coach_bob_crable

This is a transcript of a session led by Chris and featuring Bob Crabill as a guest speaker. Bob talks about his accomplishments in sports and business, and his involvement in assisting lower-income student athletes. He discusses the challenges of divorce, adultery, and the decay of culture. He emphasizes the importance of truth and making choices based on relationships and prioritizing God. He also mentions the significance of respecting people and putting them first. Welcome, my name is Chris and I'm going to be facilitating this special session, the Youth Breakout Session. This is the one portion of the day that is designed for young men. As I look around, I think some of you may be stretching that definition of young men just a hair, but you are certainly welcome to be here. Logistically, we're going to go until about 12.30 and then they'll give you plenty of time to go to lunch, to go to confession, to go up to the bookstore. I have the pleasure today of introducing Bob Crabill and I asked him for an introduction and he wrote one for me and I'll read it to you now. Here's Bob. Now while that may speak to the humility of the man, it does not do justice to his accomplishments and I will give a very brief synopsis as he has forced me to do so, but born in Cincinnati, Deer Park, Mulder High School, three state championships, playing football, three state championships, University of Notre Dame, All-American linebacker, twice voted captain of a team, those of you who want to get an idea of his athletic prowess, go home on YouTube, Bob Crabill, Notre Dame, and you'll see a very famous play where he shuts down those nasty Wolverines and keeps them from winning with a last minute field goal. Those of you who are stressing the definition of young man who don't know how to search YouTube, find somebody in your circle without any gray hair, they'll help you out. After graduating from Notre Dame, he was drafted in the first round by the New York Jets, played seven years until injuries ended his career. Came back home, not wanting to rest, started a company, Crabill Sportswear, sold it from nothing to something and sold that out. Then went back to his roots at Mulder High School where he was assistant coach, head football coach, and taught religion for 15 years. Bob's now active in the real estate industry and working with the Crabill Foundation and the purpose of that organization is raising money and assisting lower income student athletes to help them go to Catholic schools. So here's a man who's lived a dream for most of us, but more importantly, a man who has lived to today. Please welcome Bob Crabill. Today, there is 50 plus percent of families are single parent families, not divorce. Divorce is a big part of our culture now. There are situations, and I'm not here to judge or say, hey, this is good or bad. What you have to understand is this. When you have something like divorce, and don't think divorce is new, by the way. Go back in the Gospels. Jesus talks about divorce. Anyone know what Jesus says? Excuse me? Yes, he says, you know what, you've heard it said, and I believe this is in the Sermon of the Mount or thereafter, you've heard it said that a man can serve his wife with divorce papers, which is part of the Jewish culture at that time, and he will be divorced. But I tell you, anyone who looks at another with lust in his heart has already committed adultery. I'm sorry, that gets to my adultery thing, but that's the roots of where divorce is, where divorce comes from, which leads me into the adultery side of things. You guys, this is all becoming part of our culture, an accepted part of our culture. And it's very, very dangerous, God bless you, that you are battling, gentlemen, and don't think you're not in a war, because you are in a war. And just as Brian talked about the Muslim faith, and I shouldn't say the Muslim faith, the radical Muslim sect, is a very dangerous aspect of our world. We have to fight, we have to fight abortion, we have to fight sin, where we see it. That becomes very challenging, very challenging in terms of being able to stand up and deal with these issues. There is something that is out there that will help you battle this, and I just want to share a few things with you. And what is there to help you battle that is truth, truth. Now you'll hear people say, atheism for instance, how can you prove that God exists? Let me throw a couple things out at you to help you. When I was a teacher, when I first became a religion teacher, these were all things that kids would say, coach, coach, coach, come on, how do you know, how do you know God exists? And it started out saying, well that's part of our faith, that's part of what you have to believe. Well you know what, there are physicists, and there are astronomers, and there are all kinds of people that have studied this. And really what it becomes is this. In the world that we live in, how the world was shaped and formed. The Big Bang Theory, that may have occurred, evolution may have occurred. All of this we don't know, we weren't there. But I'll promise you this, there is a way that it occurred, whether we know it or not. I used to use an analogy where, you know, if you lived on a desert island, and someone brought a car to you and said, you know what, you put sand in that gas tank, and guess what, that thing's going to take you anywhere you want to go. Well, they can say whatever they want. In fact, the truth, the truth is, you need gasoline to make that go. You can put sand in there, you can put sea water in there, you can put whatever you want in there. The truth, there is a truth. And there is a truth in the world that we live in. Okay, what physicists have