RE: The Theology of the Body

I don't know if any of you kiddies out there in Bloggerdom have been reading these posts. If you haven't, you are missing something quite extraordinary: theology and philosophy from the 20th century that isn't philodoxy in disguise.

Nor is it written to confuse and confound the reader. So much of what has been called philosophy in the last couple of centuries is nothing more than opaque jargon used to intimidate the reader into agreement or apathy.

The more one learns of Pope John Paul II, the more one is struck by the infinite wisdom of God. There was no greater man in our unlamented last century than the humble Polish priest who was called by God to combat His enemies when the prospects for victory were bleak.

I cannot wait for his canonization.

Pray for us, Pope John Paul the Great.

The Theology of the Body: 59. Pronouncements of Magisterium Apply Christ's Words Today

In his General Audience of 8 April 1981, the Holy Father concluded his reflections on the words of Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, on adultery in the heart. These words are key to the Theology of the Body, which underlies the thinking of many recent magisterial pronouncements.


Pronouncements of Magisterium Apply Christ's Words Today

On Wednesday, 8 April, the weekly audience was held in St Peter's Square. Concluding the catechetical cycle that has dealt with the theology of the body, the Holy Father delivered the following address to the more than thirty thousand people gathered in the Square.



1. The time has now come to conclude the reflections and analyses based on the words Christ spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, with which he appealed to the human heart, exhorting it to purity: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:27-28). We have said several times that these words, spoken once to the limited number of listeners to that Sermon, refer to people of all times and places. They appeal to the human heart, in which the most interior and, in a way, the most essential design of history is inscribed. It is the history of good and evil (whose beginning is connected, in Genesis, with the mysterious tree of the knowledge of good and evil). At the same time, it is the history of salvation, whose word is the Gospel, and whose power is the Holy Spirit, given to those who accept the Gospel with a sincere heart.

Christ's words teach

2. If Christ's appeal to the human heart and, still earlier, his reference to the beginning, enable us to construct or at least to outline an anthropology which we can call the theology of the body, such a theology is, at the same time, a pedagogy. Pedagogy aims at educating man, setting before him the requirements, motivating them, and pointing out the ways that lead to their fulfillment. Christ's pronouncements have also this purpose: they are pedagogical enunciations. They contain a pedagogy of the body, expressed in a concise and at the same time extremely complete way. Both the answer given to the Pharisees with regard to the indissolubility of marriage, and the words of the Sermon on the Mount concerning the mastery of lust, prove—at least indirectly— that the Creator has assigned as a task to man his body, his masculinity and femininity; and that in masculinity and femininity he, in a way, assigned to him as a task his humanity, the dignity of the person, and also the clear sign of the interpersonal communion in which man fulfills himself through the authentic gift of himself. Setting before man the requirements conforming to the tasks entrusted to him, at the same time the Creator points out to man, male and female, the ways that lead to assuming and discharging them.

Self-education of man

3. Analyzing these key texts of the Bible to their very roots, we discover that anthropology which can be called the theology of the body. This theology of the body is the basis of the most suitable method of the pedagogy of the body, that is, the education (the self-education) of man. This takes on particular relevance for modern man, whose science in the field of biophysiology and biomedicine has made great progress. However, this science deals with man under a determined aspect and so is partial rather than global. We know well the functions of the body as an organism, the functions connected with the masculinity and femininity of the human person. But in itself, this science does not yet develop the awareness of the body as a sign of the person, as a manifestation of the spirit.

The whole development of modern science, regarding the body as an organism, has rather the character of biological knowledge. This is because it is based on the separation of that which is corporeal in man from that which is spiritual. Using such a one-sided knowledge of the functions of the body as an organism, it is not difficult to arrive at treating the body, in a more or less systematic way, as an object of manipulations. In this case man ceases to identify himself subjectively with his own body, because it is deprived of the meaning and the dignity deriving from the fact that this body is proper to the person. We here touch upon problems often demanding fundamental solutions, which are impossible without an integral view of man.

Need of adequate spiritual maturity

4. Precisely here it appears clear that the theology of the body, which we derive from those key texts of Christ's words, becomes the fundamental method of pedagogy, that is, of man's education from the point of view of the body, in full consideration of his masculinity and femininity. That pedagogy can be understood under the aspect of a specific "spirituality of the body." In its masculinity or femininity the body is given as a task to the human spirit (this was expressed in a stupendous way by St. Paul in his own characteristic language). By means of an adequate maturity of the spirit it too becomes a sign of the person, which the person is conscious of, and authentic "matter" in the communion of persons. In other words, through his spiritual maturity, man discovers the nuptial meaning proper to the body.

Christ's words in the Sermon on the Mount indicate that lust in itself does not reveal that meaning to man, but on the contrary dims and obscures it. Purely biological knowledge of the functions of the body as an organism, connected with the masculinity and femininity of the human person, is capable of helping to discover the true nuptial meaning of the body only if it is accompanied by an adequate spiritual maturity of the human person. Otherwise, such knowledge can have quite the opposite effect. This is confirmed by many experiences of our time.

