"The restlessness of the external man"....lust in marriage and NFP. fourth part regarding ToB

Many, many years ago when I took an NFP course, (I ended up teaching it as well later), my fiancée and I, taking this as part of our pre-nuptial prep in our diocese, met a lovely Evangelical couple. I talked with the woman and learned that she and her husband, also a Protestant, had taken the course and were part of the team presenting the classes. I was at first surprised that an Evangelical couple were part of the team teaching the course, but soon learned that their story provided a background for the entire weekend of classes.

Her witness was extremely powerful, as she told us (a very large group at the time in the hundreds, as it was a diocesan course), that her marriage changed dramatically once the couple decided on NFP.

She explained that she and her husband had fallen into a less than Christian relationship in marriage. They had fallen, as a married couple, into the sin of lust and were approaching sex in a way, as they came to understand, not pleasing to the growth of their own spirits and not pleasing to God.

The grace of their married state had slipped away and the pursuit of pleasure became a goal in and of itself.

They forgot about love and sacrifice, procreation and child bearing. IT was all about THEM. God was out of the relationship.

NFP broke the spell and brought a conversion to both the man and the woman. They grew in love with each other and most importantly, with God. God became the centre of their marriage again, not themselves.

This is the number one danger of ToB. It replaces God with gods, little gods, little idols which entrap the soul and keep a couple bound to the material instead of addressing the needs of the soul.

That God gave such a wonderful grace of conversion to this Evangelical couple allowed them to spread the Good News of the Gospel in their own marriage, which had moved from eros, to agape, to caritas.

Only abstinence and the awareness of the needs of the soul can allow this movement of grace.Only the emphasis on the souls of the man and woman in the marriage can bring about this growth in holiness.

And, by the way, this movement of the souls of the couple in marriage, between a man and a woman, is ordained by God, made into the sacrament of marriage, which is for the salvation of the souls of the man and the woman primarily. The inner man and inner woman must be made strong. Too much emphasis on the material body, which is only part of who we are and not entirely our being, leads to a different emphasis.

Let me quote Bl. John Paul II on this point.

In suffocating the voice of conscience, passion carries with itself a restlessness of the body and the senses. It is the restlessness of the external man. When the internal man has been reduced to silence, then passion, once it has been given freedom of action, exhibits itself as an insistent tendency to satisfy the senses and the body.

This gratification, according to the criterion of the man dominated by passion, should put out the fire; but on the contrary, it does not reach the source of internal peace and it only touches the outermost level of the human individual. And here the biblical author rightly observes that man, whose will is committed to satisfying the senses, finds neither peace nor himself, but, on the contrary, "is consumed." Passion aims at satisfaction; therefore it blunts reflective activity and pays no attention to the voice of conscience. Thus, without itself having any principle of indestructibility, it "wears out." The dynamism of usage is natural for its continuity, but it tends to exhaust itself. Where passion enters into the whole of the most profound energies of the spirit, it can also become a creative force. In this case, however, it must undergo a radical transformation. If instead it suppresses the deepest forces of the heart and conscience (as occurs in the text of Sirach 23:17-22), it "wears out" and indirectly, man, who is its prey, is consumed.

This destructive force can happen in marriage, if the couple is contracepting and if the love is stuck in the material goals. Sex education in schools and in religious education leads to sin because the corresponding element of mature, caritas love, is not presented and cannot be as this is for a married couple to discover.  I am convinced that ToB is not the way for youth or adults to learn about real love, sacrificial love. It is severely flawed philosophically.

Only parents should teach youth sex education in the environment of the loving, mature relationship which the young person sees in the marriage. Teachers have no right to usurp this role. And, these types of love real love, sacrificial love, are learned in the relationship in sacramental marriage, which confers sanctifying grace.

 To be continued...

Treasure your freedoms..........

Part of a long and excellent article at http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pro-life-paradigm-motivates-domestic-terrorism-west-point-report

Such conflation of conservatives with racist terrorists has become a staple of Obama administration anti-terrorism reports.

An April 2009 DHS report entitled “Rightwing [sic.] Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” identified “groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration” and opposition to same-sex “marriage,” as “the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States.” The DHS laterpulled the report.

