Not having access to Mons. Umbers's actual meme, I have 're-created' it according to Valli's description.
The LeBron James meme
applied to the Church today
Translated from
June 15, 2018
LeBron James in centerfield, his arms held out, addresses teammate J.R. Smith with a look that says: “But how could you not understand what I intended you to do with the ball?” Smith stands rooted, as though he really had not understood what had happened in the last few seconds. But in basketball, everything is at great speed, and if you don’t catch signals on the fly, you’ll be very sorry indeed.
The image, which has become an epic global meme, comes from Game 1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors for the NBA championship this year, which the Warriors won 4-0 for their second consecutive title, their third in four years and the sixth in their history. A clearcut superiority that seemed to have steamrollered the Cavaliers.
In the past four years, the two teams have played each other for the championship but it was the first time that the Warriors won so clearly. Lebron James for the Cavaliers was as strong as ever, seemingly a basketball machine, but his strength alone could not suffice. He did not team support, and the image we described is somehow a sign of that failure.
But why, you ask, would I concern myself about the NBA championship? Good question. It’s because the image has become a meme used by thousands of persons by now, among them Mons. Richard Umbers, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, who has a true passion for using the social networks, especially Twitter and memes, which he prefers to use because, he says, these are what we now have at our disposition to evangelize with, and if Jesus lived in our time, he would have used every available means of communication made possible by technology.
The New Zealand-born Umbers, 47 (a 'boy bishop' by Church standards), originating from new Zealand, is an Opus Dei priest with a marked sense of humor. Which is why he likes to use memes. Seeing the Lebron James image, he immediately thought of it in ecclesial terms. So he labelled the upset James “LAITY”, and Smith “Bishops not speaking out on moral issues”.
Visual memes are meant primarily to amuse. By putting together an image with words from an altogether different context, one re-interprets the image to express a striking and amusing message.
Mons. Umbers manages to do this successfully, in which LeBron representing the Catholic faithful asks of the Catholic bishops, represented by Smith:
“What don’t you understand? Why don’t you speak out on moral issues? Why don’t you do anything? What are you thinking of? Don’t you realize the situation in the Church today?” And the bishops simply stand there, dazed, seemingly so disoriented they don’t know which way to turn!
Certainly makes you smile, but also to want to cry! And
to reflect on the role to which the faithful are called on today, in the face of a Church hierarchy that so often appear confused and bent on concerning themselves with things they really have no business getting into, whereas they are timid, or worse, delinquent in failing to speak out at all on the things that should concern them such as life, death, truth, good and evil, divine law and the eternal destiny of the soul. [Awww, such abstractions, compared with eliminating hunger and poverty, welcoming migrants to our homes and hearts, fighting climate change and capitalism, recognizing Islam as a religion of peace that would never ever countenance violence…]
The commentaries all said that LeBron James again stood out like a giant in these play-offs and got a standing ovation when he left the court after the final defeat. But basketball is a team game, and without teamwork, it is very difficult even for a superb and exceptional player, to guarantee victory all by himself. In this case, the Warriors’ teamwork simply outclassed the Cavaliers.
So thanks to this – and Mons. Umbers’s sense of humor – we have been given a message to reflect on. To provoke a smile can be a very useful weapon these days for proposing very serious questions without appearing belligerent. And if, like me, you like basketball, all the better!
My meme would have the Smith figure represent Bergoglio, with the laity asking him in despair: "What the hell are you doing to the Church and our faith? Don't just stand there blathering and self-indulgent! Repent now and be the pope you are supposed to be!"