Hail Mary

Doug Flutie throws a desperation "Hail Mary" pass in a game between Boston College and the University of Miami on November 23, 1984.

There is one play in football that has an overtly religious name. I’ve seen it a few times and most of the time it doesn’t work, but when it does, it’s legendary. The most notable happened in November of 1984 in a game between The University of Miami, quaterbacked by Bernie Kosar, and Boston College, quaterbacked by Doug Flutie.

Trailing 45-41 with just a few seconds to go and the ball resting near midfield, Flutie calls a “Flood Tip,” a play that has 3 receivers racing down the sideline and flooding one area of the field awaiting Flutie’s “Hail Mary” to fall from the heavens. If the primary receiver, Gerry Phelan, is unable to catch it, he is supposed to tip it to the other 2 receivers. Flutie takes the snap and darts backward. All-American lineman Jerome Brown chases Flutie out of the pocket. Staring straight into a 30-mile-per-hour wind, and with Miami’s Willie Lee Broughton heading straight for him, Flutie heaves a bomb from his own 37, a bomb that sails … and sails … 60 yards through the evening sky.

As the pass sails through the wet evening air, Miami’s Fullington tries to cover. He scrambles backwards toward the goal line. He collides with teammate Reggie Sutton. With Fullington and Sutton off-balance at the 3, the ball begins to descend over their heads. They leap, but the ball sails right between their arms, just past the tips of their fingernails, and it falls right behind them … right into Phelan’s arms.  Giving Boston College the victory, 47-45. One of the all-time classic endings of a football game.

The phrase “Hail Mary” comes from the first chapter of Luke’s gospel when the angel greeted Mary, “Hail Mary, full of grace …” I believe that the last second, desperation play is named after a prayer, in fact, it is sometimes said the quarterback “threw up a prayer,” because most people associate prayer with desperation. The idea is that for most of the game, I rely on my own ability and talent. I will depend on my own game plan and my teammates. However, when crisis arises, when I’ve run out of opportunity, when the game is on the line, when my own ability has failed me, I will throw up a prayer. “Hail Mary…”

Desperate people pray.  They pray without thinking even if they are unsure of who they are praying to.  People in foxholes pray as do people who are facing divorce, a serious illness, a financial crisis, or a multitude of other crises. When we reach our limit, instinctively we pray. It is a reflex.

It is not a bad thing to pray during a crisis. God is full of mercy and he hears our cries of desperation, even if we have been ignoring Him for years.

By themselves, however, desperation prayers are not enough to sustain spiritual life. Many people fall into a pattern where they only pray when there is a crisis. The rest of the time they rely on their own ability and resources.

In most ordinary moments we don’t really believe that prayer changes anything. We ask ourselves, “What is the point of praying?”

The fact is, prayer changes things. There are numerous examples in scripture. We can also look around us and see numerous examples of prayer making a difference in the lives of someone we know.

We have to determine that we are going to develop a prayer life because prayer is a learned behavior. No one is born an expert at prayer. No one ever masters prayer. Thomas Merton once said, “We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners all our life!” Let’s determine to learn to pray. Practice it and see how effective it becomes!