Yet DHS and FBI agents subsequently attended a terrorism training seminar on alleged pro-life terrorism hosted by Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation, and the Feminist Majority Foundation. After equating free speech with violence, organizers distributed a resource guide listing three pages of purportedly extremist websites to monitor, including mainstream organizations such as Priests for Life and the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Yet another DHS-funded report, “Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States, 1970 to 2008,” written by Gary LaFree and Bianca Bersani, concluded that single issue groups, including abortion opponents, had perpetrated more atrocities over a longer period of time than “extreme left-wing,” “extreme right-wing,” “religious,” or “ethno-nationalist” terrorists.

Constitutional expert John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute has voiced concerns that the 2012National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) “would allow the military to show up at your door if you’re [deemed] a ‘potential terrorist,’ and put you in military detention” indefinitely, without charges.

Bill Wilson noted acts of left-wing terrorism, from groups like the Earth Liberation Front, far outnumber “right-wing” terrorism. “It’s not tea partiers we need to watch out for,” he wrote, “it’s people like Obama’s terrorist buddy Bill Ayers.”

Marriage re-defined in France; the Eldest Daughter of the Faith dying a slow death

On a weekend, when the world's press is asleep and in a special meeting, the article was approved 249-97.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130202-france-gay-marriage-bill-parliament-vote-adoption-vote

"France’s marriage equality bill cleared its first and main hurdle on Saturday when lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the most important article of the new law, redefining marriage as an agreement between two people of opposite or same sex."

So politicians vote for things to make people content?

What has happened to personal principals and a sense of ethics?

Another minister Andrew Robathan, who also opposed civil partnerships, said, “I have come round to civil partnerships because it has made a lot of people contented and I am quite keen on people being contented.” The Conservative MP Roger Gale added: “With hindsight it was a reasonable bit of legislation. But as it happening I was right to be concerned that it was the thin end of the wedge.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/vitriolic-campaign-backfires-on-gay-marriage-opponents-8480682.html

No transparency

But concerns are already growing about the lack of transparency in the way the administration is tooling up for war in the digital world. “What concerns us is not the growth of forces but the way it is happening behind the scenes,” said a Washington Post editorial published at the weekend.

Yes....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-draws-up-battle-plan-to-stave-off-digital-attack-cyberstrikes-8480656.html

The Horse Has Bolted and the Perfection Series

Writing about the socialist take-over of America and the influence of Gramsci on both America and Europe is like writing about the horse which has bolted and one is staring at the empty stable.

To help understand a phenomenon is essential when one is trying to stop the rot from occurring  which I tried to do in 2007-2009, but to write after the process is in full-swing may seem a thankless and useless task.

That is why the perfection series is so important.

The typical lay Roman Christian in the year 302 and hearing reports of the arguments between Diocletian and
and Galerius as to whether the Christians should merely be discriminated against by barring them from public office and the military, or whether they should be killed outright.

I am sure rumours were flying about and some Christian merely responded by saying it would all pass. Or, that a new emperor would change things.

Duh. On February 23, 303, a church was destroyed in Rome, followed the next day by the edict forbidding any new churches and allowing for the destruction of all places of worship belonging to the Christians. Persecutions of torture and death followed quickly and lasted until 311.

The numbers of Christians killed, and the numbers who left Rome are not known. One can only estimate. The top number is 3,500 out of a population of one million Romans. This would be like 3,500 people living in Dallas being murdered systematically by the government.

Small stuff compared to Stalin. I read a long biography of him in 2008 or so and he was a scary man.

The figure comes from the book by Robert Conquest, The Great Terror: Stalin’s Purge of the Thirties(Macmillan 1968). In his appendix on casualty figures, he reviews a number of estimates of those that were killed under Stalin, and calculates that the number of executions 1936 to 1938 was probably about 1,000,000; that from 1936 to 1950 about 12,000,000 died in the camps; and 3,500,000 died in the 1930-1936 collectivization. Overall, he concludes: 

Thus we get a figure of 20 million dead, which is almost certainly too low and might require an increase of 50 percent or so, as the debit balance of the Stalin regime for twenty-three years. 

http://www.distributedrepublic.net/archives/2006/05/01/how-many-did-stalin-really-murder/

Therefore, in the face of a growing menace, some fight, which is excellent, but all must prepare spiritually. This means becoming holy. Really holy.

