Paris Olympics Blasphemy, Chariots Of Fire, And Our Needed Response

This weekend we saw the filth pouring out of what was called the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics.  It was nothing short of the glorification of all manners of filth and perversion, and they dared to do so in the context of blaspheming Our Lord's Last Supper.  They did so by having various and sundry perverts posing as Our Lord and His Apostles were depicted in Da Vinci's Last Supper.  To wit?

There was even more filth and debauchery after this initial visual assault, but I need not belabor the point.

Of course good people were outraged and some raised their voices.  Viewership plummeted.  C-Spire, an American tech company that had advertised during the broadcast, issued a press release denouncing this production and stated that they would pull their advertising from the Olympics - for which we thank them.

The International Olympic Committee went into "damage control" mode and tried to mollify the public with this excuse for an apology.

I think the problem here is obvious.  They are actually defending the spectacle.  When they say they are sorry for the offence, they really mean that they are sorry that they are now suffering the consequences for their misdeeds.

Fellow Catholics, and indeed all people of goodwill, action is needed here.  Father Chris Alar, Provincial Superior for the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, gave a homily in which he put forth a number of great suggestions for protest, complete with contact information for the IOC and other key organizations to where we can lodge protests.  Please watch this in its entirety.  I still have more important commentary below the video.

A commenter on Facebook wonders how the Christian, particularly Catholic, athletes from around the world will respond.  Will they continue to participate in this year's Olympics, thus justifying the blasphemy?  

The previous time that Paris hosted the Olympics was 1924, one hundred years ago.  A somewhat similar situation happened there, with an athlete being confronted with a matter of Christian conscience.  That conflict was the subject of a 1980s hit movie called Chariots of Fire.  The athlete in question was Eric Liddell, a young Protestant preacher being a foot racer from England.  When he found out that a race was scheduled on Sunday, he knew that would have caused him to violate his church's teachings on keeping Sunday holy.  He decided not to run, causing quite the stink with the IOC and British royalty.  He was switched to another race that was far less favorable to him, but at least it wasn't on Sunday.  Despite the odds, he not only won the race but set a new world record for that race.

Denominational issues aside, Liddell valued his obedience to Christ more than he valued athletic accomplishments.  How will today's athletes choose?

More to the point, how will we choose?  Can we pray in reparation for the insults to Our Lord?  Can we bestir ourselves to protest as Father Alar suggests in the video?  We are the Church Militant, not the "church mellow".