HE WAS a keen observer. Many scholars suggest that today Paul would be a journalist. He must have known much of the four great celebrations of games; the Isthmian, the Pythian, the Nemean, and of course the Olympics.
For all these, competitions contestants trained under most rigid rules. Thirty days before the games they came together with strict supervision. They were obliged to exercise regularly, keep to a severe diet, avoid luxuries and obey all the rules. The discipline and the strenuous effort of the athletes had a message that Paul saw could benefit all who wished to be followers of "The Way".
Surely you know that many runners take part in the race, but only one of them wins the prize. Run then in such a way as to win. Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last. We do it for the one that will last forever. That is why I run straight for the finishing line..."
Paul would have known the Isthmian Games best. They were held every two years on the Isthmus of Corinth, in honour of Poseidon. Inevitably, he would have known the more famous games of Olympia in honour of Zeus. His letters leave us in no doubt what he thought of the extravagance, the pride and the excesses that marked Greek society of his time. Is ours that different?
Success in any high level of sport is about endless work and single minded application. He saw the clear value of asking his disciples to learn from the intense dedication of the athletes. "... I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches. I harden my body with blows and bring it under complete control to keep myself from being disqualified after calling others to the contest...". In his ardent letter to young Bishop Timothy, he sums up his Apostolic counsel in a few words. "Run your best in the race of life and win eternal life for yourself... an athlete cannot win the prize unless he obeys the rules".
He speaks with flaming Christian hope to Timothy when he adds: "As for me, I have done my best in the race. I have run the full distance and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me the prize of victory awarded for a good life, the prize that the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me on that day - and not only to me, but to all who wait with love for Him to appear...
As we celebrate the Games and rejoice with Michelle Smith, the first Irish person to win double gold in the Olympics, we listen again to Paul and go into training for the Olympics of life. The great Apostle reminds us that the prize is greater than bronze or silver or gold. As for Augustine long ago in his summer garden, so now today, a voice is calling, directing each of us to Paul's life giving letters once again and urging us in the deep places of the heart: "Take up and read!"