To be continued....

Third Post on Theology of the Body

I knew a woman who was married to one of the most wonderful men ever. We all loved him. He was kind, gentle, self-less, a great husband and a great dad.

This woman, and I shall call her Susan, and her husband, and I shall call him Martin, had three beautiful, well-disciplined and loved children. They were about 12, 9, and 6. Then, Susan got cancer. She deteriorated quickly from a rare cancer which caused her to lose the use of her legs. She was confined to a wheel-chair at thirty-five or so. Martin took care of her. He got the best home care. He loved her. He brought her to Mass and prayer meetings. He brought her to her treatments and to healing Masses. He was devoted. He then took time off work and helped with everything, including helping with the children.

But Susan was not happy. She had expectations for her marriage and her relationship with Martin. She became angry and bitter. She could not come to terms with her suffering.

Martin did. For better, for worse, in sickness and in health....

For the last two or so years of her life, Susan was daily unhappy, angry, bitter, sad.

Marriage was a disaster for her. Life was only a trial. She hated everything. She hated Martin's love.

It was clear that her idea of the sacrament of marriage had been based on pleasure and personal enrichment. The idea that the sacrament of marriage would lead from eros to agape to caritas was an ideal she could not accept.

She never got past eros. She died very unhappy, making life very hard for those around her.

Martin understood agape and caritas. He never complained.

Several years after the death of Susan, Martin met Delia. They got married and were very happy.

The only reason I knew Martin had suffered in his first marriage was one comment-"It was hard sometimes." But, we all saw her bitterness.

Martin suffered for his wife Susan's inability to be married, to be grateful for a loving husband who cared for her. She could not accept suffering as part of the relationship. She resented his love.

I hope she found peace. I do not know.

But, if marriage is not taught as a sacrificial act of self-denial, expectations grow larger than life.

None of us know how a marriage will evolve. Physicality is simply not enough. It is not "everything". We are our bodies but so much more.

We are to be like Martin, living saints, putting the other first in all things. Knowing our strengths and weaknesses so that we can cope honestly and courageously is part of maturity, part of love.

Susan did not accept agape. She did not accept caritas. She could have been peaceful at death, instead of bitter. She could have grown to love Martin and to love her own life, as God had chosen it for her.

Marriage is a mystery. ToB destroys the understanding that love is a mystery.

ToB takes away the mystery of our physicality. It destroys intimacy.

We need to be taught intimacy. Susan did not know how to be intimate without sex. She could not love without her body. She was trapped in her own limitations, not seeing how she could transcend those.

Marriage helps us transcend our limitations. Love transcends sex and can flourish without sex.

Love is more sublime than sex.

To be continued....

Valentine's Day Contest Begins Today

OK

Get ready

I am having a reader/commentator contest which will end up on Valentine's Day. You have until 12:00 GMT Valentine's Day to submit.

Here are the rules.

1) You must write about love, but you must be referring to real love, not romance. You may be married or single.

2) You must write about God's love in your life. You may write about the Trinity, or the Father, or Jesus or the Holy Spirit. I want a Christian and preferably, a Catholic perspective on love.

3) You may write about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

4) You may NOT write about ToB.

5) You may write from personal experience or with references, or both.

Comment on this post and I shall choose the best one for a blog posting and maybe ask you to write more on the subject.

Sorry, no movie tickets or champaign for prizes.

Have fun, but be real.

Cave Dwellings and Hobbit Holes

http://www.beckhamcavelodge.com/index.html

I discovered this place on line years ago when I was looking for property in Arkansas. It was for sale at the time for the price one pays for a country house in Surrey, a small one, about 4.5 million dollars.

There is more history to this than on the website. I know it. I wonder if any of my readers do?