shown, have proven, you cannot create a Big Bang from nothing. There had to be something, whether it was one atom, whether it was... And what we believe in our faith, God created that one thing, and maybe there was a Big Bang, I don't know, I wasn't there. But God created that one thing that needed to bang. Yes, God is the creator of the universe. And that is truth. That is... And science, every day, is proving it more and more. When you look at technology, guys, what's a big... Pornography, holy smokes. We talk about the internet, we talk about movies and cable TV, and pornography is... It's very much connected, by the way, to adultery, and self-satisfaction, and all these things are part of a decaying culture that, if it's not kept in check... If it's not kept in check, will decay your soul. Because over time, what will happen is this will be viewed as, ah, it's okay, well, that's not so bad. Okay, when I was a kid, and, you know, if we didn't go to church on Sunday, okay, whether we were sick, whether, you know, mom, I'm not going today, okay, don't go, okay, oh, by the way, you're not going to do anything for the rest of the day, okay, you're in the house, you're in your room, okay, well, there's no TV, okay, you're not doing anything. So yeah, go ahead, make a choice. And that's what life's about, making a choice. But when you look at truth, whether you look at the topics of pornography, adultery, divorce, self-satisfaction, they all revolve around relationships, and how we view relationships. Anyone know the two great commandments from Jesus? Oh, come on, I'll put you on the spot, I know, I'm not, I'm, say again, yes, okay, worship the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, okay, and love your neighbor as yourself. Okay, now, we can talk about atheism and, you know, how people battle the godliness of our world, and, you know, when Father Mark was up there, you know, guys, you will be challenged your entire lives on what it is that you put first in your life. Dads, I mean, today we are challenged, I continue to be challenged, okay, if I just had a business deal and it went bad, and in my reflection, one of the things that I kind of discovered, the reason I got into this was for, you know, this was going to make me rich. All of a sudden, that was my focus for a while, you know, and it fell apart, and, you know, we lost money, and you know what, I'm able to sit back and say to God, thank you, because I lost my focus, and it took really Father Mark with his stories and his visions to be able to get me to understand that, so, you know, worship the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, okay, and when you talk about the rest of it, think about how you deal with people. Do you put someone in front of you or behind you when you make decisions, okay, and some of you guys may date, some of you guys may be thinking about dating, some of you guys might not be there yet, but it's not whether you respect women, okay, what Brian said as far as the Koran and how they look at women, it's not whether you respect women or not, it's whether you respect people or not, okay, and guys, this is about people, okay, I have been in my life, and I'm sure your dads are the same, I mean, life is a roller coaster ride. I'd love to be able to say that, you know, I've been straight and narrow going right down the path. I can't remember, I believe it was the movie Stripes, I'm Dating Myself, young guy, sorry, where John Candy mentions, the late John Candy, I'm sorry, says he has a lot of pent-up frustrations and he's, I'm sorry, he's had a lot of pent-up aggression, and he's absorbed a lot, along with a lot of pizzas. For those of you who know John Candy, he's a big man, sorry, okay, I'm Dating Myself now, man, oh man, tough crowd, anyway, yes, you know, we all have, we all have our trials and tribulations, okay, I was always a very competitive man, as a matter of fact, my wife and I don't play backgammon anymore because she'd beat me so many times when we first got married that I told her that this is not a game that we will continue to play together, and I was just kidding, she took it serious, but anyway, those are things that I've had to deal with in my life, okay, and some of those things have helped me for the better, some of them not so much, okay, but you learn to deal with those issues in your lives, okay, and what is it that you are putting first, okay, as a, you know, that reading that Father Mark made, you know, as far as, you know, where your heart is there, is where your treasure will be, okay, and I think I'm a little dyslexic, I might have gotten it backwards a little bit, but the point of it is, you know, where is your heart, you know, what is your goal, you know, what is, you know, this is a great day to be able to examine that, now what I recommend is as you leave, you know, don't forget, you know, keep working on it, because life is nothing more than a work in progress, and if you think that it's going to get easier, forget it, it's going to get harder, it's going to get harder as life goes on, how old are you young man, 11 years old, okay, you're going to have all kind of challenges, okay, over the next hopefully 90 years of your life, can you make it to 101 you think, huh, you can't, I don't think you can, anyway, where is your focus, okay, where is your focus, number two, how are you going to treat people, okay, if you truly love people as you love yourself, what's that say, that's saying, hey, I got to put them ahead of me, as a football coach, that's something that you were always trying to teach your teams, as a father, that's something that you always want to teach your kids, as a teammate, when I was still playing, that was