One wonders at the persistence of satan sending his lower demons of adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, incest and other perversions. This constant barrage of sex surrounds us, as we all know, in the media, in entertainment, and on blogs.
No offense, but there are other things besides sex. In fact it may be time for singles to highly consider taking private vows of celibacy in order to have more power in fighting the evil which is in the Church.
It puzzles me that those Cardinals who are undermining Christ's teaching regarding marriage, and who are willing to subject Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to sacrilege and more shame, by continuing to give Christ to those in mortal sin, stress that the laity are so weak in sexual matters that, of course, the Church must change.
What an insult to the laity! Some Cardinals, including some in the States, think that the laity cannot be saints, cannot be chaste, cannot break away from years of sin.
What an insult to Christ! What an insult to His Death on the Cross which opened the floodgates of grace for us all. What an insult to all the saints who chose celibacy even to death.
What an insult to those who take religious vows of chastity, and what an insult to those new priests coming into the Church from the Anglican tradition who are asked, as transitional deacons, and as priests, to enter into chaste relationships with their wives, unless there is special permission not to do so. Only permanent deacons now have permission to have relations with their wives since a 2012 change in the directive. I have read this directive several times recently.
Why is it all about sex? There are many other sins for which the Church denies people Communion, such as being a member of the Mafia, now all members excommunicated recently by Pope Francis.
No Cardinals are working to change that law in the public forum.
Membership in the Freemasons provide grounds for denial of Holy Communion because of automatic excommunication. No Cardinals are giving sound bites against this law.
Pope St. John Paul II promulgated the CDF statement on this fact again in 1983.
"The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion." Regarding all the Masonic associations, the document continued "... membership in them remains forbidden."
So why the big fuss about sexual sins as needing to be accepted by the Church? Some may think, "Well, of course, Supertradmum, sex is SO important and we cannot live without it."
Yes, one can and one must live a chaste life even if this causes great suffering. But, "Oh, no, suffering is a dirty word. We cannot talk about suffering."
If one is not in a regular marriage, one must refrain from sexual activity. If one is single, one must refrain from sexual activity, If one has homosexual tendencies, one must refrain from sexual activity.
These are the ancient teachings of the Ten Commandments, which Christ upheld, which God the Father clarified at Sinai. And, these are part of natural law, which is written on the hearts of all humans, Catholic or not. The Ten Commandments in stone are merely a reminder to all of natural laws.
The reason why the heretical and disobedient Cardinals push for acceptance of sexual sins proves to be a lack of belief that all Catholics are called to holiness. Their thinking belies a trust in Divine Providence to give graces to those who are alone in this world, and who must be alone for whatever reasons.
All of us are called to be saints. Even those of us who live alone, without the comfort of human companionship, are called to be saints.
All.
And, these false positions deny God's grace, God's loving care for each person, body and soul.
What is missing in all these discussions is the call to love God first, to seek Him out as the Bridegroom, to love God "with one's whole heart, whole mind, whole soul".
Mary is our model for purity of heart, mind, soul, and body. One must even be without lust in marriage. In marriage, the couple brings each other to heaven, not to hell. In marriage, God must be loved first, the first love.
What is missing in the thinking of so many leaders in the Church must be seen as the denial of our first call-to love God.
Putting other loves first constitutes the sin of idolatry, and all sexual sins, which put a person before God's commandments and the Church's teachings, are sins of idolatry. Christ is the First Love.
Ask why it is all about sex.
Ask why some Church leaders cannot call their flocks to saintliness, to love of God and to real love of neighbor.
When I ask these questions I come to the conclusion that these leaders have simply lost their faith in grace, in God's calling all of us to holiness.
Do they not experience this in their own celibate lives?
The Church is the institution on earth which will bring us to heaven. Without grace, one cannot be saved, but we are all given the graces we need for salvation. There are not some people without grace to be chaste. There are just some people who refuse to be chaste.
Follow the holy leaders who trust the laity to become saints. They are the true shepherds of Christ.