At the most recent Colorado Rapids home game, the club recognized the 5th member of the Gallery of Honor, current coach and former player Pablo Mastroeni. As a player, Mastroeni was the Rapids’ most decorated player – named to the MLS All-Star Team in his first seven years with the club (2002-2008) he earned Rapids MVP honors in 2007, 2008 and 2010. He currently holds club records for most regular season games played (225), games started (217) and minutes played (18,669), and served as the Rapids captain from late 2004 until mid-2013. His tenure as coach, just beginning, he has a record of 8-6-6 as of this posting.
Balboa, Bravo, Henderson, and Spencer are in the Rapids’ Gallery of Honor.
Mastroeni joins Marcelo Balboa, Paul Bravo, Chris Henderson, and John Spencer whose names and uniform numbers are now fixed on the facia above the west stand. For a player, the moment is special, especially more so with family and friends at his side. Mastroeni reflected on his feelings prior to the ceremony in this podcast from the club.
“It’s going to be one of those surreal moments, I’m sure.” “Those guys were influential in my development as a young pro and hopefully I will have the same influence on the next generation of Rapids’.”
In my pre-game time with some of the players, I reflected on the galleries of honor and halls of fame that we are usually accustom to in sport and compared those with the “Hall of Fame of Faith” that we find in Hebrews 11. Below is the portion of biblical text that I shared:
Hebrews 11:39-12:3 New International Version (NIV)
11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
There is something unique to this Hall of Fame of Faith that is unlike any sporting recognition – we are all invited into it. Hebrews 11 is replete with the famous of the faith and the infamous (compare Abraham or Moses to Rahab). And while the named (and unnamed) of Hebrews chapter 11 are commended for their faith – they did not receive what was promised because God “planned something better” that “together with us” (which we understand as the church invisible) we would all be made perfect.
God is calling you and me, to be part of this Hall of Fame, this Gallery of Honor. To be people who, filled with faith, live out our lives with distinction – it matters not what earthly accomplishments or achievements that we earn, it matters little what recognition or fame we earn. What matters is that we live out our faith and trust in God – through good and bad times, through times of success and times of failure because God is planning something better for us. He is planning something that, together, will see us perfected and champions for eternity.
May we be part people of faith that become part of that gallery of honor.
Blessings,
Rev. Brad Kenney
I meet many men who tell me, “I don’t sing.” Many of these men are speaking from a church context and about modern worship styles and trends 
Pope Francis 
There is perhaps no larger stage for a single sport sporting event than the World Cup – the National Football League’s Super Bowl ranks high on the list with a large American viewer base and the Olympic Games also have a broad global appeal, but in terms of reach – there is no comparing to an event like the World Cup where, literally, the world is watching (some 
Is the world seeing the poverty and social justice issues that are seemingly “behind the scenes” in Brazil? Brazilian street artist 
attention to the larger issues of human exploitation it can often seem that these voices are lost in the deafening roar of the fans of the “beautiful game.” References to “Jesus” saving at the World Cup are little more than 
The imperative for us who follow Christ is to reach out and love as Christ would love, and while expressions of one’s faith and life might well include printed expressions such as Kaka’s (Real Madrid) or Wells Thompson’s (pictured while playing for the Colorado Rapids), our faith needs to go beyond mere words. 
The faith of one who follows Jesus Christ is an active one – where the actions and beliefs are lived out in very tangible ways. Thankfully, both Kaka and Thompson are men who live out an active faith – giving of their time, talents, and resources to love others as Jesus would. Their lives serve as an example for those of us who love and follow the beautiful game – realizing that it is a game, and that there are larger, more important issues at stake. In the least, it should make each of us consider, what is the world seeing when they are watching – whether it is a large event like the World Cup or the way that we live out our faith at home, at work, or at play. We are called to pay attention – not to the star-studded, dramatic happenings on the pitch, but the darker, more desperate issues behind it.
The growth of fantasy sports is changing the landscape for the professional sports fan – the game that is much loved (whether soccer, basketball, baseball, or something else) or followed can now have a different level of interaction and control for the fan. Choose players, select which ones play at a certain time, spend a certain allocation of money to develop a team, win prizes, win money – all of these possibilities are creating a new type of fan; a fanatical, fantastical fan.
Now, as you read this, if you are in an age group of Generation X or higher, you might be thinking, “Fantasy sports, that’s ridiculous…” But a recent story highlighted just how much fantasy is changing the landscape, not just of the fan, but of the economy. For example, this 
A friend recently lost his job. Terminated without any warning, he expressed shock and dismay when the company that he had worked for over 8 years told him, “We’re going in a different direction.” Box in hand, he cleared out his desk and made his way home – bewildered and confused while coworkers looked on. Whilst we don’t often consider it in this way – a death had occurred. Relationships, pay, significance, identity, and much more all were “killed” in that particular moment for my friend and he had to cope with a great sense of loss that was compounded by the whole thing being confusing and unforeseen.
Losses like this are commonplace in life and also in professional sport – being traded or cut, a career-ending injury, or a personal trauma all represent a type of “death” that one can experience in the course of one’s professional career. In the midst of the dying process, as human beings, we search for redemptive and hope-filled moments – we await the next offer or opportunity, we hope for change or something different to come along.
When that new thing does come along it is almost like experiencing a “resurrection” of the soul. The sun shines clearer, we can see purpose in our situation, we are filled with a new found sense of hope. This Easter Sunday, as Christians, we reflect on the Ultimate Death and Life in Jesus Christ. The brutality of Friday’s crucifixion and the death – of Christ, and seemingly of so many others things (relationships, hopes and dreams) that occurred was heavy. Perhaps the heaviest time ever in the span of history, but Sunday was coming.
No matter where you are right now – whether approaching a seeming death, in the throes of pain and suffering, or just plain “dead” – you can have life again. Cry out to God – he has not abandoned you or I. He has the power to raise dead things to new life again. And he will do it – for you and for me.
First, making a distinction between superstition and rhythms can be helpful. There are some things that players, coaches, or teams out of superstition and there are other things that a team does in order to develop a rhythm or pattern. For example, warming up before a game with exercises and drills is more of a pattern than a superstition and a way of preparing the body for the task. In a similar way, an individual player may have their own pattern of preparing for a game – from taking a nap, to reading, to even praying. Sometimes, a rhythmic action can become superstitious (for example, a player who prays before a game having success and then determining that the prayer is what made him successful). This is an area where a chaplain must provide clarity and insight.
But regardless of the athlete and the environment of academics that they come from, one of the roles of the chaplain in professional sport is 
If helpful at a collegiate level, you can imagine how much more helpful at a professional level. I am coming to realize more and more, that some of my work as a chaplain is to help the young men that I work with to become more solid in life and not just in academics, but in life and faith. Part of my role is helping them in the process of going from boyhood to manhood. Helping them to become real men – men of integrity, men of faith, men of honor, men of valor – men that are not, paper thin.
Whilst scanning the Twitterverse a few weeks ago, former Colorado Rapids Forward Andre Aukpan (@auakpan), now with New York Red Bulls, highlighted a story on the National Football League’s 
First, with the popularity of sports in modern-day culture, many young athletes can feel trapped – they have sometimes abandoned education for the sake of entering sports early. Young athletes have many times even missed out on typical social and mental growth and well-being (sports taking primary importance in life). In some cases, they have missed crucial developmental stages or “rites of passage” moments for the sake of the sport. When it comes time for the end of a career – many can feel trapped because the sports world is all that they have known, all that they have invested in.
