Add The New York Post on Google It’s a holy war.
East Coast nuns are pushing the power of prayer onto the Knicks as the NBA Finals rage on — setting up a biblical showdown with an uber-famous group of Spurs-supporting sisters.
The NBA championships have split the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco by geography, with an East Coast-West Coast documenting their superfandom on social media.
“We put on the T-shirts, we posted a little video. We’re here for cheering for the Knicks,” said Sister Katie Flanagan, director of development for the Salesian Sisters’s Eastern Province.
“It’s just getting into the excitement of the the game and the the hype around the finals and the Knicks — it’s been so long since they were in the finals. It’s an exciting time.”
Flanagan and her East Coast sisters began rallying behind the basketball phenoms in recent weeks as Knicks Mania gripped the metro area.
Their counterparts out west have already had a long and strong relationship with the San Antonio Spurs — with the sisters even joining the team on the court to pray over the players.
View this post on Instagram While the East Coast order do not have the same relationship with the Knicks, Flanagan and her sisters saw the opportunity to take a page out of their western sisters’ Bible.
“There was a past people like a graduate of one of our schools, she called one of the elderly sisters and she said, ‘I see our sisters there cheering for the Spurs, and that’s awesome, but where are my nuns cheering for my team?'” Flanagan said.
“So, they’re in San Antonio and they’re cheering for the Spurs. We’re here in New York and New Jersey and we’re cheering for the Knicks.”
But Flanagan emphasized there is no bad Blood of Christ between the geographically-split sisters — and that the support for the Knicks is all in good Holy Spirit.
She and her sisters have donned Knicks gear, watched the games together and — of course — prayed for the players’ health and success.
The real point of indulging in the “Finals Fever,” however, is to strengthen their connection with the young students at their schools.
“When you know what the kids are talking about and what they’re excited about. When you can participate in that with them, it helps to create a stronger connection. Then it helps us do our job better as sisters to connect with the young people that were serving,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan — who also is something of a social media influencer — also said the Knicks content has been super popular because people love seeing nuns do “normal things.”
“People want to see their nuns supporting their team! It’s like that first foot in the door — it’s a beautiful way when people see sisters as as kind of normal people. That helps us to be able to share our message in a more profound way,” she said.
“This moment to share with them over basketball — to say, ‘Did you see Wemby throw the ball at the guys back?’ — When they hear us talking about that, they see there’s that human side of us that allows for that connection to make a little more.”
