The Olympic parody's silver lining

In fact, the backlash came swiftly and became so strong that the Olympics has been backed into the corner of having to apologize for the parody which highlighted queer visibility and LGBTQ inclusion. But, in doing so the Olympics is trying to convince people that what they think they saw was not actually what they saw. Well, good luck with that argument.

Anne DesCamps speaking for the Olympics said: “Clearly there was never the intention to show disrespect to any religious group. If people have taken any offense we are really, really sorry.”

You notice that she never lets the term “Christian … Christians … Christianity” fall from her lips.

“Our intention was never to be impertinent or subversive,” explained Thomas Jolly, creative director for the Olympics Opening Ceremony. “Our idea was that with this great diversity we wanted to collectively include everyone.”

The Olympics is not the only organization to receive backlash from pushing the LGBTQ agenda. Remember what happened to Bud Light when transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney was highlighted? The beer’s American sales tanked and have not recovered. American men, who make up the bulk of Bud Light’s beer drinkers, were not having anything to do with Dylan Mulvaney’s parody of women.

Target, too, was targeted for pushing transgendered swimwear for children during Pride month. Target was forced to relocate its LGBTQ Pride Month display away from the front door and tone down the pride push to keep customers coming in the front door.

Then there was the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring the drag Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence last summer. The attendance dwindled for that game.

The good news behind all of this is … The Good News! The Gospel is silently being proclaimed.

St. Francis was fond of telling his friars to “preach the Gospel always and sometimes use words.”

The Eucharist was seen as the visual focal point of the parody. The Eucharist … the Lord’s Supper … the Holy Communion … the Real Presence … Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Godhead.

The Eucharist draws people. He draws people.

Leonardo DeVinci was drawn to Jesus in the Upper Room to create a painting about His celebrating the Last Supper with His Disciples on the night He was betrayed.

Michelangelo was drawn to the Crucified Christ to sculpt the Pietá showing Mary holding her lifeless Son on her lap.

The event planners of the Olympics Opening Ceremony deny they were drawn to Jesus in the Eucharist to spoof Him, they felt they were honoring the 12 gods of Mount Olympus — Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Dionysus — rather than the 12 Disciples — Simon Peter, Andrew, James the Greater, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Lesser, Simon the Zealot, Thaddaeus, and Judas Iscariot.

This is how a blue-skinned, orange-bearded, scantily-dressed Dionysus, the god of wine-making, fruitfulness and ecstasy, was served up on a fruit and flower ladened platter singing about the joys of being naked in French.

Unbeknownst to the ceremony’s event planners they never anticipated that some of the 29.6 million witnesses to the Olympics’ nod to the mythical Olympian gods interpreted the skit as being a parody on the Last Supper and of Jesus in the Eucharist, if nothing else to make a mockery of It … to make a mockery of Him.

The planners were so ignorant of religion and Christianity in particular, that they could not see the parallel between the 12 gods of Mount Olympus and the 12 Disciples at the Last Supper and see how Christians, particularly Catholics, might interpret and react to it.

This is how Christ broke through.

Christ promises to “draw all people into Myself,” and He will use any method to achieve His goal, and He can be quite creative about it.

As a result the conversation has been started — God, Jesus Christ, the Eucharist are at least being thought about, if not openly discussed, on a global level in multiple languages.

Christ and the Lord’s Supper are being discussed. Headlines have been made and newscasters are openly talking about Christianity. Not that they understand it, but they are talking about it.

Bread is being cast upon the waters. In this case the Seine River.

The Ancient Olympics originally began in the 8th century BC and ran until the 4th century AD, spanning the time of Christ’s Birth, Last Supper, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.

The Ancient Olympics took the moniker “Olympics” from Olympia, Greece. The town where the games were first held.

Athletic competition such as in the Ancient Olympics and the Isthmian Games are referenced in the New Testament where Paul uses metaphors about fighting, racing, training, and winning the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-26)

Ancient Olympic sports included chariot racing, the multi event Pentathlon, pygmachia boxing, pankration combat, hoplitodromos foot racing, and heralding.

The Modern Olympics started in 1896. Wikipedia explains: “The modern Olympics are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world’s foremost sports competition with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories, participating.”

This year’s Summer Olympics is currently being held in Paris. There are 10,714 athletes from 206 nations competing in 329 events across 32 sports.

There are at least two dozen known Christians who are open about their Christianity at the Olympics. But with a gathering of 10,000 athletes there are certainly more Christians in the group who are quietly living out their faith while running, swimming, jumping, throwing discs, or riding horses.

They are heeding St. Francis’ advice to preach the Gospel always and sometimes use words.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline

The Olympic parody’s silver lining
Preach the Gospel always and sometimes use words

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
July 30, 2024

Believe it or not, there is a silver lining to the Paris Olympics parody of the Eucharist. It has caused a worldwide multifaceted conversation.

The conversation centers on the Eucharist Itself. What is It and why is It important; or — better yet — Who It is and why He is important. Why are Catholics, in particular, upset? Why is the parody seen as an affront to Christianity? Why are many Protestants ignoring the conversation? Are the Olympics supposed to be a political venue of societal change? Why is LGBTQ always brought to the forefront of any event, even sporting events?