St Thérèse and the rugby: stories and memories

On Saturday we wore our rugby jerseys and sang Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. On Sunday, I found myself in Alberton at the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. We talked Afrikaans and sang in English, Setswana, Sesotho, French and Portuguese.

ST THERESE AND THE RUGBY: STORIES AND MEMORIES

This past weekend the Springboks defeated New Zealand in a thrilling rugby match, a reminder of how sport can lift our entire nation’s spirit.

The Catholic parish gathered to celebrate “the Little Flower,” whose “Little Way” teaches us to find God in the small, ordinary acts of love.

THE SAME HEARTBEAT

These stories and memories carry the same heartbeat: goodwill. In each space ordinary South Africans were united. In a country where politics so often divides and leaders govern by suspicion and mistrust, these moments of communion - spontaneous, joyful, and unforced, remind us of who we really are when we gather as a people.

THE LITTLE FLOWER’S LESSON

St. Thérèse of Lisieux was born in 1873 in France and known simply as “the Little Flower.” She believed holiness could be found not in grand gestures but in the ordinary: a smile, a kind word, a patient silence. She wrote, “My vocation is love.” Roses became her symbol because they are abundant, blooming in gardens everywhere, showering beauty in small ways.

Naming the Alberton parish “St. Thérèse” is an invocation of her vision: that faith is lived in simplicity, humility, and the daily acts of love that keep communities alive.

FORGING A COMMON SOUTH AFRICANNESS

William Gumede argues that South Africa’s path forward lies in building a shared civic identity rather than clinging to narrower forms of nationalism such as African, Afrikaner, Coloured, or Black nationalism. He calls this approach Civic Nationalism - a sense of belonging rooted in democracy, the Constitution, and the celebration of diversity, rather than in ethnicity, colour, or ideology.

For a society as fractured and varied as South Africa, shaped by a long history of colonialism and apartheid, nationalism based solely on culture, citizenship, or geography cannot provide lasting unity. South African communities do not exist as isolated “gated enclaves”; instead, they overlap and interconnect in meaningful ways. This reflects what historian Sunil Khilnani describes as societies of “interconnected differences.”

To cultivate a genuine South African identity under this model, Gumede insists that loyalty must be directed not towards a leader, party, culture, or tribe, but firmly towards the Constitution itself.

RUGBY AND ROSES

The Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban was packed to capacity. In an Alberton church hall, the same truth unfolded. Sport and faith, in their different ways, showed us what it means to forge a unique South African identity.

COMMUNION BEYOND POLITICS

Too often, South Africa is framed only in terms of crisis, division, or corruption. Yet here, in the roar of a try scored and in the quiet of a rose laid before the statue of St. Thérèse, we see South Africans capable of joy, community, and faith in each other.

St. Thérèse called it “the Little Way.” The Springboks might call it teamwork. Either way, this weekend, South Africa lived it.

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