5. From this point of view it is necessary to consider prudently the pronouncements of the modern Church. Their adequate understanding and interpretation, as well as their practical application (that is, pedagogy) demand that deep theology of the body which we derive mainly from the key words of Christ. As for the pronouncements of the Church in modern times, it is necessary to study the chapter entitled, "The Dignity of Marriage and the Family," of Pastoral Constitution of the Second Vatican Council (Gaudium et Spes, part II, chap. 1) and, subsequently, Paul VI's Encyclical Humanae Vitae. Without any doubt, the words of Christ, which we have analyzed at great length, had no other purpose than to emphasize the dignity of marriage and the family. Hence there is a fundamental convergence between them and the content of both the above-mentioned statements of the modern Church. Christ was speaking to the man of all times and places. The pronouncements of the Church aim at applying Christ's words to the here and now. Therefore they must be reread according to the key of that theology and that pedagogy which find roots and support in Christ's words.

It is difficult here to make a total analysis of the cited pronouncements of the supreme Magisterium of the Church. We will confine ourselves to quoting some passages. Here is how the Second Vatican Council—placing among the most urgent problems of the Church in the modern world the dignity of marriage and the family—characterizes the situation that exists in this area: "The happy picture of the dignity of these partnerships (that is, marriage and the family) is not reflected everywhere, but is overshadowed by polygamy, the plague of divorce, so-called free love and similar blemishes; furthermore, married love is too often dishonoured by selfishness, hedonism, and unlawful contraceptive practices (Gaudium et Spes 47). Paul VI, setting forth this last problem in the encyclical Humanae Vitae, writes, among other things: "Another thing that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection" (Humanae Vitae 17).

Are we not here in the sphere of the same concern which once dictated Christ's words on the unity and indissolubility of marriage, as well as those of the Sermon on the Mount, concerning purity of heart and mastery of the lust of the flesh, words that were later developed with so much acuteness by the Apostle Paul?

Demands of Christian morality

6. In the same spirit, speaking of the demands of Christian morality, the author of Humanae Vitae presents at the same time the possibility of fulfilling them when he writes: "The mastery of instinct by one's reason and free will undoubtedly demands an asceticism"—Paul VI uses this term—so that the affective manifestations of conjugal life may be in keeping with right order, in particular with regard to the observance of periodic continence. Yet this discipline which is proper to the purity of married couples, far from harming conjugal love, rather confers on it a higher human value. It demands a continual effort [this effort was called above asceticism], yet, thanks to its beneficent influence, husband and wife fully develop their personalities, [and] enrich each other with spiritual values.... It favors attention for one's partner, helps both parties to drive out selfishness, the enemy of true love, and deepens their sense of responsibility..." (Humane Vitae 21).

Need of Magisterial pronouncements

7. Let us pause on these few passages. They—particularly the last one—clearly show how indispensable, for an adequate understanding of the pronouncements of the Magisterium of the modern Church, is the theology of the body, whose foundations we sought especially in the words of Christ himself. It is precisely that theology—as we have already said—that becomes the fundamental method of the whole Christian pedagogy of the body. Referring to the words quoted, it can be affirmed that the purpose of the pedagogy of the body lies in ensuring that the "affective manifestations"—particularly those "proper to conjugal life"— be in conformity with the moral order, or, in a word, with the dignity of the person. In these words the problem returns of the mutual relationship between eros and ethos, which we have already dealt with. Theology, understood as a method of the pedagogy of the body, prepares us also for further reflections on the sacramentality of human life and especially married life.

The Gospel of purity of heart, yesterday and, today: concluding with this phrase this cycle of our considerations—before going on to the next one, in which the basis of analyses will be Christ's words on the resurrection of the body—we still wish to devote some attention to "the need of creating an atmosphere favorable to education in chastity," with which Paul VI's encyclical deals (cf. Humanae Vitae 22), and we wish to focus these observations on the problem of the ethos of the body in works of artistic culture, referring especially to the situations we encounter in modern life.

Perfidious Persia Update.

Cracks show in Iran's nuke policy
Some in powerful positions insist confrontational tactics of Ahmadinejad backfiring --New York Times

Rebellion across Iran
Protesters reportedly burn images of ayatollah, other clerical leaders --WND

Could reality tv be the cure for goat-rapist terrorism...?

ABOVE AND RIGHT: The sane side of the family.


...If so, I can't wait for him to room with Danny Bonaduce on the next Surreal Life.

Or how about Shecky bin Laden's Variety Hour?

Osama bin Laden's niece to star in reality TV show

Osama bin Laden's niece, an aspiring singer who posed for a sexy photo shoot in a men's magazine last year, has signed up for a reality television show about her life and her as yet unfulfilled "quest for stardom."

Wafah Dufour Bin Ladin, whose mother was married to the al Qaeda leader's half brother, was born in California but lived in Saudi Arabia from the age of three to 10.

"I understand that when people hear my last name, they have preconceived notions, but I was born an American and I love my country," Dufour said in a statement from ReganMedia announcing the deal to develop a reality TV series.

Dufour has dropped the "Bin Ladin" -- a different spelling of the Arabic name from that used by Osama bin Laden -- and now goes by the name Wafah Dufour.

