Dear Parishioners,

I am sure many of you have been paying attention to the Olympics and the mockery of the faith that occurred during the opening ceremony where The Last Supper was referenced in a bizarre drag show. Many prominent bishops have spoken out against this injustice and recently even Pope Francis expressed his views saying:

The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and can only join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offence caused to many Christians and believers of other religions.

At a prestigious event where the whole world comes together to share common values, there should be no allusions ridiculing the religious convictions of many people.

The freedom of expression, which is clearly not called into question here, is limited by respect for others.

I am glad that the Pope has made some sort of statement since we as Christians should not tolerate inappropriate public mockeries of the faith. The Olympic Games should be a time when we put aside everything that divides us and just celebrate human achievements in sporting events. So, it is completely inappropriate for the faith to be made fun of at this event. When people disparage the faith to such a high degree, they discourage people from even entertaining the truth of the faith. This is spiritually dangerous because we are saved by our faith and ought to hold to it firmly.

What I find really insulting is that afterwards, the organizer of this show named Thomas Jolly denied that it mocked the faith at all, instead calling it a reference to the Feast of Bacchus or Bacchanalia. So, not only does he mock Christianity but also common sense. If you look up any image of the Feast of Bacchus by any artist, none of them look like what happened at the opening ceremony. Meanwhile, having people pose on one side of the table with the center figure having a halo cannot be mistaken for anything but the Last Supper by Leonard da Vinci.

The only reason I can think of for someone to put together this type of show is that they have a hatred of the faith. So, I think it would be good to pray and do penance for all these people so that they may repent for the errors of their way. Furthermore, I remind you that we all have a duty to promote the faith and to speak out against people who mock it whether personally or on a world stage.

God Bless!

Fr. Carter

P.S. Just a reminder that this Thursday is the Solemnity of the Assumption which is a Holy Day of Obligation. So, we all have to go to Mass that day. The Mass times are: 8/14 vigil at 5:30 pm, 8/15 Holy Day at 7 and 9 am, 12:10 Noontime and 7 pm.