It’s Football Time In Tennessee!
It begins hours before the fans descend upon Neyland Stadium. You can feel the excitement on the highways, cars decorated with orange and white flags making their way towards Knoxville. You can feel the energy begin to grow on campus as thousands descend upon the university, setting up grills and pulling coolers from their vehicles for tailgating. Yes, it is football time in Tennessee, and with it brings rituals that happen every fall not only in Knoxville, but at campuses around the country.
Volunteer fans rightfully take pride in what is one of the best pre-game shows in college football, which follows a well known pattern of events including music by the Pride of the Southland Marching Band, the singing of Rocky Top, and the entrance of Smokey who leads the team through the T and to the sidelines. Throughout the game there are also traditions to be followed. Each time the Volunteers score, Smokey takes a run up and down the field, the cheerleaders do pushups and Rocky Top is played with pride.
Having this common set of traditions that have developed over the years leads to a sense of unity among the fans and allows us to enjoy the game even when the team is having a bad year. My guess is that it would cause quite a stir if the fans arrived tonight for the home opener and the Pride of the Southland Band failed to show up, or if it were announced that Smokey would no longer be the mascot, or if Rocky Top were replaced with the Tennessee Pride Sausage jingle.
We as Roman Catholics are rapidly approaching the implementation of the New Roman Missal. In fact, this weekend in many parishes around the country the first of many changes in the words we use at mass will take place when we begin using the new Gloria. I suspect that even for those who are aware of the changes in the mass, these new words will be awkward at first, but I am also sure that in time we will reach the place where we couldn’t imagine not using them. Certainly there are many who will be stirred up with the changes in our liturgy in the same way UT fans would be with changes in their pre-game traditions.
But then again, if there is one thing that is true, it is that change is a constant in our world. For example, did you know that Smokey only became the mascot of the Vols in 1953, that running through the T began during the 1964 season, and that Rocky Top was first played at a game in 1972? Before each of those years, there were different traditions that kept the fans united in their support of Tennessee Football.
The same can be said with the Roman Liturgy. As a Church we have had several different ways of celebrating the Eucharist throughout our history, and even today have more than one way of celebrating our common heritage through prayer each Sunday. In the same way that Vols fans welcomed Smokey as their mascot and the singing of Rocky Top after a touchdown is scored, I truly hope that American Catholics will welcome the New Roman Missal as a gift that can unite us as we pray each Sunday. Like the current missal, and the ones that have preceded it, the new one is centered around giving thanks to God. May we keep our focus on Him as we begin to learn a new way to give him thanks.
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