Based in New York, Dufour has been promoting herself as a musician and last December appeared in a sultry GQ photo spread, reclining on satin sheets wrapped in feathers and posing in a bubble bath wearing nothing but a necklace.

"Her story will bridge the gap that people feel exists between the cultures she has lived in," ReganMedia President Judith Regan said.

"She is also a young woman who falls in love, has her heart broken, worries about her looks, doesn't always listen to her mother, and hasn't spoken to her father in years," Regan said.

Dufour's mother Carmen bin Ladin wrote the 2004 bestseller "Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia," an account of her rocky marriage to Yeslama, Osama's half-brother, who amassed a fortune in the family's construction business and started his own investment firm.

Dufour, who earned a master's degree in law from Columbia University, was in Geneva with her mother at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks. She had said in the past she has never met Osama bin Laden.
She cites U2, Depeche Mode, The Cure and The Cranberries among her musical influences.

It Takes A Village To Staff A Gestapo Unit Update.

Watch Hitlery run from her fascist record.

With retail giant Wal-Mart under fire to improve its labor and health care policies, one Democrat with deep ties to the company — Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton — has started feeling her share of the political heat.

Clinton served on Wal-Mart's board of directors for six years when her husband was governor of Arkansas. And the Rose Law Firm, where she was a partner, handled many of the Arkansas-based company's legal affairs.

Clinton had kind words for Wal-Mart as recently as 2004, when she told an audience at the convention of the National Retail Federation that her time on the board "was a great experience in every respect."

But in recent months, as the company has become a target for Democratic activists, she has largely steered clear of any mention of Wal-Mart. And late last year, Clinton's re-election campaign returned a $5,000 contribution from Wal-Mart, citing "serious differences with current company practices."

As Clinton sheds her Arkansas past and looks ahead to a possible 2008 presidential run, the Wal-Mart issue presents an exquisite dilemma: how to reconcile the political demands she faces today with her history at a company many American consumers depend upon but many Democratic activists revile.

Poem of the Day.

"Abou Ben Adhem"

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men."

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

-- By James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Clement Maria Hofbauer, Redemptorist priest, missionary, and reformer. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading is Jeremias 18:18-20.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 31:5-6, 14, 15-16.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 20:17-28.



[Links to the readings will be from the NAB until I can find another chapter and verse searchable Douay-Rheims Bible on-line.]


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

24's Body Count Update.

It is still fun to watch, but I hope this season is the last. I don't want Jack to end up fighting Hank Scorpio.




From Right Wing Nuthouse:

BODY COUNT

Lin and Harry are heroes. Bill updates us with his estimate of 55 dead CTU employees. Since we already counted 12, that means we add 43 to the show’s total.

And since Jack asked Lin and Harry to die, we are going to credit Mr. Bauer with two more kills.

JACK: 15

SHOW: 142

Although it was the topic of discussion here in Flyover this weekend, Fyodor will not discuss...

...the removal of female body hair and how it's all the fault of men.

Arbitron über alles. (Em Portugese: Arbitron sobre tudo.)

Daily Times: Prostitutes get own radio station

Prostitutes in the Brazilian city of Salvador are starting up their own radio station. The Association of Prostitutes of Bahia state has won government permission for the project, enabling FM station Radio Zona to start broadcasting in the second half of the year...

Anybody watch that polygamy show on HBO Sunday night? It was on right after that show that slanders Italian-Americans. Anyone? Anyone at all?

Please pray for Madeleine Ruff.

From the AP via ESPN.com:

Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff could miss a few games and practices after his 11-year-old daughter was diagnosed with having an unidentified mass on her brain.

Ruff first informed The Buffalo News of the diagnosis in a story published Sunday. He said he is awaiting further tests on his daughter Madeleine after the mass, about the size of a quarter, was discovered Friday during tests at Buffalo Women and Children's Hospital.

Sabres spokesman Michael Gilbert confirmed the news on Sunday, adding that the coach has consulted with team management and owner B. Thomas Golisano....

Madeleine, who has a twin brother Brian, two weeks ago complained of experiencing headaches, which became more severe last week, Ruff said. The coach and his wife Gaye have four children, the twins being their youngest.

"She's very positive about the whole thing," Ruff was quoted as saying. "It's incredible. Every child you have is different. They deal with things differently. She's a special child."

Yet another reason why all children should be taught how to properly handle firearms.

From LancasterOnline.com:

The 17-year-old Solanco junior who died of a gunshot wound Friday was “messing around” with a handgun he believed was not loaded, witnesses told police.

Shane C. Tavella was hanging out with three teenage friends inside a home near Quarryville Friday morning when one of them — Curtis Romano, who lived there — wanted his pals to see the weapon.

The two other friends, both fellow Solanco High School students, told police after the shooting: “Shane was messing around with the gun and took the clip out, not realizing there was a bullet in the chamber.

“He put it under his chin and pulled the trigger.”

May God have mercy on his soul.

The Theology of the Body: 58. Positive Function of Purity of Heart

In his General Audience 1 April 1981, the Holy Father gathered the main threads of his teaching on Theology of the Body, as based on the words of Christ on man's creation as male and female, and his warning against adultery in the heart. Lust can be displaced only by purity of heart, which, in the teaching of St. Paul, is a gift of the Holy Spirit.



