Sports — professional, amateur and recreational — are a big part of the culture in America and worldwide. What is a Catholic approach to sports? Can it make a difference?

There are many analogies between spirituality and sport. Our package of reflections on the topic by our partner Catholic News Service examines the healthy link between the physical and the spiritual.

‘Play reminds us of joy, the joy of the Lord’
Now that two Catholic schools, Notre Dame University and Villanova University, have won the Division I national championships in women’s and men’s basketball, perhaps it is time to give some thought to what difference a Catholic approach to sport makes.

Women, sports and spirituality
This year’s March Madness collegiate basketball tournament showcased women with confidence, strength and zeal who captured the nation’s attention when the men and their brackets usually rule.

The logic of sports and life
Sports and spiritual life resemble each other in notable ways that caught St. Paul’s attention in his First Letter to the Corinthians, in which he urged Corinth’s Christians to “run so as to win,” an image of athletes training for the ancient Isthmian Games.