Analogies scratch at the surface of truth and reality. Nevertheless, they do allow a certain degree of illumination. We speak of heaven as an eternal banquet. We view the relationship of Christ to his Church as akin to the marital bond of a husband to his wife. Just as there can be no gluttony in heaven, neither can there be lust. The imperfections in human desires and activities can have no part to play in their eternal dimension. While we are broken, the moral life demands that we strive toward something of the perfection that awaits us. Food means physical life. Marriage means the life of children. Food gives satisfaction. Marriage brings the joy of marital union. God will sustain us and he will feed us with his very self. Ultimately, the measure of our unity is within the peace of Christ.
It may be that marriage finds itself in trouble within the modern world because people do not know what marriage and sex is really about. Failure to appreciate the truth damages relationships and makes the marriage analogy incomprehensible. There is confusion because many refuse to admit that they might be wrong. Just as certain virgins are anxious about telling others about their inexperience; those with active sex-lives may be reticent to admit that they are regularly engaged in something that they really do not understand. Persons are often reduced to a means to a selfish end. Sex is treated as recreation or as something to release tension. While it should be expressive of a bond, it should not be regarded as bondage. The abuse of sexual union leads to a whole assortment of ills. That which should draw people together and make possible personal integrity can inadvertently fragment personalities and cause rifts of infidelity and frustration. If one has a negative experience of sexual behavior, particularly when it is abusive, then how can he or she imagine that it is good, joyous and holy? There may be no sexual intercourse in heaven; however, this does not mean that such loving coupling cannot point to a profound intimacy between the divine and the communion of the saints.
Our culture is erotically saturated. Pornography has gone largely mainstream. Sex pollutes the media entertainments and advertising. Many people claim that they have to have it, giving impetus to a drug market where all sorts of dysfunction cures are prescribed. Nevertheless, while there is a focus on fantasy and the mechanics of human sexuality; there is a paucity of reflection upon ultimate meaning and the theology of the body. If human sexuality is reduced to an accidental then it might no longer matter… serial marriages, multiple partners, same-sex unions, fornication and even adultery are shifted to the periphery of social life with minimal moral importance. However, the traditional Western philosophical and religious critic would lament that this is all a lie. Human sexuality is not accidental and gender is not interchangeable. There must be a genuine complementarity, sufficient gravity in importance and a lasting permanence. Our gender identity is a core substantive element. The union of men and women is not between two half’s but rather two whole’s. It builds upon who they are, making them (together) something new.
Filed under: Marriage, Morality, Reflection, Religion, Sexuality, Sin |
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