to the game, the Herald should see great sales of its daily print run-an outcome that can only bring smiles to the accountants of any print news operation these days.
What I found most interesting about Tuesday’s edition of the paper is that, just six days before the biggest sporting event of the year takes place in their city, with thousands upon thousands of visitors descending on the town to spend big money in partying, there was not a single Super Bowl story on page one above the fold-the prime real estate in newsprint. Instead stories about NASA cut-backs and a local murder-inheritance dispute bookended the lead three-column story about the disaster in Haiti. Three weeks after the devastating earthquake, Haiti’s misery is still front-page above-the-fold news. Even newspapers as disparate as the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, the Duluth News Tribune, and The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA) had front page articles on Tuesday about Haiti. That is pretty amazing for an event that happened a full three weeks ago now.
The Super Bowl will be a story for a brief interlude. A few days after the last play of the game most of the discussion about it will be over. More fateful is that the stories about Haiti will eventually fade from the front pages of newspapers as well, even as the incredible relief effort continues-a response that everyone could describe as extraordinary and super!
Sunday’s Gospel, in which Jesus tells Simon that from now on he will be catching men, is often interpreted as a vocation story. But think about what a fisherman does: he reaches into the chaotic deep and pulls out a catch, pretty much like anyone who reaches out to rescue another in their time of need.
We Christians have been fishermen (fisher-folk?) for a long time called to that task by the Master who once walked along the seashore of Galilee. Through our love and service, we reach down into the chaotic deep to rescue and save. We’ll do it through relief work in Haiti long after the headlines disappear. And that kind of love is really super!
Paul Michaels
Prayer
Creator God,
your Spirit hovered over the chaos
at the moment of creation
and brought forth all that is.
Gives us wisdom to use all that you have given us
in accordance with your will.
May the blessings we have received from your hand
give strength to others in their need.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Notices
OPERATION RICE BOWL FROM CRS
Catholic Relief Services’ Lenten program “Operation Rice Bowl” is ready to launch. Parish members can sign up for a weekly reflection e-mailed directly to them. This is a great opportunity for Catholics throughout the country to pray, fast, learn, and give throughout Lent. Publicize the ORB Website in your church bulletin throughout Lent: http://orb.crs.org/. Encourage parish members to visit the site often during the season.
REGIONAL WORKSHOPS ON THE NEW ROMAN MISSAL
The Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship and the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions are jointly sponsoring twenty regional workshops for priests and diocesan leadership on the implementation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal from April through November. Information on the two-day workshops, including a list of sites, is on the FDLC Web site at: http://fdlc.org/Roman_Missal/RM_Workshops.htm.
INVITE A FRIEND FOR LENT
You can invite a friend to take a “reflection break” each week during Lent. Just forward your “Wednesday Morning Connection” e-mail or the blog Web page link, and encourage them to sign-up for themselves. Each week they’ll receive a reflection from Liturgical Publications Inc. (LPi) that connects the Scripture readings and current news headlines. The sign-up link is: http://www.4LPi.com/WMC.

The average sixth and seventh grader sends 43 text messages a day. That’s almost 1,300 messages per month. It’s no wonder that many popular family plans for cell phones include unlimited texting.
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