Just for the record, I always wanted to live off-grid. In the Midwest, one can find cave houses and off-grids....just a thought for you all to ponder.

http://ellerg.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/caves-that-will-rock-your-world-part.html

This post above is dated, but gives you an idea of more cave houses. Here is a photo of one from a site from Greece. And here is another site in St. Louis, with links to more...

http://dornob.com/huge-cave-house-unique-modern-underground-mega-home/

In addition for the heck of it are underground sod houses built with some of the same age-old principles as sod prairie houses, but with a difference. I love this one below.

http://dornob.com/underground-home-modern-house-with-a-green-roof/

And, in case one wants to live like a hobbit..yes, there are hobbit holes. This one, pictured above and below, is in Wales and the website is fantastic in telling one how to build such a place.

http://www.simondale.net/

Perhaps...on losing friendship

Perhaps, it is because I am an INTJ and we do not make lots of friends, but few and good ones, but when I lose a friend, I feel it for a long time. I let go, but I never stop loving an old friend, or a new one.

Now, by losing a friend, I do not mean in death, but in circumstances. There can be many reasons why friends are lost.

Distance, illness, changes in family status, poverty, or the worst, a change of lifestyle or philosophy of life. Perhaps the friend just does not want to be friends any more for some unknown reason.

Losing a friend because he or she has gone out of one's circle is a hard phenomenon with which to come to terms. Sometimes the reasons are painfully obvious.

A good Catholic decides to move in with his partner and cuts off old friends for new ones.

A person has a husband or wife who dislikes you, the old friend from the past.

A Christian can no longer pretend that his or her anti-Catholicism is not real and deep.

A friend becomes hyper-critical as you are not following his or her plan for your life. They had an agenda.

Perhaps the person cannot be a friend for a long time, but is merely a fair-weather friend.

Whatever the reason, losing friends is most painful when it involves a Catholic leaving the Church and ditching his or her Catholic contacts.

For me, this is so hard. If only that person would talk to me, or want to understand his or her own reticence.

If only that person would reach out of his or her small world into mine or let me enter into his or her world of Faith.

Or lack of Faith....

But, friendship must be free, totally free, and therefore, when the friend leaves and distances his or her self from the group or sphere in which I live, I let go. Sadly, for love of friends is a rare and special gift.

I never stop loving old friends, even though I may never see them again. I love people I have not seen for a year, or five years, or ten years. No matter. Friendship has no boundaries of time or place, if it is real.

And for me, on my part, friendship is always authentic. The friend for a while influenced me and I influenced her or him for the better. For a while, we grew together, yet with great respect and boundaries. We shared parts of our lives. We shared God in our lives.

Love is nothing if not free. Freely given and freely taken, and sometimes, freely withheld. So be it.

Passive Revolution and the "ordinovisti" in Washington.

I am wondering how long it will take to destroy a republic?

Here is Gramsci from The Modern Prince:

...“man can affect his own development and that of his surroundings only so far as he has a clear view of what the possibilities of action open to him are. To do this he has to understand the historical situation in which he finds himself: and once he does this, then he can play an active part in modifying that situation. The man of action is the true philosopher: and the philosopher must of necessity be a man of action.”

His followers were called "ordinovisti"--those who believe in the New Order.


The Pope? How many divisions has he got? 
Joseph Stalin 


I have been wondering how many years it will take to turn America into the Stalinesque Soviet Unions. Five, ten, fifteen years?

Someone asked me how long I thought all this collapse of democracy would take. First, the complete rout of religious freedoms, then, almost contemporary, the taking away of guns, then the undermining of states rights, and the continued controlling of movements of people.

Five years? I give it all four years-before the next election.

By 2016, our nation will no longer be a republic. We may have civil war.

We shall not have religious freedom nor freedom of conscience without fines, and even imprisonment.

Four years until the complete demise of the Republic.

If you are silent, you are part of the problem.

If there is a financial or military crisis, less than five years..........

L'Ordine Nuovo,  "The New Order", was Gramsci's far left communist newspaper started in 1919. Ideas....more powerful that guns.

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas. 
Joseph Stalin 

So, infiltrate the Church with communist, Marxist priests and bishops so that what is said is believed by the masses....as the Church is the one enemy of Marxism, the Church must be undermined.

Does this sound familiar? Four years....

Please use the donate button

A certain sem needs a winter coat, shoes, socks, travel money, etc. He needs 200 pounds immediately for various needs, not extras.

