10/21/2025
John Hellige’s voice catches with emotion as he recalls how close the boys basketball team he coaches at Holy Trinity Catholic in Fort Madison has come to making the state tournament in recent years. “We were one or two games away, but wins come and go,” he said. “What matters at the end of the day is our Catholic faith.”
The longtime coach and father of three all-state athletes knows the joy of winning, and the heartbreak of coming up short, but “the main thing is to keep things in perspective,” he said. “Sports are fun and important, but they never define who you are. Your faith does that.”
While play and sports are good and meant to be pursued with passion and enjoyed, “they are not the most important thing in life,” the Vatican states in its 2018 document on sports and faith, “Giving the Best of Yourself.” The Church, along with leaders of other religious traditions, can help to remind people to keep sport in perspective and emphasize it “as an arena of human activity where the virtues of temperance, humility, courage, patience can be fostered and encounters with beauty, goodness, truth and joy can be witnessed.”
Read the full story in the Oct. 16 Catholic Messenger or at this link.
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St. Ambrose University Campus Ministry Newman Catholic Student Center Holy Trinity Crusaders
(Editor’s note: This is the second in a series about the intersection of sports and faith.) By Lindsay Steele The ...Read More