Positive Function of Purity of Heart

On Wednesday, 1 April, the weekly audience again was given in two parts, the first to the young people gathered in St. Peter's Basilica, the second to the thousands of pilgrims in the Paul VI Hall. The following is the text of the Holy Father's address in the Hall.


1. Before concluding the series of considerations concerning the words Jesus Christ uttered in the Sermon on the Mount, it is necessary to recall these words once more and briefly retrace the thread of ideas whose basis they constitute. Here is the tenor of Jesus' words: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:27-28). These concise words call for deep reflection, in the same way as the words in which Christ referred to the beginning. The Pharisees had asked him, referring to the law of Moses which admitted the so-called act of repudiation: "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He replied: "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female?... For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.... What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mt 19:3-6). These words, too, called for a deep reflection, to derive all the riches contained in them. A reflection of this kind enabled us to outline the true theology of the body.

Truth rooted in man's original innocence

2. Following the reference Christ made to the beginning, we dedicated a series of reflections to the relative texts in Genesis, which deal precisely with that beginning. An image of the situation of man—male and female—in the state of original innocence emerged from that analysis, as well as the theological basis of the truth about man and about his particular vocation. This springs from the eternal mystery of the person—the image of God, incarnate in the visible and corporeal fact of the masculinity or femininity of the human person. This truth is at the basis of the answer Christ gave about the nature of marriage, and especially its indissolubility. It is truth about man, truth rooted in the state of original innocence, truth which must therefore be understood in the context of that situation prior to sin, as we tried to do in the preceding series of reflections.

3. At the same time, however, it is necessary to consider, understand and interpret the same fundamental truth about man, his being male and female, in the prism of another situation—that is, of the one that was formed through breaking the first covenant with the Creator, that is, through original sin. Such truth about man—male and female—should be seen in the context of his hereditary sinfulness. It is precisely here that we find Christ's enunciation in the Sermon on the Mount. It is obvious that in the Scriptures of the Old and the New Covenant there are many narratives, phrases and words which confirm the same truth, that is, that historical man bears within him the inheritance of original sin. Nevertheless, Christ's words spoken in the Sermon on the Mount seem to have—with all their concise enunciation—a particularly rich eloquence. This is shown also by the previous analyses, which gradually revealed what those words contain. To clarify the statements concerning lust, it is necessary to grasp the biblical meaning of lust itself—of the three forms of lust—and principally that of the flesh. Then, little by little, we arrive at understanding why Jesus defined that lust (looking at lustfully) as adultery committed in the heart. Making the relative analyses, we tried at the same time to understand what meaning Christ's words had for his immediate listeners. They had been brought up in the tradition of the Old Testament, that is, in the tradition of the legislative texts, as well as the prophetic and sapiential ones. Furthermore, we tried to understand what meaning Christ's words can have for the person of every other era, especially for modern man, considering his various cultural conditionings. We are convinced that these words, in their essential content, refer to the man of every time and every place. Their comprehensive value consists also in this: they proclaim to each one the truth that is valid and substantial for him.

An ethical truth

4. What is this truth? Unquestionably, it is a truth of an ethical nature and therefore a truth of a normative nature, just as the truth contained in the commandment: "You shall not commit adultery," is normative. The interpretation of this commandment, made by Christ, indicates the evil that must be avoided and overcome—precisely the evil of lust of the flesh—and at the same time it points out the good for which the way is opened by overcoming desire. This good is purity of heart, which Christ spoke of in the same context of the Sermon on the Mount. From the biblical point of view, purity of heart means freedom from every kind of sin or guilt, not just from sins that concern the lust of the flesh. However, we are dealing here especially with one of the aspects of that purity, which constitutes the opposite of adultery committed in the heart. If that purity of heart, about which we are concerned, is understood according to St. Paul's thought as life according to the Spirit, then the Pauline context offers us a complete image of the content present in the words Christ spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. They contain a truth of an ethical nature. They warn us against evil and indicate the moral good of human conduct. In fact, they direct listeners to avoid the evil of lust and acquire purity of heart. Therefore these words have a meaning that is both normative and indicative. Directing toward the good of purity of heart, at the same time they indicate the values toward which the human heart can and must aspire.

Christ's words realistic

5. Hence the question: what truth, valid for every man, is contained in Christ's words? We must answer that not only an ethical truth, but also the essential truth, the anthropological truth about man is contained in them. Precisely for this reason we go back to these words in formulating here the theology of the body. It is closely related to and is in the perspective of the preceding words in which Christ had referred to the beginning. It can be affirmed that, with their expressive evangelical eloquence, the man of original innocence is, in a way, recalled to the consciousness of the man of lust.

But Christ's words are realistic. They do not try to make the human heart return to the state of original innocence, which man left behind him at the moment when he committed original sin. On the contrary, they indicate to him the way to a purity of heart which is possible and accessible to him even in the state of hereditary sinfulness. This is the purity of the man of lust. However, he is inspired by the word of the Gospel and open to life according to the Spirit (in conformity with St. Paul's words), that is, the purity of the man of lust who is entirely enveloped by the redemption of the body Christ carried out. For this reason we find in the words of the Sermon on the Mount the reference to the heart, that is, to the interior man. The interior man must open himself to life according to the Spirit, in order to participate in evangelical purity of heart, to rediscover and realize the value of the body, freed through redemption from the bonds of lust. The normative meaning of Christ's words is deeply rooted in their anthropological meaning, in the dimension of human interiority.

