By CARDINAL JOHN J. O'CONNOR

Contrary to what I have read here and there, I have not recommended a boycott of any major league ballclub for playing ball on Good Friday. In my column of April 16 I simply wanted to make a point about the sacredness of the day for Christians, particularly the hours of 12 to 3. The reply that to make an exception for Christians would require making exceptions for Jews, Muslims and others actually underscored my point. What if it would? Is religion the only activity to be considered an "also ran" in our increasingly secularized society?

Now I want to make another point, but from a similar perspective. Why must Little League and soccer league games be scheduled on Sunday mornings? Why create this conflict for kids or for their parents? Sports are generally considered good for kids. Church is good for kids. Church has been traditional on Sunday mornings in our country since the earliest days of our republic and before--the days of the Colonies.

Why must two helpful activities compete for a kid's heart and give parents gray hair before their time? Can we put the question bluntly? Is it more important for a youngster to go to church than to play baseball or soccer? Don't we normally give prime time to what we believe is most important? Surely, prime time for church for families continues to be Sunday morning.

I know, I know. There are Saturday evening Masses and Sunday evening Masses, and I am sure many Protestant bodies have divine services at varying times, as well. But why is it religion that must always accommodate? How many pastors have been told by altar servers, "I can't serve Sunday morning. I have a Little League game"? This is the constant erosion, the constant secularization of our culture, that I strongly believe to be a serious mistake.

I played an awful lot of baseball as a kid and broke a wrist playing soccer. Interested parties can still view the bump in the bone, or watch me wince when the weather gets into it. To be allowed to play on a Sunday morning would have been as unthinkable as smoking a cigar at the breakfast table at the age of 10! But this is a different day, is it? A better day? We have a pocket full of proof of that, do we? Where is it?

I have great respect and not a little gratitude for grown men and women who give their time to sports for kids, as coaches, managers, schedulers, drivers, etc., etc., so long as it does not mean neglecting their own families, as in most cases I suspect it does not. But wouldn't it be a good idea if everybody got together? Couldn't parents, coaches, pastors and various other interested parties take a good look together at what is happening in certain areas?

Much mayhem would ensue, I wager, should pastors all gang up and say: "No kids allowed in church on Saturday or Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening. You come to church on Sunday morning or you don't come at all." I could envision a revolt of parents that would make the charge on the Bastille look like a game of croquet. Obviously, our pastors value both the authority of parents and their own skins too much to invoke such a policy.

But think about it. Aren't coaches and others saying, with the best of intentions: "No Little League or Soccer League kids can play on Saturday or Sunday afternoon or evening. You play on Sunday morning or you don't play at all"?

Undoubtedly, there may be some places where a playing field may be available only on a Sunday morning, and a certain number of games must be played to meet league requirements. That takes us right back to the big leagues' allegedly having to play on Good Friday because so many games must be played in a season. Nonsense. What happens when they get rained out? They fit the game in on another day.

But even if the big leagues, because of TV commitments, travel, etc., etc., etc., do have to play X number of games, why must the Little Leagues ape this? Can't we who are, hopefully, adult encourage priorities of values among youngsters who will be pressured soon enough in their lives to subordinate the practice of their faith to a thousand competing interests?

None of the above is written without very sincere sympathy for parents, coaches and the many others who are trying their best, and often make a lot of sacrifices, to do what is right by their youngsters, provide them wholesome opportunities and simultaneously lead and encourage them in the practice of their faith. It is a tough job. So I do not write criticism, but in hope: the hope that there can be a re-evaluation of what we are doing, a reassessment of values, a reordering of priorities, if called for.

I would welcome your thoughts. After all these years on the job, I am used to having people get angry as they read this column--or any other time they think of me. That is all right, it is worth it to me to hear what you think. If I am wrong, I will confess in another column, which I would not write, however, on either a Good Friday or a Sunday morning.