Please think and pray and be generous.The British do not tithe. Thanks to those who helped at Christmas. The entire amount was about 300 pounds. Sems need to support themselves over the holidays, and they are not allowed outside work, of course. Now, all their work is for the Church. Gratis.

Thank you for considering helping and doing so.

Check this out from Southern Orders

http://southernorderspage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/ominous-words-from-presidential-high.html

Many important posts today

Many important posts today. Scroll down and take time to read all.

Pax vobiscum

Wow, Richard Third's Remains Confirmed by DNA and Sign Petition

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9846693/Richard-III-skeleton-is-the-king.html


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9846722/Richard-III-remains-found-in-Leicester.html

Watch the video

Sign the petition to have his remains buried in a Catholic not Anglican church

Members of the #Ordinariate and friends may wish to consider signing this e-Petition to ensure a Catholic... http://fb.me/1Mmt28dZb 

Only Brits and residents can sign the petition.

• 
  

Umm, does this bother anyone but me?

http://news.sky.com/story/1047004/mini-drones-army-deploys-tiny-helicopters

Defense of Marriage Rosary Tomorrow

Tuesday

GMT 12:00 noon

A call from Maria Kolbe to say the rosary with her group for the protection of marriage in Great Britain (and America) halting the Parliament Bill for same-sex marriage.

Do It!

Letters

Letters: one in the Worcester Telegram and one to the Pope-two different authors.

"Catholic speakers: Conference disinvites Islam expert," from the Worcester Telegram, February 3 (thanks to A.):

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester’s decision to disinvite Robert Spencer as a speaker at the annual Catholic Men’s Conference on March 16 calls to mind the controversy a year ago over Anna Maria College’s decision to withdraw an invitation to Victoria Reggie Kennedy to speak at its commencement.

In the earlier case, the decision to withdraw the invitation was left to Anna Maria officials after the diocese informed them that Bishop Robert J. McManus could not and would not attend an event if Ms. Kennedy was the speaker. In this latest case, Bishop McManus himself pulled the invitation that had been issued to Mr. Spencer.

Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, lead organizer of the men’s conference, told the Telegram & Gazette that some groups, including members of the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester, perceive Mr. Spencer as anti-Islamic. While the diocese does not share that view, he said, the invitation was withdrawn to avoid “a media outcry.”

While the details differ, both cases are very much about the diocese exercising its right to shape the form and message of distinctively Catholic events.

Anna Maria is, after all, a Catholic school, and while Catholic institutions of higher education are as devoted to open inquiry as any other school, they have an additional obligation: To bear Catholic values and teachings in mind when considering speakers and the composition of curriculum and events.

On balance, we believe Anna Maria did exactly the right thing in yielding to the diocese last spring and then inviting Ms. Kennedy to be the keynote speaker at its symposium “Faith and the Public Square” last fall.

As for Mr. Spencer, we suspect the popular men’s conference might see even higher attendance if he were a participant, but the diocese is obviously and entirely within its rights to determine the lineup of speakers at its own conference.

But whether the diocese avoids an outcry — in the media or among the public — remains to be seen.

Mr. Spencer is widely known and read. He has authored a dozen books, conducted seminars on Islam and jihad for the U.S. military and intelligence communities, and been a frequent guest and debate participant in a broad variety of U.S. media. Some will disagree with his conclusions, but it is difficult to argue that his is an uninformed or inconsequential voice in the public square.

Late last week, Mr. Spencer told readers of his blog that he still intends to come to Worcester, and will set up outside the conference if necessary in order to give attendees the opportunity to hear what he has to say.

Whether that happens or not, Catholics and Muslims — in the Worcester area or elsewhere — have no reason to fear what Mr. Spencer has to say. His is an important voice in the ongoing debate over the nature of Islam and its relations to other faith traditions, and one that will continue to be heard.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

As an Italian citizen and a Catholic by marriage, I am writing to your Holiness on behalf of my human rights organization, Voice of the Copts. Our mission is to raise awareness in the West about the plight of the Egyptian Christians and their struggle against Islamic supremacy. Born into a Coptic family in Cairo, Arabic was my native language while growing up. Today I find these assets valuable in interpreting and explaining current events as they pertain to the hidden realities of Islam and its impact on the free world.

