Dear Catholic Exchange:
I have recently been studying Theology of The Body by Pope John Paul II and delving into the natural law. I'd like to share a few thoughts from what I've been learning.
As Christians we are called to a complete gift of self to death and be like the groom — Christ — who gave himself completely for His bride — the Church. For us who are single, we are in search of the vocation where we will be a gift.
There are three vocational paths ahead of us and we are called to one of them. They all involve vows. First, there is the religious life. In this vocation a man gives himself completely to God for the rest of his life. Second, there is the vocation of marriage where a man gives himself completely to his spouse in God for the rest of his life. Third, there is the vocation to CONSECRATED single life where man gives himself completely to God as a vowed single for the rest of his life. To be single in and of itself is not a vocation but it is a preperation for a vocation. For man will only find himself in the permanent complete gift of himself.
Love and Life are very much intertwined. The devil's tactic often is to divide through the distortions of truths into lies. Most of our problems in society have to do with the seperation of love and life. In the medical ethics areas scientist are removing the act of love from life and trying to create humans in petri dishes. There is meaning in knowing that we the love between spouses becomes so real that the love itself becomes another person.
God who is love brings the gift of a soul. This also comes into play in not loving life. Abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research are all absent of love and life.
The reverse of taking love from life is removing life from love. Here we have contraception which makes the conjugal act simply an act of pleasure and not life giving. It removes God from the act because He is not invited to create a soul from the act of love.
Another set of distortions are the acts of sex outside of marriage. In premarital sexual relationships, there is an absence of a complete gift of self because the couple have not given themselves to each other in the marriage sacrament. The conjugal act does not consumate the marriage vow. Premarital sexual acts are a bodily spoken lie. It says, “I give myself completely to you but…” With regards to homosexual acts, it is naturally impossible for those of the same sex to give and receive in a life giving way. Here again we have life seperated from love.
God bless,
Tim Cronin
Wallingford, CT
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Dear Catholic Exchange:
I want to be sure I'm getting the meaning of this the way I think I am.
My daughter used to be involved in church. You know how it goes, when they are young our kids are involved in youth group and community work, but when they get older, they fall away from the church, hear other ideas, etc.
What strikes me after reading your article, especially the paragraph about being a sheep without knowing it is that I like to think that Jesus sees my own daughter as his because she still continues to live his Word, even though she doesn't attend Mass. She believes Jesus lived and was a prophet, but she isn't sure if he is the Son of God.
I love the part where you say that her heart has been secretly prepared. My daughter has been home visiting me this week (she lives in Alaska) and has been coming to church with me. She was thrilled last Sunday when all the old faces greeted her with open arms. I know she felt she had really “come home” and she mentioned that she would like to start going back to church.
Your article gave me a lot of hope and comfort that one day she will again be a believer. In these troubled days, faith is hard, especially for our young people who face much of the evil in the world today.
Yours,
Alice
Dear Alice:
Yes, you're reading me right. May God bless your daughter and you. St. Monica had similar worries and her boy turned out alright. 🙂 Keep asking God to bring her back to the Mass. He loves her more than you do. And your love for her is very plain.
Blessings,
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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