News Briefs

‘God is just so good,’ Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp says after his clutch performance

February 15, 2022 Catholic News Agency 0
Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp (L) breaks away from Cincinnati Bengals’ Jessie Bates III during Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on February 13, 2022. / Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images.

Boston, Mass., Feb 15, 2022 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

The NFL’s Lombardi Trophy has found a home in the City of Angels after a stunning performance Sunday night by the Los Angeles Rams. Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp was in disbelief at his reward as he gave glory to God for his clutch performance.

“I don’t feel deserving of this. God is just so good,” the standout receiver said in a postgame interview. “I’m just so thankful for the guys I get to be around, for the coaches, for my family.”

In another postgame interview Kupp talked to the media about his memory of losing to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl three years ago. Kupp, who was on the sidelines during Super Bowl LIII due to an ACL injury, said that God revealed to him in a vision that the Rams would be back in the Super Bowl and they would win it, too.

Part of the vision, he said, was that “somehow” he was going to walk off the field as the MVP of the game. Kupp, 28, who has two young sons (Cooper Jr., 3, and Cypress, 1), said that he had only shared this information with his wife Anna.

From the beginning of the 2021-2022 season he said that he believed every game was “written already.”

Kupp, who is Christian, said that he felt “free” knowing that he got to play “from victory not for victory.” He was able to play feeling validated because of God’s love for him, rather than become of his performance on the field.

Kupp scored two touchdowns on Sunday night, including a one-yard grab towards the end of the game which secured the win for the Rams. He totaled eight catches for 92 yards on the night. The final score of the game was 23-20, giving the Rams their second Super Bowl title ever. You can watch Kupps’ Super Bowl highlights in this video.

In an interview with Sports Spectrum prior to the Super Bowl, Kupp said that God taught him this season that he would be most fulfilled by staying rooted in God’s purpose for his life.

Kupp said that his motivation coming into a game day is to “run the race in such a way as to honor God” with the passions and talents that he has been given. 

When he is rooted in playing for God, Kupp said, he feels he is at a great place where can “play freely,” be a better teammate, player, husband, and father. 

Kupp said that even if the Rams had not won a game all year, this would still be his favorite season because he spent the time playing for God.

“I’ve been enjoying every second of being a teammate to the guys that are here and just being able to honor God every time I step into this facility,” he said.

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Vatican unveils theme for 2nd World Day for Grandparents and Elderly

February 15, 2022 Catholic News Agency 1
Pope Francis visits the elderly in Rieti, Italy on Oct. 4, 2016. / L’Osservatore Romano.

Vatican City, Feb 15, 2022 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

The Vatican announced on Tuesday that Pope Francis has chosen a theme for the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

The Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life said on Feb. 15 that the grandparents’ day, which will be celebrated on July 24, will be an opportunity to reflect on verse 15 from Psalm 92: “In old age they will still bear fruit.”

The theme “intends to emphasize how grandparents and the elderly are a value and a gift both for society and for ecclesial communities,” a press release said.

“The theme is also an invitation to reconsider and value grandparents and the elderly who are too often kept on the margins of families, civil and ecclesial communities,” it continued. “Their experience of life and faith can contribute, in fact, to building societies that are aware of their roots and capable of dreaming of a future based on greater solidarity.”

Pope Francis established the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021. The day takes place annually on the fourth Sunday of July, on or close to the July 26 Feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus.

Last year’s theme was “I am with you always,” taken from Matthew 28:20.

In a message released ahead of the 2021 celebration, Pope Francis encouraged the elderly to continue to spread the Gospel even in their old age.

“There is something beautiful here. Your prayer is a very precious resource: a deep breath that the Church and the world urgently need,” he said.

The Vatican’s laity, family, and life office said that the invitation to listen to the wisdom of the elderly is also significant in 2022 given the synodal journey the Church has undertaken.

This year, the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly will also coincide with the 10th World Meeting of Families, taking place in Rome from June 22-26.

The Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life said it invites Catholic parishes, dioceses, associations, and communities around the world to celebrate the elderly and grandparents on July 24.

The Vatican will also provide some pastoral resources for its celebration in the coming months.

Pope Francis, who is 85 years old, has been an advocate for the dignity of the aging, and has often emphasized the important role of grandparents in passing on the Catholic faith.

For the 2021 World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, the pope said he was worried about how an individualistic society treats its older members.

In a homily read by Archbishop Rino Fisichella on July 25, 2021, Francis urged young people to show love and affection to the older generations.

“I worry when I see a society full of people in constant motion, too caught up in their own affairs to have time for a glance, a greeting or a hug,” he said at a Mass for around 2,500 elderly people and grandparents, together with their children and grandchildren, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Our grandparents, who nourished our own lives, now hunger for our attention and our love; they long for our closeness. Let us lift up our eyes and see them, even as Jesus sees us,” Pope Francis stated.

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