Giving the Best of Yourself

What is it?

Giving the Bestof Yourself is a booklet that helps readers understand the relationship between being a Christian and the values that this entails, and giving the best of oneself in every aspect of one’s life, especially, in this case, in sports. Contributing a Christian perspective on sport and the human person, the booklet can serve the laity, especially those involved in sports, as a special guide in their faith and daily lives. In an effort to articulate the Church’s understanding of the phenomenon of sport and its relationship to faith, this is a document with valuable information on the activity of sport and the many ways that it relates to Christianity.

Composed in five chapters, Giving the Best of Yourself outlines the motives and purposes of such a document, the phenomenon of sport, the significance of sports for the human person, the challenges that sports face such as the debasement of the body, doping and corruption, and how the Church can serve as a key protagonist in the world of sports

How does it help?

Sport can be considered a formative vehicle, especially for the younger generation. Children and young adults are inspired by many sportsmen and are fascinated by the act of playing a sport. The valuable information that the document has to offer looks at sport and youth formation in a special way, as the earlier the process of formation begins, the easier the person’s integral development through sports will be.

Giving the best of yourself is a unique way to reach out and inform the laity. Illustrating the significance of sports for the growth of a human person through a Christian lens, the document allows the laity to refer to it as a personal guide, or use it to train leaders who inspire youth.

Why is it important?

The Church approaches the world of sports because it desires to contribute to the construction of an increasingly authentic and humane world of sports. The relationship between the Church and sport is a special one and has grown in a fruitful way throughout the centuries, because the Ecclesial Community sees in sports a powerful instrument for the integral growth of the human person.

The Church has long been a sponsor of the beauty that certain human activities may bring to us, such as art and music, ultimately because beauty comes from God. Having a document on sport does not only provide valuable information on the Church and sport, but also shows how playing a sport can be a true manifestation of that same beauty which brings us closer to God.

How did it start

Giving the best of yourself is a fruit of almost three years of work done by the Church and Sport office in the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

With the collaboration of athletes, representatives from the world’s highest sports institutions, academics, theologians and philosophers from around the world, the Church approaches the world of sport with this document because it desires to contribute to the constructions of an increasingly authentic and humane world of sport.

Benefits

Giving the best of yourself aims to be a document that speaks to all those who love and value sport, therefore serving the laity worldwide. It benefits the laity who are involved in sports such as coaches, teachers and parents by giving them an opportunity to get informed and become proper educators for the younger generation. It also serves purpose for priests in local parishes, or bishops on a national scale, as pastoral care through sports can be a way of forming the laity as well.

Going further than just the Church, the document is also intended to serve and provide for all people of good will, such as those part of organizations who are working towards developing programs to promote the human values that are inherent in sports.

Means and funding

This document intends to be a brief presentation of the views of the Holy See and the Catholic Church on sports.

The aim of the document is to provide a basis for Episcopal Conferences and dioceses to work in sport pastoral ministry, as well as offer a working guide to clubs and sports associations that wish to base the practice of sport on Christian roots.

Learn more

An online version of Giving the best of yourself can be found on the Dicastery’s website (http://www.laityfamilylife.va/content/laityfamilylife/en/sezione-laici/i-papi-e-lo-sport.html) in five different languages – English, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese. There is also an online publication of the document in German available at https://www.dbk-shop.de/de/sein-bestes-geben.html

Countries involved

Through the Bishops’ Conferences on a national level, and Dioceses at a local level, the document can be a promoted as a contribution to sport and Catholic education. It can be implemented at many different schools, leading the youth to a deeper understanding of the connection between the Church’s teachings and playing a sport. It may also serve as a guide for many different sports organizations in schools, parishes and Catholic associations.

By request of different organizations across the world, the Church and Sport office has presented the document  at various conferences.

How to start?

At a parish level, the document may be used as a means of pastoral care. Pastoral care through sport cannot be improvised, but requires people who are trained and motivated to rediscover the meaning of sport in an educational context and who are willing to get involved in the service of a Christian vision of sport. Leaders in sport around the world can refer to Giving the best of yourself when reaching out to the laity and by setting an example in the world of sport.