Denver Catholic

19 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 25-JUNE 7, 2019 Shrine of St. Anne School 7320 Grant Place, Arvada 80002 | www.stannescatholic.com | 303-422-1800 7320 Grant Place, Arvada 80002 303-422-1800 C Sicily Appelhanz Leszek Badiere Adam Ball Greta Blackmore Roxanne Bristol Andrew Brower Lucas Carlton Tobey Cassino Kayla Dinville Samuel Disberger Brian Elliott Stephen Erickson Gianna Finocchiaro Bryce Gillan Megan Gonzales Makenzie Hansen Yzana Harwood Keelan Jones Colin Kostelecky Mitchell Leyba Cale Mia Lombardi Luca Lonardo David Malec Jack Marriott Olivia Martin Owen Myers Gianna Olguin Ryder Osburn Nicolas Pasquini Ella Perez Rory Petersen Chelsey Ressel Michael Rose Hazlen Skogen Kylie St. Clair Adam Thompson Michael Thompson Elizabeth Uhl Rocco Vendena Mackenzie Walters Rachel Williams Kaci Hudson Talia Humbert Lucas Jenkins Madeline Kirk Ella Kottenstette Hannah Lawson Sureel McCain Dillon McCollough Sawyer McFarland Logan McVay Mackenzie Megill Zachary O'Reilly Elena Pinto John Reasbeck Aidan Sampson Chandler Sato Hailey Simco Ross Smallwood Lucas Smith Ridley Soro William Soro Christie Stratman Jacqueline Vizcarra Athena Allegier Joseph Baptiste Joshua Bevis Catelyn Billings Katherine Brackney Camden Buehler Carter Chan Tyler Chan Ethan Ciscar-Clipp Gabriela Contos Carson Davis Lina Dungeon Aleric Edinger Allyson Evans Seth Foxhoven Brynn Goble Alexander Gosser Blaire Griffin Reese Griffin Joshua Harvey Christian Hawkey Zachary Hogan Paige Huber Congratulations Class of 2019! Now Enrolling Preschool - 8th 9056 E. Parker Road, Parker 80138 720-842-5400 school.avemariacatholicparish.org Financial Aid Available THE RING'S DESTRUCTION AND THE CRUCIFIXION Tolkien gives the game away allegor- ically when he has the ring destroyed on March 25. For Catholics, this day marks the solemnity of the Annunciation or the Incarnation. But also, traditionally, the Church has believed that the his- torical date of the crucifi xion itself was March 25. Tolkien, who was a Medieval- ist, certainly knew that. By connecting the destruction of the ring with the destruction of sin, we can see that the ring can be seen as synony- mous with sin, and therefore, the power of the ring is the power of sin. Also, the necessity of bearing the consequence of sin sacrifi cially is the very heart of the story. THE THREE CHRIST FIGURES Frodo is a Christ fi gure as the ring- bearer. If the ring is seen as synony- mous with sin, the bearing of the ring is like the carrying of the sin. Christ bore the burden of sin by carrying the Cross. In other words, Frodo is a Christ fi gure by carrying the burden of sin as Christ carried the Cross. Gandalf is a Christ fi gure in his death, resurrection and transfi guration. The wizard lays down his life for his friends at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and is later resurrected as Gandalf the White. His transfi guration is evidenced in the part where his friends fi rst see him in his resurrected form, but his gar- ments are so white and dazzling that his friends are forced to cover their eyes and Gandalf is forced to wear a gray cloak over the white. Aragorn is the third major Christ fi gure because he is the true king. As true king, he has the power to descend into the land of the dead and to have power over the dead themselves — to release the dead from their curse. Of course, this reminds us of Christ's descent into hell after his crucifi xion to liberate the souls of the dead. EVERY-MAN FIGURES Tolkien said that fairy stories and all good stories hold up a mirror to man — they show us ourselves. Boromir, for instance, who is the only human representative in the Fel- lowship of the Ring, shows the fact that we are susceptible to trying to use the power of evil supposedly for good. As Boromir learns, evil means can't be used to a good end — it's impossible to use the power of the ring to defeat the power of the ring. Faramir, his brother, is the one who says that he would not pick up the ring if he saw it lying on the side of the road, and that he would not snare even an Orc with a force hood. In other words, he would not tell the smallest lie to the devil himself. Faramir shows the alter- nate to Boromir, that we're called to sanctity, to perfection, to be Christ-like and to treat evil with contempt. Gollum shows us what happens if we allow ourselves to be possessed by the power of evil. Instead of the "good Hobbit" we are meant to be, Gollum shows us the corrupted version. The ring makes him an addict to the power of sin, selfi shness and pride. He's no longer able to give himself sacrifi cially to others because he's too self-obsessed. LEMBAS BREAD AND THE EUCHARIST Tolkien gives a linguistic clue to how the Lembas bread is a fi gure of the Eucharist. In one of the Elvish languages, Lembas means "Way Bread." This reminds of the Viaticum, the Blessed Sacrament taken to the sick, which basi- cally means "for the way." In the other Elvish language, Lembas means "Life Bread" or "Bread of Life." The book also mentions that this bread feeds the will more than it feeds the body. Pearce speculates in his book Frodo's Journey that Tolkien, being a practic- ing Catholic, would have heard about the many Eucharistic miracles that were happen ing around the time he was writing the book. Hearing about how someone could live on the Blessed Sacrament alone could have motivated him to write that Frodo and Sam lived on nothing but Lembas bread as they were walking through Mordor. If there is still any doubt about Tolk- ien's deep Catholic faith, here is just one example of his personal letters, this one written to one of his sons: "Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated,' I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament... There you will fi nd romance, glory, honour, fi delity, and the true way of all your loves on earth…"

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