Christmas Eve 1995, two of my daughters and I were in Paris, and chose to attend the midnight mass at Notre Dame Cathedral.
Because we had just attended the Paris Opera Ballet performance of Swan Lake, at the Bastille Opera House–mind blowing in its superb excellence.
On leaving the ballet we observed the orchestra members getting into buses which would transport them to NOTRE DAME, to play for the midnight mass, and we wanted our evening’s musical odyssey to continue.
Yes the music at the mass was superb, but we were crowded, standing room only, in back, just inside the sixty foot high front doors of the cathedral.
At midnight, those front doors pushed open, and in swept the red robed Cardinal, followed by his retinue of bishops and priests, in full regalia.
My youngest daughter, made an astute remark:
“Look Dad, just like the Adventists, NO WOMEN!”
No, there was not one Mother Superior, not even Mother Theresa, in the priestly parade, not one nun, NONE to pun!
And Notre Dame Cathedral, the Cathedral of OUR LADY, has multiple statues of the revered Virgin, but the only representation of CHRIST, is as a babe in his mother’s arms. The Virgin supersedes the Christ!
Just as there are often more quotes from EGW than biblical texts in our venerable leader’s sermons!
For me, the greatest similarity Adventists have to Catholics, is that we place one woman, EGW, on a PEDESTAL , and all other women are SECOND CLASS CITIZENS!
EGW has become our Virgin Mary!
BREAKING NEWS: The Vatican has paid out four billion to cover up pedophilia!
Thankfully not a pervasive problem in Adventism!
