“All around town,” writes the Baltimore Sun’s Mike Klingaman, “the clergy are throwing their ecumenical weight behind the Ravens.” So know we know who to blame for the Giants’ loss to Philly last Sunday besides Eli and Col. Coughlin — Jersey preachers have to start pulling their weight.
“I’ll work the Ravens into my sermon, even though there’s a lot going on,” said the Rev. Kristin Dubsky, assistant pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in the Inner Harbor. “There’s the [presidential] inauguration and Martin Luther King Jr. Day – plus, I need to work Jesus in there, too.”
The Ravens aren’t the only ones in the game needing guidance, Dubsky said.
“We should really pray for the officials on Sunday,” she said, mindful of the questionable decision that gave Pittsburgh the winning touchdown in the teams’ last meeting. “They better not mess it up like last time.”
Not everyone in his pews will be pulling for Baltimore, said Our Lady of Perpetual Help’s Rev. Erik Arnold, the Catholic priest whose Howard County parish includes a sect of Steelers fans.
“We have a lot of Pennsylvania transplants whose faith lies there,” he said. “Last time we played the Steelers, I extended my condolences to Pittsburgh in advance – and I had to eat those words.
“Tomorrow, at the end of Mass, I’ll offer some banter and give those Steelers fans a hard time again. Next week, hopefully, I can tell them to ‘wait till next year.'”
What Arnold won’t do during the service is pray specifically for the Ravens.
“With little kids there, you need to be careful what you say,” he said. “You don’t want children to come back with, ‘Well, we prayed for them to win and they didn’t, so what is God doing?'”
I prayed for Ray Lewis not to murder anyone- where was God on that one?
did u see ray lewis kill anyone? have any evidence? i hate ray lewis but there is no evidence he killed anyone. maybe you should go call him a killer. you never know. maybe he’ll leave evidence this time….
I’d like to see him try! I’d rip his head off and go bowling with it.
well damn, andrew. you the man. let me ask you? do you really believe that ray lewis, a black in the south, killed someone and the prosecutors let him walk. if u do, reference marcus dixon or jena six, for starters.
Or the West Memphis Three? Actually, I do not know if Ray Lewis killed anyone. I was making a rather poor attempt at humor. My apologies to anyone offended.
i feel you. just reflex i guess. i have a friend who always argues with me about that. i guess i was happy when i thought i found someone else to argue with about it.lol. i get the humor. my bad for attacking via the internet.lol.let me throw this at you: is ray lewis the most overrated black football player ever? we know favre is most overrated overall.
Hm, I would probably go with Ickey Woods on that one. Or Deion Sanders.