The key to “apologizing” without really apologizing is to use the word if, as in, “If I’ve offended you, I’m deeply sorry.”

Most of us have first-hand experience with this technique — on the giving and receiving ends. It has a 100% failure rate. What’s more, it generally makes the offended party feel even more aggrieved.

Exhibit A is the statement that Olympics spokesperson Anne Descamps made over the weekend in the wake of worldwide outrage over the blatant mockery of the Last Supper during the Paris Games’ drag queen-themed opening ceremonies on July 26.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” she said, adding, of course, “If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”

Translation: We’re only sorry that so many Christians are too backward to grasp the artistic genius of what we’ve done.

There are multiple themes present in the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper. One of them is betrayal. Many of us felt precisely that when we watched something so sacred to Christians — particularly Catholics, because of our belief in and reverence for the Eucharist — denigrated in a historically Catholic country like France, the erstwhile Eldest Daughter of the Church and the homeland of St. Thérèse, St. Joan of Arc and the Little Sisters of the Poor.

There was something undeniably demonic about what we witnessed. The devil, we know, uses imitation to mock God. We got an unpleasant taste of that when the Los Angeles Dodgers honored the drag-queen “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” last year. The opening ceremonies multiplied that scandal by a factor of 50.

How do we respond?

First, we need to wake up. When the Olympic organizers and others on the Left “celebrate inclusivity,” they don’t mean that term in the way Webster’s defines it. Rather, the intent is to promote the views and agendas of everybody other than those who espouse traditional Christian beliefs. Or more precisely, prioritizing and praising those who have contempt for those values.

Second, is there anyone you know who might assume that, though you’re Catholic, you wouldn’t be offended by a mockery of the Last Supper? If so, you need to set them straight.

Sadly, too many Catholics have lost their sense of the sacred, especially regarding the Mass and the Real Presence. That is the point of the National Eucharistic Revival, to call us back to a spirit of humble gratitude and awe for Jesus’ enduring sacrifice. We saw the fruits of this effort manifested in amazing ways at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, especially the record-setting downtown procession where all were welcome to honor Our Lord — an outpouring of devotion we’ll see again in September at the International Eucharistic Congress in Ecuador. Now it’s time to put this rekindled devotion into action.

The timing of the outrage in Paris, coming so close on the heels of the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, is no coincidence, any more than the fact that it happened on the same weekend when the Gospel readings at Mass begin to focus on Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse.

We ought to follow the welcome example of so many leaders of our Church who are speaking out against what happened at the Olympics and demand a sincere apology from those responsible. Enough with “if” we were offended. What they did was offensive. A genuine apology must acknowledge that.

Third, we should make reparation to Our Lord. Find some way to comfort his wounded heart. One suggestion: Make time to visit him in the tabernacle and read and meditate on John 6 while you’re there. Pray for those who participated in the Paris event, for those who allowed it and for those who have remained silent in the face of such sacrilege.

Lastly, don’t think this is just about France. The same radically secular, anti-Christian worldview we saw on display at the opening ceremonies is infecting all of Europe and our own country, too.

And brace yourselves: The next Summer Games are in Los Angeles.

May God bless you!