For many years I have found various doors opened to our organization, and many willing to listen to the grim facts now facing democratic nations dealing with an encroaching Islam. Only the grace of God has kept us in our work as we have put our personal finances to good use in fulfilling our goals.

Naturally, I thought the Christian community around the world and especially denominations in the United States would embrace my message and join with us in this very serious endeavor. I found the opposite to be true. Most churches, including the Coptic Orthodox and the Catholic Church, are, if not indifferent, uninterested in offering us opportunities to speak out on the dangers of what lies behind the persecution of Christians and Jews even as we have asked for no special treatment and no financial contributions.

To put it bluntly, whenever we met with Catholic bishops and priests in America to tell the story of Copts, our request for action was largely ignored. I was utterly mystified by the consistency of this response. I found it inexplicable – until now.

My answer arrived just a few days ago with an incident involving Catholic Bishop McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts who reversed his decision to have a friend of mine, Robert Spencer, -- a fellow activist, author and expert on Islam -- speak at their men’s conference on March 16. The Bishop caved in to the false charges of an Islamic supremacist group that viciously attacked Mr. Spencer with names such as arch-Islamophobe and hatemonger claiming he had no authority to speak about Islam.

The Catholic diocese complied with these audacious demands and canceled the engagement without interest in pursuing Mr. Spencer’s point-of-view or the issue of free speech. Such submission through appeasement weakens the church.

I have always believed that my lack of progress toward activating the church with my message of the Coptic struggle was never solely due to my personal failing. The rescinding of Mr. Spencer’s invitation by the Bishop in reaction to pressure by Muslim activist, Abdul Cader Asmal, reaffirms my true belief that the real failure resides in the local church -- its unwillingness to recognize the important role it could play in standing up for the very freedoms that afford religious practice.

Muslims in Egypt and other Islamic-majority countries attack Christians and their churches, oppressing them by serial acts of violence perpetrated in the name of Allah and Islam just because of their Christian faith. Church leaders in free nations must speak out in defense of their brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer persecution and are weakened by strong waves of Islamic attacks, powerless to help themselves under brutal regimes. In speaking out, we exercise the teachings of our Lord’s words.

We do not advocate holy war. Our adversaries do that. We only ask that church leaders who are bound up in fear, intimidation and lies as a result of false propaganda and interreligious dialogue be given license to think critically, assess the origins of persecution forces around the world and judge accurately the reasons for Christian victimization. This license can come only from the official heads of church denominations in statements contradicting the disinformation campaign forced upon Christians and Jews in the West.

To make certain that each and every believer becomes aware, properly informed, and conscious of the threat we face, the church must first create a new openness and interest in learning the truth from correct and trustworthy sources -- without expurgation, mitigation, or political correctness. Every single Christian must comprehend the worldview held by the perpetrators of these unspeakable crimes against Christians and Jews around the world -- before it is too late.

His Holiness, as we are certain of your wisdom and concern for our beloved church, Voice of the Copts kindly requests the Holy See to conduct an immediate investigation into the Diocese of Worcester to determine the reasons behind the Bishop’s behavior. Please attend also to other dioceses around the world likewise misled in their responses when confronting similar dilemmas -- acting out contemporary portrayals of Judas who betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver.

Dott. Architetto Ashraf Ramelah,
President
www.voiceofthecopts.org
www.lavocedeicopti.org

We have "novused" sex-Theology of the Body, Two

I have written here on this blog and elsewhere that I think there is a connection to liturgical abuses and perverse sex. I think there is a connection between modesty and sex, privacy and sex, reverence and sex and humility and sex.

The modern world, which is so besotted with sex, continually misses the point and so does Theology of the Body.

Sex is mysterious and sacred. We do not need to talk about details. We learn in marriage and in the context of love what is appropriate. We sense what is not by being humans and through love.

Discussions with details are damaging.

I do not think seminarians need sex education classes. I do not think anyone does. Such things must be learned in the context ONLY of the family and from loving,parents.

