Thursday, July 14, 2011

Renouncing evil while embracing it

Do you reject Satan?
I do.
And all his works?
I do.
Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God's children?
I do.
Do you reject the glamor of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin?
I do.
Do you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness?
I do.
Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
I do.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
I do.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
I do.

This is part of the Catholic liturgy for a child baptism. The questions are asked by the priest and the responses are by the parents and the godparents.

I watched the classic movie The Godfather (1972) with my son (16) and daughter (18). I feel the climax of the movie occurs towards the end in a powerful segment which shows flashes between two scenes. The first scene is of the baptism liturgy as Michael [the central character] becomes the godfather of his nephew. The alternating scenes are of the murders of Michael's rivals [heads of other crime families] by his henchmen. Michael has become a godfather and The Godfather.
To me this powerful juxtaposition vividly displays our human tendency towards hypocrisy. We can mouth religious words renouncing evil but at the same time live while intricately enmeshed in a world of evil.

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