Who Do You Worship? Bei Bei or the Babe in the Manger?

I was reading an article this morning about the baby panda, Bei Bei, at the National Zoo. The little guy made his unofficial debut with the press recently and everybody was ga-ga over his feeble attempts to find his legs. Bei Bei's name means "precious treasure," and he is as cute as can be. But I couldn't help thinking, as I looked at the faces of his keepers who are already lamenting that he'll be returned to China at age four, about all the "precious treasures" murdered under China's population control policy. Is a baby panda really more of a "precious treasure" than a tiny human infant created in God's image and likeness?
The keepers don't want to get "too attached" to the "cute, furry rock star," as the media puts it. They went to all kinds of efforts to keep Bei Bei's twin alive, who weighed three ounces when it succumbed to pneumonia. Compare that to "unwanted" human babies born alive after abortion and left to die or even "wanted" babies considered too little to bother with.

As we prepare for Christmas I wonder how many post-aborted women who have come to their senses are mourning their dead little ones. Note the lyrics in the song below beginning at 3:08 (if you don't want to listen to the whole thing). It speaks of "philosophies that save the trees and kill the children." Indeed. [The song goes on to show the "rapture" which is a modern, false interpretation of scripture, but I won't go into that here.] It's a powerful video.



Casting Crowns has another Christmas version of While You Were Sleeping which is lovely (You can watch it here.), but the one above offers more food for thought. Jesus didn't come to stay as that cute little baby in the manger cuddled and petted. He came to suffer and die for us and invite us into a personal relationship with Him. Many would rather worship a baby panda. He makes no demands and doesn't interfere with our evil choices. Bei Bei will never prick a conscience or admonish a sinner. But cute little Bei Bei has no power to save. And what a tragedy if, as St. Paul says, we "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of fourfooted beasts, and of creeping things." (Romans 1:23 Douay Rheims)

And this brings me back to the light show at the Vatican. Was anyone invited to worship the Savior who comes? Was anyone led to recognize Our Lady (on her feast day, for heavens sake!) as the real Mother over the earth whose image shown to St. Catherine Laboure and depicted in the Miraculous Medal shows graces showering on the earth from her outstretched hands? No...in fact, hell no! And I mean that literally. Lux Fiat displayed not the Word Incarnate, but pantheism incarnate. Earth to bishops: It's about saving souls not saving endangered species.

During these last days of Advent, let's pray and sacrifice for our Church leaders. They have an obligation to teach the faith clearly lest the sheep be lost through neglect. Let's face it, many of them are too busy feeding the wolves to be bothered about the sheep who are the wolves' next meal.