Felt with the heart

6. According to the evangelical doctrine, developed in such a stupendous way in Paul's letters, purity is not just temperance or abstention from unchastity (cf. 1 Th 4:3). At the same time, it also opens the way to a more and more perfect discovery of the dignity of the human body. The body is organically connected with the freedom of the gift of the person in the complete authenticity of his personal subjectivity, male or female. In this way, purity in the sense of temperance matures in the heart of the person who cultivates it and tends to reveal and strengthen the nuptial meaning of the body in its integral truth. This truth must be known interiorly. In a way, it must be felt with the heart, in order that the mutual relations of man and of woman—even mere looks—may reacquire that authentically nuptial content of their meanings. In the Gospel, purity of heart indicates precisely this content.

Enjoying the victory

7. If in the interior experience of man (that is, the man of lust), temperance takes shape as a negative function, the analysis of Christ's words in the Sermon on the Mount and connected with the texts of St. Paul enables us to shift this meaning toward the positive function of purity of heart. In mature purity man enjoys the fruits of the victory won over lust, a victory which St. Paul writes of, exhorting man to "control his own body in holiness and honor" (1 Th 4:4). The efficacy of the gift of the Holy Spirit, whose "temple" the human body is (cf. 1 Cor 6:19), is partly manifested precisely in such mature purity. This gift is above all that of piety (donum pietatis), which restores to the experience of the body—especially when it is a question of the sphere of the mutual relations of man and woman—all its simplicity, its explicitness and also its interior joy. As can be seen, this is a spiritual climate which is very different from the "passion of lust" of which Paul writes (and which we know, moreover, from the preceding analyses; cf. Sir 26:13, 15-18). The satisfaction of the passions is one thing, and the joy that man finds in mastering himself more fully is another thing. In this way he can also become more fully a real gift for another person.

The words spoken by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount direct the human heart precisely towards this joy. We must entrust ourselves, our thoughts and our actions to them, in order to find joy and give it to others.

The Theology of the Body: 57. The Pauline Doctrine of Purity as Life According to the Spirit

In his General Audience of 18 March 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body by further examination of St. Paul's teaching on purity. This virtue is reinforced by piety, a gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by which God is glorified.



The Pauline Doctrine of Purity as Life According to the Spirit

On Wednesday, 18 March, the Holy Father resumed his development of the theme of purity according to the Pauline texts. He addressed the following to the thousands gathered in the Paul VI Hall.


1. At our meeting some weeks ago, we concentrated our attention on the passage in the First Letter to the Corinthians in which St. Paul calls the human body "a temple of the Holy Spirit." He writes: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price" (1 Cor 6:19-20). "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" (1 Cor 6:15). The Apostle points out the mystery of the redemption of the body, carried out by Christ, as a source of a special moral duty which commits the Christian to purity. This is what Paul himself defines elsewhere as the necessity of "controlling his own body in holiness and honor" (1 Thess 4:4).

Piety serves purity

2. However, we would not completely discover the riches of the thought contained in the Pauline texts, if we did not note that the mystery of redemption bears fruit in man also in a charismatic way. According to the Apostle's words, the Holy Spirit enters the human body as his own "temple," dwells there and operates together with his spiritual gifts. Among these gifts, known in the history of spirituality as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. Is 11:2, according to the Septuagint and the Vulgate), the one most congenial to the virtue of purity seems to be the gift of piety (eusebeia, donum pietatis).(1) If purity prepares man to "control his own body in holiness and honor" (1 Th 4:3-5), piety, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, seems to serve purity in a particular way. It makes the human subject sensitive to that dignity which is characteristic of the human body by virtue of the mystery of creation and redemption. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you.... You are not your own" (1 Cor 6:19). Thanks to the gift of piety, Paul's words acquire the eloquence of an experience of the nuptial meaning of the body and of the freedom of the gift connected with it, in which the profound aspect of purity and its organic link with love is revealed.

Fruit of the Spirit's indwelling

3. Although control of one's body in holiness and honor is acquired through abstention from immorality—and this way is indispensable—yet it always bears fruit in deeper experience of that love, which was inscribed from the beginning, according to the image and likeness of God himself, in the whole human being and so also in his body. Therefore, St. Paul ends his argumentation in chapter six of the First Letter to the Corinthians with a significant exhortation: "So glorify God in your body" (v. 20). Purity as the virtue is the capacity of controlling one's body in holiness and honor. Together with the gift of piety, as the fruit of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the temple of the body, purity brings about in the body such a fullness of dignity in interpersonal relations that God himself is thereby glorified. Purity is the glory of the human body before God. It is God's glory in the human body, through which masculinity and femininity are manifested. From purity springs that extraordinary beauty which permeates every sphere of men's common life and makes it possible to express in it simplicity and depth, cordiality and the unrepeatable authenticity of personal trust. (There will perhaps be an opportunity later to deal with this subject more fully. The connection of purity with love and also the connection of purity in love with that gift of the Holy Spirit, piety, is a part of the theology of the body which is little known, but which deserves particular study. That will be possible in the course of the analysis concerning the sacramentality of marriage.)

