At a wedding I attended last Sunday, the priest gave a Pentecost homily that has stuck with me.
He spoke about how, on the King’s Birthday in England, there’s a grand military parade through the streets. It’s all sharp uniforms, polished boots, and perfect formation—a show of strength that declares: the King reigns.
Then he asked, “What would the Holy Spirit’s parade look like?”
He paused before answering: it wouldn’t be made up of the polished and powerful. It would be filled with ordinary people—sinners, the imperfect, the overlooked. But the beauty of it is that the Spirit uses those people to do extraordinary things.
That’s how God works—especially through vocation. Whether in marriage, the priesthood, or religious life, the Holy Spirit doesn’t wait for perfect people to step forward. He calls sinners and sanctifies them along the way. Through grace, their “yes” becomes a witness—not to their strength, but to God’s.
This movement of the Spirit isn’t confined to the sacred alone.
It showed up in a very unexpected place the next day, when I saw that the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs had announced a march of their own.
Ahead of their King’s Birthday clash with the Parramatta Eels, they invited fans to join them in walking to Accor Stadium. Of course, it had some buzz around it—but at its heart, it was simple: players and supporters walking together, united by something bigger than themselves.
It immediately brought that homily to mind.
Because in many ways, this Bulldogs team looks exactly like the kind of “parade” the priest was describing.
They’re not a side full of superstars. Most of the squad weren’t household names even a year or two ago. Sure, they’ve got a few big names, but much of the squad is made up of players who’ve previously been passed over, doubted, or are still making a name for themselves.
They don’t always dominate with flashy plays or picture-perfect performances, but they win with heart and hunger. And there’s something quite inspiring about that.
Their growth hasn’t come from shortcuts or hype, but from hard work, trust in the process, and a culture that puts team before ego.
And so, now halfway through the regular season, the Bulldogs find themselves sitting on top of the NRL ladder.
Their 30–12 win over the Eels on Monday—played in front of a massive crowd—took them to 24 competition points as they continued to solidify their status as genuine contenders.
It was also played for the I4Give Cup, inspired by Danny and Leila Abdallah’s incredible message of forgiveness in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. A game about mercy and new beginnings—and a fitting stage for a team rewriting its story.
In a world that prizes power and polish, the Holy Spirit often moves in quieter, more surprising ways. Through flawed people. Through small beginnings. Through teams that no one saw coming.
And that’s why the Bulldogs’ walk wasn’t just a pre-game hype event. Whether they realised it or not, it reflected something deeper. A picture of what it looks like when ordinary people march with a shared purpose—doing something greater together than any one of them could do alone.
That priest’s homily made me see the Spirit’s parade in a new light. And a day later, the Bulldogs helped bring it to life.