We are too open and miss the mysteries of love in our details analysis of marriage and sex.

I am all against the trend in England to teach Theology of the Body as a normal part of catechesis. I know two groups which are pushing this and making students study this as if it were infallible teaching, which it is not.

We have become coarse as Catholics.

We have lost sensitivity to sacred things.

We have "novused" sex. 

ToB is not Catholic in my mind and the article by Alice von Hildebrand draws out my suspicions of ToB.

I am not prudish, but I am classy. 

Just as we have lost the reverence in the Mass for the Eucharist, so we have lost reverence for marital sex.

Think like Catholics. Marriage is a sacrament, not merely a vehicle for sex.

We need to stop supporting ToB in our parishes and in the seminaries. Such a pseudo-theology does not lead us to perfection

From Alice von Hildebrand's article listed in the last post.

Noli Me Tangere

Here, I would like to reflect on an incident in the life of the Little Flower, St Therese of Lisieux. When a student grabbed her as she was stepping out of the train, she responded as a proper female should.  She recommended herself to the Holy Virgin, and looked at him so severely that he immediately let her loose (Deposition of her sister Genevieve). Would West ridicule this great saint for being a “prude”? If he did, he would be wrong, for St. Therese’s response was thoroughly Catholic, and the only right one: she was responding with noli me tangere [Don’t touch me]. This attitude has nothing to do with an unhealthy fear of the body, or bodily contact, but a very healthy modesty and self-respect.

This "noli me tangere" is a key expression regarding the mystery of the supernatural. This is why, Dietrich von Hildebrand, who came from a privileged cultural and artistic background, and had been acquainted with holy paintings since his earliest youth, would never have made remarks about the size of the Holy Virgin’s bosom, as West has, repeating with praise an exhortation for Catholics to “rediscover” Mary’s “abundant breasts” (Crisis magazine, March , 2002) To Dietrich’s mind, this would be an act of irreverence. Her breasts were sacred and the response to the sacred is awe and not a critical approach to the size of "the blessed breasts that sucked thee". True religious art has always understood this.

Theology of the Body and Thinking Like Catholics: Part One

Psalm 130: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me"

Two bright readers and commentators brought my attention to this article which I highly recommend.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/document.php?n=999

Now, the Theology of the Body proponents and those who less inclined to be so enthusiastic  the latter group which includes priests, seminarians and laity, do not see eye to eye on ToB

I have had misgivings on Christopher West's approach and even some seminarians I have spoken with were highly embarrassed at a presentation he gave and they had to attend several years ago.

Why all the details? Why the emphasis in our over-sexed culture on sex in marriage? I think most of us needed, before marriage, a course on how to love without sex, by the way, owing to illnesses, absences, real-life constraints and so on. If one needs to be taught the beauty of sex, and how sex is part of God's loving plan in a marriage, Houston, we have a problem.

The article I have linked is highly interesting and breaks away from this preoccupation with sex,

Now, one of the problems with the entire conversation revolves around the type of people who are most interested in Theology of the Body and in my limited experience, those are either fallen away Catholics who were promiscuous before re-conversion, or Protestants, who contracepted before becoming Catholics.

It is as if the local Church has felt the need to dumb down the real deal on marriage and sex to meet the demands of a certain group of people who DO NOT YET KNOW HOW TO THINK LIKE CATHOLICS.

What do I mean?

The name of the game in marriage is self-sacrifice NOT gratification of all desires.

The ancient religious perspective of marriage as one way to heaven which admits to varying levels of physical and emotional relationship is much healthier and more realistic than an emphasis on the sexual act.

Married couples have to learn many ways of loving in order to have a successful marriage and things can happen early on in a marriage which interferes with the ordinary sexual activities of a married couple.

The emphasis must be on what I covered in the review of the Pope's encyclical last year--the stages of love, not merely on one expression.

UPDATES FROM A READER:
FROM NEW SISTER.  

There are two excellent books by both Drs. Von Hildebrand

"The Privilege of Being a Woman" by Dr. Alice VH, and

"In Defense of Purity" by Dr. Deitrich VH. 

[the latter was out of print last I checked and selling for hundreds of dollars on Amazon …I need to find my copy!]