In the Old Testament

4. And now a brief reference to the Old Testament. The Pauline doctrine about purity, understood as life according to the Spirit, seems to indicate a certain continuity with regard to the Wisdom books of the Old Testament. For example, we find there the following prayer to obtain purity in thought, word and deed: "O Lord, Father and God of my life...remove from me evil desire, let neither gluttony nor lust overcome me" (Sir 23:4-6). Purity is, in fact, the condition for finding wisdom and following it, as we read in the same book: "I directed my soul to her [that is, to Wisdom], and through purification I found her" (Sir 51:20). We could also consider the text of the Book of Wisdom (8:21), known by the liturgy in the Vulgate version: "Scivi quoniam aliter non possum esse continens, nisi Deus det; et hoc ipsum erat sapientiae, scire, cuius esset hoc donum." (2)

According to this concept, it is not so much purity that is a condition for wisdom, but wisdom that is a condition for purity, as for a special gift of God. It seems that already in the above-mentioned Wisdom texts the double meaning of purity takes shape: as a virtue and as a gift. The virtue is in the service of wisdom, and wisdom is a preparation to receive the gift that comes from God. This gift strengthens the virtue and makes it possible to enjoy, in wisdom, the fruits of a behavior and life that are pure.

The sight of God

5. Just as Christ, in his beatitude in the Sermon on the Mount which referred to the "pure in heart," highlights the "sight of God," the fruit of purity, and in an eschatological perspective, so Paul in his turn sheds light on its diffusion in the dimensions of temporality, when he writes: "To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds..." (Tit 1:15f.). These words can also refer both to the general and to the specific meaning of purity, as to the characteristic note of all moral good. For the Pauline concept of purity, in the sense spoken of in the First Letter to the Thessalonians (4:3-5) and the First Letter to the Corinthians (6:13-20), that is, in the sense of life according to the Spirit, the anthropology of rebirth in the Holy Spirit (cf. also Jn 3:5ff.) seems to be fundamental—as can be seen from these considerations of ours as a whole. It grows from roots set in the reality of the redemption of the body, carried out by Christ—redemption, whose ultimate expression is the resurrection. There are profound reasons for connecting the whole theme of purity with the words of the Gospel, in which Christ referred to the resurrection (and that will be the subject of the further stage of our considerations). Here we have mainly linked it with the ethos of the redemption of the body.

Appeal to the heart

6. The way of understanding and presenting purity—inherited from the tradition of the Old Testament and characteristic of the Wisdom Books—was certainly an indirect, but nonetheless real, preparation for the Pauline doctrine about purity understood as life according to the Spirit. That way unquestionably helped many listeners of the Sermon on the Mount to understand Christ's words when, explaining the commandment, "You shall not commit adultery," he appealed to the human heart. In this way our reflections as a whole have been able to show, at least to a certain extent, how rich and profound the doctrine on purity is in its biblical and evangelical sources themselves.

NOTES

1) In the Greco-Roman period eusebeia or pietas generally referred to the veneration of the gods (as "devotion"), but it still kept its broader original meaning of respect for vital structures.Eusebeia defined the mutual behavior of relatives, relations between husband and wife, and also the attitude due by the legions toward Caesar or by slaves to their masters.

In the New Testament, only the later writings apply eusebeia to Christians; in the older writings this term characterizes "good pagans" (Acts 10:2, 7; 17:23).

And so the Greek eusebeia, as also the donum pietatis, while they certainly refer to divine veneration, have a wide basis in the connotation of interpersonal relations (cf. W. Foerster, art. eusebeia, "Theological Dictionary of the New Testament", Vol. 7, ed. G. Kittel, G. Bromley [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971], pp. 177-182).


2) This version of the Vulgate, retained by the Neo-Vulgate and by the liturgy, quoted several times by Augustine (De S. Virg., par. 43; Confess. VI, 11; X, 29; Serm. CLX, 7), changes, however, the meaning of the original Greek, which can be translated as follows: "Knowing that I would not have obtained it [Wisdom] otherwise, if God had not granted it to me....

I get mail from people who do not see the method to my idiocy.

Responding to my annihilation of the so-called Catholic Democrasses


Jamie Beu said...

Thank you for your post - although a little derogatory at times (e.g., "dago" for Italians), it was amusing and informative, especially for the link to the Dems press release.

I made sure to include a link to your page in my post "Catholics in Congress", which includes the states they are from, as well as a few statistics you (and their bishops) might find interesting.

God bless.


To which I replied thusly:

Jamie, you must be new here. Those left-fascist murderers who dare to call themselves Catholic should consider themselves lucky to be merely ridiculed. If there were any justice in this world, they would be in a very dark, very dank, prison.

I shall always reserve the right to insult my idiot Italian cousins as I see fit.

Which is ridiculous. If there were justice in this world, they would all have been executed by now. They should consider themselves lucky to be alive.

I apologize to all you kiddies out there who expect better from me.

