Posted on 12/11/2011 2:11:26 PM PST by mainestategop
So could some catholics explain this to me?
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
The Bible is true, and certainly warns against lust. Sin is sin, and we don't need terms bandied about such as these 7 sins are more "deadly" than others. It is a terrible web to weave, because it implies that some sins are more "tolerable" than others. Building straw fences like that can lead others into false teaching, which the Bible is clear about.
All sin grieves God, and is in opposition to the supernatural Deity of Christ. Only Christ can save us, and all of us need to make that choice of will for Him, or against Him.
Sexuality is a very powerful, and dicey subject. On the one hand, it is God given, and in marriage, is an expression of love that is transcendant. On the other hand, the degradation of our humanness through sexuality is the work of evil. My definition of evil is the twisting of purpose....God's purpose.
Many people find it hard to wonder what heaven will be like if there are men and women there, but no sexuality. I take it mean that we will not need that component of sexuality in the equation of God sanctioned love because we will have the Love of God.
I have been w my spouse for ten years and still ust after her due to our emotional connection. If you prudes and purists can grasp that, screw you.
Okay. Maybe this is just me. But IMHO the twaddle they teach in schools is a perversion of the entire psychological notion of self-esteem. It is certainly twaddle and of the most pernicious kind.
The idea was corrupted before it was promulgated. I think “appropriate” self-esteem is about the natural dignity of man. When the NEA gets a hold of it, they turn it into cr..., uh, I mean dross.
And for me personally, since I did not have a clear idea of natural law at the time, it was the notion that, for reasons best known to himself, God esteemed me very highly, DESPITE my track record, that saved my life and my mental health.
The popular idea of self-esteem is idolatry, vanity, and pride.
Well, I like to think so ... The poor dears.
Maybe this turns out to be a sort of meta-comment on some aspects of psychiatry/psychology. For myself, the only way to esteem myself is with the value imputed to me by God in Christ. I can see decent analogues in other religions. But "Gosh darn it, people like me," doesn't get it for me.
The love of God, however, lays a great obligation on me, while it provides the means to fulfill it. And it starts with remembering ,.. the love of God.
Reread your catechism. Lust is not sexual attraction. Nobody is asking you to stop being attracted to your wife sexually. Learn your faith.
I don’t think you’re describing “lust” as the term is used by the Catholic Church.
whats your point? do you have one?
You cited a good reference from Matthew 22:
23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” 29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
After Jesus' response to those who tried to corner Him, I have to believe that He meant there was no need for sex because He said there was no marriage (and no procreation by nature of the question). Could it mean that Jesus meant there would be no marriage, but sex anyway? Isn't that fornication, and a sin? If that is permitted, what other sins that God hates here on earth could then be permitted in Heaven, where God Himself dwells?
Do you see the problem with this line of reasoning? It certainly opens up a whole cascade of problems.
Sex is something we do, it isn't who we are.
I must say, however, that sexuality is an amazing gift. It is perhaps one of the most powerful forces in human nature given by God. But like fire, it has to be handled carefully, and within the laws and parameters that God has instilled in up.
A sensual heaven, where we go on copulating without marriage, is the erotic notion the Muslims (a false faith) have.
I reject it.
While it is true that crimes can take place within the confines of marriage (i.e. forcible rape), and there are some spouses who insist on making sex about degradation instead of lovemaking, I thought the author of this piece attacked sexuality with too broad of stroke, and too quickly out of the gate.
Your reaction is, I think, a good one: you highly treasure your relationship with someone you love deeply, and defend it vehemently.
SINCE you brought up the subject (normally I wouldn’t talk like this to someone about their sex life),
You SHOULD be sexually desirous of your wife.
You should NOT badger her for sex when she has a headache, cramps, 8 months pregnant, etc.,
If you cannot be with your wife, you should not allow your desires for her to drive you to illicit substitutes.
You should not engage in sexual acts which are demeaning, selfishly gratifying or disordered.
If, for some exceptional reason, you need to avoid pregnancy, you should not use contraception, but avoid fertile times, and even abstain if the need to avoid pregnancy is grave enough.
Before telling people to “screw you,” you might consider whether there is a communication problem. Our society no longer condemns lust, and so there is no longer an understanding that lust does NOT mean mere sexual desire. Lust is to sex what gluttony is to eating: an intemperate, immodest, illicit, uncontrolled, or selfish exaggeration of normal, healthy and functional bodily motivations.
Some people get cranky when they don’t get those little bags of peanuts!
And nothing happens after you're married. ;)
D00d! You left out the smiley.
Are you sure? Applying the Scriptures to circumstances of daily life requires spiritual discernment, which, alas, most of us lack. The lessons of the Scriptures seen through the experience of those holy monks whose lives are known and who showed spiritual discernment in their lives and writings are easier to digest and apply directly to our lives, particularly when we are beset with specific temptations. Don't shoot from the hip with a trite defense of the sufficiency of Scripture. If you really want to reply, peruse at least a little of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, sticking to St. John Climacus's writing, rather than the translators' introduction, before replying.
Wow, this seems to be John of the Ladder’s year!
I’m hope to be reading Ephraim of Syria on the Feast of Stephan if the hints I’ve dropped here and there are picked up by anyone.
Then Bonaventure and then I’m going to do some more Greeks.
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