[This is Deacon Pat Hessel’s homily from the weekend of October 17-18, 2015, at Holy Trinity Parish in Spruce Grove.]
The 1982-83 NHL Season was a good one for the Edmonton Oilers. They finished third overall and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing only once in the process. But in the finals, the New York Islanders swept the Oilers in four straight games.
Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier were walking past the Islanders’ locker room after game four, expecting to see a wild celebration, but they saw something very different. Gretzky described it like this: “We walked by their locker room in the corridor and saw after they won they were too beat up to really enjoy it and savor the victory at that moment. We were able to walk out of there pretty much scot free. We had so much respect for the Islanders players and the Islanders teams that we learned immediately you have to take it to another level in order to win a Stanley Cup. And that’s what we did.” The Oilers won five of the next seven Stanley Cups.
In today’s Gospel, James and John asked Jesus: “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus was a very popular and powerful teacher, and James and John suspected that he was destined for even greater things – and they wanted to be right there with him – one on the right and one on the left. They wanted a share in the power and prestige. [Read more…] about The 1982-83 Oilers and Sacrifice