Oh, yeah, I also meant to say "wop".

The Theology of the Body: 56. The Virtue of Purity Is the Expression and Fruit of Life According to the Spirit

In his General Audience of 11 February 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, by further examining St. Paul's teaching on purity. It is identifiable as the virtue of temperance, but includes an element of respect for the body, as a temple of the Holy Spirit.



The Virtue of Purity Is the Expression and Fruit of Life According to the Spirit

The Holy Father continued his catechesis on the theology of the body in his talk during the General Audience of 11 February in the Paul VI Hall.



1. During our recent Wednesday meetings we have analyzed two passages taken from the First Letter to the Thessalonians 4:3-5 and the First Letter to the Corinthians 12:18-25. This was with a view to showing what seems to be essential in St. Paul's doctrine on purity, understood in the moral sense, that is, as a virtue. If in the aforementioned text of the First Letter to the Thessalonians we can see that purity consists in temperance, in this text, however, as also in the First Letter to the Corinthians, the element of respect is also highlighted. By means of such respect due to the human body (and let us add that, according to the First Letter to the Corinthians, respect is seen precisely in relation to its element of modesty), purity as a Christian virtue is revealed in the Pauline letters as an effective way to become detached from what, in the human heart, is the fruit of the lust of the flesh.

Abstention from unchastity implies controlling one's body in holiness and honor. This abstention makes it possible to deduce that, according to the Apostle's doctrine, purity is a capacity centered on the dignity of the body. That is, it is centered on the dignity of the person in relation to his own body, to the femininity or masculinity which is manifested in this body. Understood as capacity, purity is precisely the expression and fruit of life according to the Spirit in the full meaning of the expression. It is a new capacity of the human being, in which the gift of the Holy Spirit bears fruit.

These two dimensions of purity—the moral dimension, or virtue, and the charismatic dimension, namely the gift of the Holy Spirit—are present and closely connected in Paul's message. That is emphasized particularly by the Apostle in the First Letter to the Corinthians, in which he calls the body "a temple [therefore, a dwelling and shrine] of the Holy Spirit."

You are not your own

2. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own"—Paul said this to the Corinthians (1 Cor 6:19), after having first instructed them with great severity about the moral requirements of purity. "Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body" (1 Cor 6:18). The peculiar characteristic of the sin that the Apostle stigmatizes here lies in the fact that this sin, unlike all others, is against the body (while other sins are outside the body). In this way, we find in the Pauline terminology the motivation for expressions such as "the sins of the body" or "carnal sins." These sins are in opposition precisely to that virtue by force of which man keeps his body in holiness and honor (cf. 1 Thess 4:3-5).

Profanation of the temple

3. Such sins bring with them profanation of the body: they deprive the man's or woman's body of the honor due to it because of the dignity of the person. However, the Apostle goes further: according to him, sin against the body is also "profanation of the temple." In Paul's eyes, it is not only the human spirit, thanks to which man is constituted as a personal subject, that decides the dignity of the human body. But even more so it is the supernatural reality constituted by the indwelling and the continual presence of the Holy Spirit in man—in his soul and in his body—as fruit of the redemption carried out by Christ.

It follows that man's body is no longer just his own. It deserves that respect whose manifestation in the mutual conduct of man, male and female, constitutes the virtue of purity. This is not only because it is the body of the person. When the Apostle writes: "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God" (1 Cor 6:19), he intends to indicate yet another source of the dignity of the body, precisely the Holy Spirit, who is also the source of the moral duty deriving from this dignity.

You were bought with a price

4. The reality of redemption, which is also redemption of the body, constitutes this source. For Paul, this mystery of faith is a living reality, geared directly to every person. Through redemption, every man has received from God again, as it were, himself and his own body. Christ has imprinted on the human body—on the body of every man and every woman—new dignity, since, in himself, the human body has been admitted, together with the soul, to union with the Person of the Son-Word. With this new dignity, through the redemption of the body, a new obligation arose at the same time. Paul writes of this concisely, but in an extremely moving way: "You were bought with a price" (1 Cor 6:20). The fruit of redemption is the Holy Spirit, who dwells in man and in his body as in a temple. In this Gift, which sanctifies every man, the Christian receives himself again as a gift from God. This new, double gift is binding. The Apostle refers to this binding dimension when he writes to believers, aware of the Gift, to convince them that one must not commit unchastity. One must not sin "against one's own body" (ibid. 6:18). He writes: "The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (ibid. 6:13).

It is difficult to express more concisely what the mystery of the Incarnation brings with it for every believer. The fact that the human body becomes in Jesus Christ the body of God-Man obtains for this reason, in every man, a new supernatural elevation, which every Christian must take into account in his behavior with regard to his own body and, of course, with regard to the other's body: man with regard to woman and woman with regard to man. The redemption of the body involves the institution, in Christ and through Christ, of a new measure of the holiness of the body. Paul refers precisely to this holiness in the First Letter to the Thessalonians (4:3-5) when he writes of "controlling one's own body in holiness and honor."

