Word to the Wise
Friday, September 1, 2023 - Friday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thess 4:1-8 and Matt 25:1-13]This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality...For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you. [1 Thessalonians]
The virtue of chastity was not well-known, to put it mildly, in the areas where St. Paul preached. Judaeo-Christian values would definitely have been counter-cultural!! St. Paul would be preaching in an "anything goes" environment. Thessalonica was just the first place, but his descriptions of problems in Corinth are pretty vivid (cf. 1 Cor. 5 and 6)!
Sexuality is an integral part of the human person. It's part of the survival instinct of all living creatures. Therefore, it is a great good that is subject to great abuse as well. In the case of humans, it enters into all relationships and when not guided by reason and sound values, it can result in great harm. It would appear that Christian values are still counter cultural in this matter because of the almost daily media reports of "sexual harassment" in the workplace or domestic sexual abuse, or the terrible examples of abuse by trusted figures like clergy or coaches, etc.. Sexuality, like fire, is a great gift that can get out of control and do a lot of harm.
St. Paul points out that the context for sexuality, as in all Christian life, is the call to "holiness." This is not simply a call to piety and devotion, but to integrity in values across the board in our lives. Negative teaching about sexuality is not helpful. There has to be an entire approach to love on all levels that gives sexuality its proper perspective. That perspective can be easily lost in the passion of the moment, so intentional discipline is part of a healthy life plan. It's hard to preach this when one knows it is "counter cultural," but if we want to preach the love of God, we also have to preach love of neighbor and that includes strong values about the gift of sexuality and the potential harm that comes from its misuse! AMEN