the one thing that I was able to take away from the game of football that probably brought me back to coaching, okay, and that was, golly, these guys that I hang around with, these are my buddies, these are, I like them, no, I didn't like them, but I'll tell you what, when we got on the field, that would have died for any of them, I mean, that's a family, that's what families are about, that's what, and guys, and whether it's your blood family, okay, or whether it's your family in Christ, that's how, that's how life has to be, easy to say, hard to live, okay, I've got about four minutes, I think, and you know, what I want you to take away from this, it is very simple, okay, you just have to think, you know why Jesus made those two commandments instead of the ten? Because at that time, the Jewish people, if you go back into the book of Deuteronomy, okay, and look through the book of Deuteronomy, you're going to find, if I'm not mistaken, 600, over 600 additions to, or clarifications for those laws, for those ten commandments, we have a way of complicating things as human beings, and, and, you know, Jesus, I mean, he was made it real simple, focus, where's your focus, okay, if your focus is on God, you're going to head down the right road, and if you treat people the way you want to be treated, if you treat them with love, if you put them first, and what you project is going to happen in this situation, or with this decision, okay, if you put them out there instead of you out there all the time, gentlemen, you're going to have a great life, okay, and you're going to have a godly life, and, and, and I'll tell you what, the last thing I want to mention real fast, that truth that I was talking about, okay, the sacraments, like reconciliation and the Eucharist, and, and marriage, or, or holy orders, or, you know, all those things, that's, that's good stuff too, okay, and, and if you go into, if you ever want to debate the sacraments, I taught a sacraments class, sorry guys, and if you ever want to debate the sacraments and truth of the sacraments, give me a call sometime, okay, I love talking about that stuff, and, and, and there is truth in those sacraments as well, okay, I don't know if you guys have any questions, or if you just want to hit lunch, looks like lunch, if you have any, I'll let you have the mic so you can be on the TV, we find the more people on the TV, the more we sell, oh, there you go, come on, you can get on the TV, I think one of the things that I notice my kids have to deal with that I didn't used to have to deal with was the immodesty of the clothing, yes, yes, and, and I really think, you know, I've asked my boys about it, and it's not really a big thing to them, well you know what's really interesting, that's the slippery slope, yes, absolutely, what's interesting, he's talking about the immodesty of how people dress, and, and we live in a culture that says, hey, if you got it, flaunt, I mean that's kind of the mantra, you know, unfortunately, and, and I, my wife and I debate this all the time, I blame, you know, I still blame Eve and all the, you know, the, she ate the apple for, all the, you know, anyway, here's the difference that we have, guys, okay, the difference between where your dad and I, your dads and I were, versus where you are, okay, well we were growing up, and I can say this about my wife, because I've always used to, I used to go to my class and say, guys, I'm going to tell you this, one of the things that, I used to tell their moms this too, okay, when they'd come in for me to teach and I'd know it, but I'd go in and say, you know what, I'm going to tell you right now, you're scumbags, and they'd all look, and I'd say, yeah, guess what, you're scum, I'm scum, your dads are scum, your grandfathers are scum, okay, now I'm coming from a dad who's got two daughters, okay, so around my daughters all boys are scum, all right, so anyway, my point is this, men, okay, men have always been the ones who have been the aggressors, men have always been the ones who have, who have pursued women and tried to do the improper things, okay, and it was always women who said no, guys, I am so blessed with my wife, okay, as frustrating as she made me, I am my wife was there, I dated my wife, sorry, I dated my wife when I was a sophomore in high school, okay, she was there to say no, no, no, no, no, until we married, what a, what a blessing, okay, at the time I wanted to strangle her, okay, but what a blessing I had, now, what you guys have to deal with is this, you have to be more disciplined than your fathers and I, because many of the girls out there, whether we talk about their dress or whether we talk about their behavior, many of the girls out there today are the aggressors, are the ones that are coming after you, okay, and that has a lot to do with how they view themselves, now, you want to impress a girl, you want to impress a young lady, okay, if she tries to be the aggressor and you say no, let's get to know one another better, let's learn more about one another, okay, or maybe if you really want to be bad or if you really want to sound too Catholic, why don't we wait until we get married, you know, but I'll tell you this, you want to develop relationships, that's relationship building, that's relationship, no, I'm not in it for me, I'm in it for you, and if you can show them, you will be a sought after young man to date, and I'm not saying that anything that they make, they say on TV or they say in movies is what it means to be a man, uh-uh, you'll be a stud because you respect yourself and you respect the people around you, and the more people that get to know that, because, you know, girls talk, guys talk, and you're going to have