Woke up this morning to news about the mockery that happened at the opening of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France. Although I felt angry, I also pity them. Mocking Christianity isn't a new thing in the 21st century; it's been happening for a long time. However, through social media and technological advances, these acts of godless ideology have become more known to the world. While the Catholic Church is working hard to materialize Synodality, facing challenges within the Church and from outside, wounded and exhausted, mocked and scandalized, rejected and ignored, the Mother Church has remained steadfast throughout the ages and will continue to be. This is also a call for all the faithful to remain firm in their faith despite all the controversies because none will ever abrogate the Catholic Church, no one!

Yes, we shouldn't just tolerate these mockeries, and they need to be rectified, but with prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. I sure forgot those virtues for the first half hour of browsing the internet about the Olympics 2024 mockery and saw reactions that I later regretfully realized were peddling hatred. After I got on the same boat, I remembered Matthew 5:39: "Do not oppose evil with evil." Here I am, writing my best to not make this sound like condemning the incident but rather expressing my disappointment and, at the same time, my grief for their souls.

In our today's society, these sorts of people are labeled as "woke," and by definition, it describes those who are aware of social injustice such as racism or inequality. But I don't see these people deserving of such a description because the Catholic Church is never racist or unequal (yes, there has been histories that may have contradict my claim that were manifested by her members, but not her teachings). They're just a bunch of ignorants, no offense—ignorants are those who don't know, refuse to know, or choose not to acknowledge what they know.

You see, "some" of our brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ+ community are thirsty for recognition, respect, and attention. I say "some" because I've known many who choose to live humbly. We even have priests who are openly gay and LGBTQ+ laypeople leading various ministries of the Church. While I believe respect should be given unconditionally, contrary to the popular quote "respect begets respect," these people from the Olympics 2024 mockery have chosen to be disrespected. I hate to say it, but it's true. They don't earn respect from Christians or non-Christians with their cheap depiction of Biblical events. But who knows? They might not be after respect, but simply to mock Christianity, just like how the soldiers mocked Jesus when they crowned Him with a crown of thorns. Yet at the end, Jesus asked forgiveness on their behalf and ultimately died for them and for us, which saves us all from eternal damnation. Nevertheless, some people choose not to be saved.

To my brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ+ community, you're all children of God, we're all children of God. You don't need to prove your worth to anyone but to God. You don't need to achieve worldly desires to live a joyful life, and you don't need to mock just to be heard. What we all need is to suffer so that we may find God. We need to fail to make us humble, and we need to prove our worth to the promises of Jesus Christ, the promise of eternal life. This might sound rather out of a fairytale to you. But if you can invest so much time and dedication into things that satisfy your flesh, try to invest and dedicate yourself to the things that would satisfy your soul. I know it's going to be boring, but it's all worth it. Trust me, I'm a sinner and will always be in this waking life. It's sometimes upsetting, exhausting, and dragging. My faith is consistently inconsistent, but just like what you do, we keep moving forward. Hopefully, we all move forward on the same narrow road and through the small gate that leads to life. May God have mercy on us all!

Moden mockery