Thoughts on Marriage: God Made Them Male and Female.
One of the Christian concepts that young people are giving up today is the concept of Marriage. And who can blame them. They grow up in a world where sexual freedom is called liberation and young girls even before leaving school are sought out so that young men can 'be the first'. Even in Catholic Schools the teachers are 'mature' and do the sensible thing in teaching condoms and contraception. Of course when the Church tries to teach what Christ taught there is a distinction made between Christ and the Church and the Church is condemned despite scripture showing clearly that the Church was following Christ. But how can I support the Church when in the West it has clearly lost its purpose. And I refer again to my previous posts on the 'building of the Kingdom'
So is the teaching of Christ, not the Church, too difficult? And how if we want, and many will not, get back to Christ? Will we forever hear priests tell us marriage is an ideal?
Sex is a big part of our lives. But it is an appetite that we must regulate like any other. Good food makes us healthy but if we eat too much we become greedy and excessive in our eating and our body does not function as it should. Sex too is an appetite we must control in the same way, if we are forever looking to satisfy it it begins to control us just as our eating habits can. That is why in in Mark 5:27 Jesus teaches " You have heard it said thou shalt not commit adultery BUT I SAY TO YOU {that authority claim again} anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" Now why do I believe that if I stood up in Church and said this people would laugh at me. Yes there is attraction between a man and a woman for God made us that way, but Jesus is directing us here to just how far we should allow our thinking to go. The amount of control we should have on our thoughts. Admiration and attraction yes, but deeper thoughts of sexual pleasure is harmful. We actually control our sexual thoughts or those thoughts control us. It is almost impossible in a world where sex is seen as only a pleasure for any young person, especially those who have come from broken homes where love has been fractured, to resist the temptations of the world. And having been used and abused and feelings of love all but destroyed what chance have they of a happy marriage? Slim, yes, but thank God some have made it.
The first lesson is to prepare children for marriage. And what a task. The 'merciful' will object that we must not upset children and be judgemental. In other words we must not behave like Jesus did?. But those already engaged in this work like the Good Council Network find that children actually respond well when they are told they need not give themselves on demand. We must also start looking at Catholic Churches as communities, not the smiling Sunday experience, but places where everyone is of One Faith and not 'ecumenical', a place where parents can bring their children to meet one another and to know they have a choice of partners who share that Faith. I know I am tramping on ecumenical feet here but destroying the Catholic Faith in order to make it acceptable, pretending that Catholics are the bad ones who need to apologise, sneering at Catholic traditions and practices brings littler hope for the Church or our Catholic children. If I believe the Pope is infallible I should be respected, if I have devotion to Mary I should be respected, if I want to kneel for Communion I should be able to do so. After fifty years of misery in the Church it is time we started thinking of our children instead of just using the cliche "O they come back".
So is the teaching of Christ, not the Church, too difficult? And how if we want, and many will not, get back to Christ? Will we forever hear priests tell us marriage is an ideal?
Sex is a big part of our lives. But it is an appetite that we must regulate like any other. Good food makes us healthy but if we eat too much we become greedy and excessive in our eating and our body does not function as it should. Sex too is an appetite we must control in the same way, if we are forever looking to satisfy it it begins to control us just as our eating habits can. That is why in in Mark 5:27 Jesus teaches " You have heard it said thou shalt not commit adultery BUT I SAY TO YOU {that authority claim again} anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" Now why do I believe that if I stood up in Church and said this people would laugh at me. Yes there is attraction between a man and a woman for God made us that way, but Jesus is directing us here to just how far we should allow our thinking to go. The amount of control we should have on our thoughts. Admiration and attraction yes, but deeper thoughts of sexual pleasure is harmful. We actually control our sexual thoughts or those thoughts control us. It is almost impossible in a world where sex is seen as only a pleasure for any young person, especially those who have come from broken homes where love has been fractured, to resist the temptations of the world. And having been used and abused and feelings of love all but destroyed what chance have they of a happy marriage? Slim, yes, but thank God some have made it.
The first lesson is to prepare children for marriage. And what a task. The 'merciful' will object that we must not upset children and be judgemental. In other words we must not behave like Jesus did?. But those already engaged in this work like the Good Council Network find that children actually respond well when they are told they need not give themselves on demand. We must also start looking at Catholic Churches as communities, not the smiling Sunday experience, but places where everyone is of One Faith and not 'ecumenical', a place where parents can bring their children to meet one another and to know they have a choice of partners who share that Faith. I know I am tramping on ecumenical feet here but destroying the Catholic Faith in order to make it acceptable, pretending that Catholics are the bad ones who need to apologise, sneering at Catholic traditions and practices brings littler hope for the Church or our Catholic children. If I believe the Pope is infallible I should be respected, if I have devotion to Mary I should be respected, if I want to kneel for Communion I should be able to do so. After fifty years of misery in the Church it is time we started thinking of our children instead of just using the cliche "O they come back".
Comments
Post a Comment