One with the Lord

5. In chapter six of the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul specifies the truth about the holiness of the body. He stigmatizes unchastity, that is, the sin against the holiness of the body, the sin of impurity, with words that are even drastic: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, 'The two shall become one flesh.' But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him" (1 Cor 6:15-17). According to the Pauline teaching, purity is an aspect of life according to the Spirit. That means that the mystery of the redemption of the body as part of the mystery of Christ, started in the Incarnation and already addressed to every man through it, bears fruit in it.

This mystery bears fruit also in purity understood as a particular commitment based on ethics. The fact that we were "bought with a price" (1 Cor 6:20), that is, at the price of Christ's redemption, gives rise to a special commitment, that is, the duty of controlling one's body in holiness and honor. Awareness of the redemption of the body operates in the human will in favor of abstention from unchastity. It operates in acts for the purpose of causing man to acquire an appropriate ability or capacity, called the virtue of purity.

What can be seen from the words of the First Letter to the Corinthians (6:15-17) about Paul's teaching on the Christian virtue of purity as the implementation of life according to the Spirit is of special depth and has the power of the supernatural realism of faith. We will have to come back to reflection on this subject more than once.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Diaconus, deacon and martyr. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.


Today's reading is Isaias 1:10, 16-20.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 23:1-12.


[Links to the readings will be from the NAB until I can find another chapter and verse searchable Douay-Rheims Bible on-line.]


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Fyodor's complete 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament brackets.

I hate picking hypothetical games, but I guess if I was any good at picking winners, they would not be hypothetical, would they?

All in all, you'd be better off picking the teams I don't.


ATLANTA REGION [Winner is Texas(OUT! 4th round)]

Duke over Southern, GW over UNCW, Duke over GW.
Syracuse (OUT! 1st round) over Texas A&M, LSU over Iona, Syracuse (OUT! 1st round) over LSU.

WVU over S. Illinois, Iowa (OUT! 1st round) over Northwestern St., Iowa (OUT! 1st round) over WVU.
NC St. over Cal, Texas over Penn, Texas over NC St..

Duke (OUT! 3rd round) over Syracuse (OUT! 1st round) and Texas over Iowa (OUT! 1st round) .

Texas(OUT! 4th round) over Duke(OUT! 3rd round).



OAKLAND REGION [Winner is Gonzaga(OUT! 3rd round)]

Memphis over ORU, Bucknell over Arkansas, Memphis over Bucknell.
Pitt over Kent St., Kansas (OUT! 1st round) over Bradley, Pitt (OUT! 2nd round)over Kansas (OUT! 1st round) .

Indiana over SDSU, Gonzaga over Xavier, Gonzaga over Indiana.
Marquette (OUT! 1st round) over Alabama, UCLA over Belmont, UCLA over Marquette (OUT! 1st round) .

Pitt (OUT! 2nd round) over Memphis and Gonzaga(OUT! 3rd round) over UCLA.

Gonzaga(OUT! 3rd round) over Pitt (OUT! 2nd round) .



WASHINGTON, D.C. REGION [Winner is UNC (OUT! 2nd round)]

UConn over Albany, UAB (OUT! 1st round) over Kentucky, UConn over UAB (OUT! 1st round) .
Washington over Utah St., Illinois over Air Force, Illinois (OUT! 2nd round) over Washington.

Michigan St. (OUT! 1st round) over George Mason, UNC over Murray St., UNC (OUT! 2nd round) over Michigan St. (OUT! 1st round)
Seton Hall (OUT! 1st round) over Wichita St., Tennessee over Winthrop, Tennessee (OUT! 2nd round) over Seton Hall (OUT! 1st round).

UConn over Illinois (OUT! 2nd round) and UNC (OUT! 2nd round) over Tennessee (OUT! 2nd round) .

UNC (OUT! 2nd round) over UConn.



MINNEAPOLIS REGION [Winner is Villanova (OUT! 4th round) ]

"Play in" game: Monmouth over Hampton


Villanova over Monmouth, Wisconsin (OUT! 1st round) over Arizona, Villanova over Wisconsin (OUT! 1st round) .
Nevada (OUT! 1st round) over Montana, BC over Pacific, BC over Nevada (OUT! 1st round) .

UW-Milwaukee over Oklahoma, Florida over S. Alabama, UW-Milwaukee (OUT! 2nd round) over Florida.
Georgetown over N.Iowa, OSU over Davidson, OSU (OUT! 2nd round) over Georgetown.

Villanova over BC and OSU (OUT! 2nd round) over UW-Milwaukee (OUT! 2nd round) .

Villanova (OUT! 4th round) over OSU (OUT! 2nd round) .

NATIONAL SEMIFINALS

Villanova (OUT! 4th round) over UNC (OUT! 2nd round)

Gonzaga (OUT! 3rd round) over Texas (OUT! 4th round)

Championship Game

Villanova (OUT! 4th round) over Gonzaga (OUT! 3rd round)

3/27/06 UPDATE: A thoroughly wretched job of picking winners, even by my standards. I didn't even get one Final Four team right.

From The Truth and Justice For All Department:

AP: Judge Unexpectedly Halts Moussaoui Trial
An angry federal judge considered Monday whether to dismiss the government's death penalty case against confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui after a federal attorney coached witnesses in violation of her rules.

Slideshow: September 11