A different view on the Theology of the Body

Finally! Someone has put together a cogent critique of the present glut of re-packages of TOB. I can definitely say that the more I heard of it, over the past few years, the more suspicious I became. Although, I could not put my finger on it, instinctively, I felt something was wrong. The author, at novantiqua.com did just this. It is not a sweepingly, thorough critique, but it is foundational enough to raise a few red flags. Please do not mistake what I am saying. I am not suggesting that Pope JPII's presentation was, in any way, heretical or misguided. I am, however, suggesting that the current rash of repackages take his presentation out of context. A word of caution, though, is warranted. The author is a Thomist (therefore, Aristotelian) philosopher, so be prepared for a somewhat completed style. I thoroughly enjoyed the articles and propose that anyone who has similar feelings about the current TOB rage will, likewise, enjoy them.

Good or Evil, Who Decides?

Saint Thomas Aquinas in Today's World

Homosexual...Marriage???

Let me start by being clear on two points.
1) I do not believe in homosexual people; so there is no point, in my mind, in determining whether people are "born this way" or not. I believe people, through corrupt culture or other psychological reasons, have physical attraction to persons of the same sex.
2) Homosexual intercourse, like other sins of the flesh, are "that which is against the order of reason" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Question 153). Therefore, it is sinful; just like masturbation, fornication, adultery, and abortion. The reason for intercourse is the solidification of the marital bond and procreation. In the nature of sins is that there are characterized by excess. Homosexual intercourse serves no societal useful end but immediate gratification (similar to adultery). It is similar to mutual masturbation.

After those two whoppers, I should be clear to the reader that I believe there is no such thing as "homosexual marriage" and, given the fact that we are social beings, the state has a compelling interest in limiting marriage to one man and one woman.

I do have empathy for those you suffer SSA. Likewise, I empathize with those you suffer an inordinate attraction to extra-marital relations, fornication, pornography, or child molestation. By the way, let me be CRYSTAL CLEAR, I am NOT advocating legalizing punishment of people who identify themselves as "homosexuals". I am saying that I believe, based on reason and revelation that homosexual intercourse is gravely sinful and, therefore, that homosexual marriage should NOT be recognized by the state. Please do not have faith-a-phobia and misconstrue my words.

"Let us also go, that we may die with Him." (John 11:16 RSV)

This passage intrigued me, since the first time I read it, especially when read in its context, like here. On the surface, it seems to be a noble, even heroic, testimony to the truth of Jesus' mission and the apostles willingness to die for it. However, when read in the context of the remainder of Gospel accounts, we hear that "they all left him and fled" (Mark 14:50, NAB). It is, plainly, a fair assumption that "all" included Thomas. Additionally, when we read John 11:16 in light of St. Thomas' (the Apostle) later interaction with the Glorified, Risen Christ (John 20:24-28), I think, it is apparent that St. Thomas the Apostle did not clearly understand the implication and ramification of his statement in John 10:16.
It seems to me most people. even today, skim over this text without giving it much practical consideration. In Luke 9:23, Jesus is reported to have said "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me". This is in contrast to another reference to taking up one's cross (Mark 8:34), which omits the adjective daily, in the Greek text. It seems that, for the sake of consistency, the adjective (daily) should be explicate our understanding of Mark 8:34. Maybe St. Thomas the Apostle thought of one famous, heroic stand with Jesus, in which they would triumph and vanquish their opponents, when he suggested following Jesus. Jesus, though, shows us another picture of what St. Thomas' word should mean. The secret to followings looks, to me, that it lies in the constant or daily battles and temptations that we face. The victory appears to be through the struggles; similar to Hemingway's fisherman. On a more personal note, one of the biggest stumbling blocks between Christianity and myself is the flippant or, more tragically, doctrinal airbrushing that Christians give to this call to martyrdom. It is clear, to me, that Christ wants the reality of self-sacrifice to innundate the life of the believer, not merely be an accident of heritage. This call that St. Thomas the Apostle made needs to be heeded daily and dictate ALL actions that a Christian's life; speech, dress, mannerism, etc. Jesus himself tells us what the proper response to this call is in Luke 9,
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"
In summary, Jesus is NOT a get-out-of-hell-free card! Also, see an entry from another blog on the same topic here.

The Only Story Ever Told

My family and I just completed reading through the "Chronicles of Prydain" series, that was written by Lloyd Alexander in the middle to late 1960's and 1970's. It is a fabulous repackaging of classic Welsh mythology. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the series; so much so that I even engaged the idea for a moment that I preferred Prydain and its cast of characters to Middle Earth or Narnia. But then, I came to my senses ;->. I still prefer Tolkein and Lewis stories because of their strong spiritually allegorical feel. That being said, Prydain's heroes and villans, while lacking the allegorical quality of the aforementioned fantasy lands, are more human and, generally, less dour. I recommend this series to all.
While reading the books, it occurred to me, again and again, that good stories seem to share similar plots. They seems to inevitably revolve around good and evil, right and wrong. It may be that this is somewhat isolated to the historical-based fantasy. Nevertheless, some variation of the good versus evil them seems to abound it almost all stories. For example, the Thousand and One Nights stories have similar plots and these are, by no means, "Western" stories. By the way, I would also like to recommend "Arabian Nights" program that was produced for TV in 2000 by Hallmark. It starred Mili Avital and is a nice introduction to the Thousand and One Nights and the special effects weren't bad either, for TV.
I think the similarities in story speak to a common desire to utilize story, generally, and words, specifically, to give us meaning. We, as humans, desire meaning and purpose. We desire "The Good" of Aristotle. When we tell stories, we transcend ourselves. We see that what we are is not all we can be. We learn what we ought to be, in fact, what we MUST be. As it is stated by one of the characters in "Castle of Llyr", "Child, child, do you not see? For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are."
We are to be heroes; more than what our biology or psychology tells us! We are to live, love, fight, and have adventures; forget Satre's mundane existentialism! The adventures comes when we have purpose and meaning. We are to, like St. George, slay our dragons. The interesting thing is that, most often, our inordinate desires are our own dragons. These dragons can only be faced through inner struggle against the self. Taran, the hero of Prydain, starts as an impatient youth of quite poor judgement (for an assistant pig-keeper) and ends up as the "High King". He learns many lessons, along the way, but one of the lessons subsumes them all. In order to find oneself, one must lose oneself. Specifically, one must lose oneself to others. Our dragons of selfishness, pride, hatred, deception, etc can only be overcome by sacrificing them on the altar of others' needs.
Jesus said in St. Matthew's Gospel, "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it". This is just one of the similar themes that are shared between Christ's teachings and various stories. Even Harry Potter has to sacrifice himself for his friends. The values preached in the Christian tradition seem to resound so widely, across the history of story, that it makes me think that the Gospels are NOT the "Best Story Ever Told". Perhaps, it is the ONLY STORY EVER TOLD!

Clarence Darrow v G.K. Chesterton