a couple on the periphery out there that say, you know, this guy's a corn ball, but the ones that really count, those are the ones that you have to respect, okay, and you have to have their respect because you show them respect, and what else? Thanks, Bob, great presentation, brother. Thank you. Dean, that you've spoken about having taught a class on the sacraments. Yes, yes. And particularly in an age of where we're seeing an exodus of young men who are leaving the church and entering mega non-denominational church. Yes, yes. I would like for you to speak to the young people because you obviously have a love for the sacraments like many of us who are present today. How would you speak to young people today to go into action and to love the power of the sacraments so that they're not so drawn to perhaps... To entertainment. Exactly, that particular dynamic that they see, and that's so cultural today because of the pyrotechnics and the things that draw a lot of our young men away to those particular types of churches. How would you speak to these young men present today and garnering that sense of the love for the sacraments so that they even become more committed to the truth of the church? Two things I would say. First of all, find a church, a Catholic church that appeals to you. Different priests, different venues, different formats, different... A lot of things about different churches. Obviously, a church, guys, a church is about community. If you're at a... I'm at St. Columban in Loveland. Why do I stay at St. Columban in Loveland? Because we have people there who are part of our family now. That's what it's become for us, and that's what it will become for you over time. That's one part, the communal part. The second part is the... You look at any... Whether you look at a non-denominational, whether you look at a Catholic church, whether you look at a Baptist, any of the Christian denominational churches, they all have one thing in common. That is the word of God. They all read the word of God. Whether they read them with the bells and the whistles and pyrotechnics or whatever, they all have the word of God that is being proclaimed. And priest, reverend, that is common ground. But as far as our Catholic faith is concerned, we recognize the Eucharist. Guys, this is... It is so powerful, the Eucharist is. Because Jesus went through this. The Last Supper. This is my body, this is my blood. We have the opportunity. Every time. And this is what bothers me a little bit. I just had this conversation with my son. My son went to communion. This is my 23-year-old. Went to communion at St. Columban about three or four weeks ago with his hands in his pockets. You are facing, you are coming face-to-face with God. With God. With God. This is greater, gentlemen, than the President of the United States, than the Premier of England or Russia. This is God that we believe. We are coming before. And think about how you... You got invited to the White House. Wear your shirt and tie, man. You get dressed. You look good, wouldn't you? Huh? Steven, wouldn't you look good? Absolutely. Okay? And we go with our sweatpants. And I'm not... Believe me, guys. You go the way you go. But when you approach that Eucharist, understand what you are approaching. And if you're not ready, you tell Mom and Dad, I'm not ready today. Okay? You tell whomever. I'm not ready. But that is... We believe in our faith that that is God. How can that be? Well, let me tell you how that can be. And let's talk about the truth of the Eucharist. Because the... What I will say about the other Christian denominations who look at the Eucharist as a symbol. Okay? What they are saying is this. How can this bread... How can you look at a piece of a little wafer, an unleavened wafer, and say that's God? Come on. Guess what we're saying as Catholics. We're saying, you cannot limit the infinite nature of God. You can't limit what God does. Okay? If God wants you to be a turnip, boom, you're a turnip. Why? Because God wills it. And with the sacredness of the priests, what that allows, at the consecration of the Mass, that bread changes into the body of Christ. And guess what? Nobody else has it. And if you want to talk about the differences in denominations, anyone want to talk about that? I also taught church history, so I had to know the difference between the Lutherans and the Methodists, and even the Eastern Orthodox Church, which are probably the closest to us. Okay, but there's some differences. As far as the Eucharist goes, the Eastern Orthodox are as close as our belief in the Eucharist. But guys, we've got something that no one else has. And it's not, we don't try to, we don't hoard it. We invite everyone in. But you've got these rules that you have to abide by. You have to respect and abide by, and you have to become part of. Because there's a lot of, I don't know if you saw the, there's some advertisements out now that are talking about this health care bill. And at the bottom, paid for by Catholics for, you know, health care reform or something like that. You know what? You can claim that you're a Catholic. Anyone can claim they're a Catholic. But how do you live your life? And those people who claim they're Catholics who believe in abortion, guess what? You ain't. You ain't. I can say I'm the Pope. I ain't. But I can say it all day long. Okay? Just like that guy with the car I was talking about. I'm going to give you this, and take it and drive it, as long as you put sand in the gas tank. That's not true. That's not true. So, you guys, I think you guys need to get to lunch. And confession. Okay? And, you know, I appreciate your patience. Thank you. Thank you very much, Tom. Thank you very much, Tom.