Romans,
Chapter 13, Verse 8-10
8 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit
adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and
whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, [namely]
“You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” 10
Love does no evil to the
neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment
of the law.
Bishop
Fulton Sheen is one of his weekly addresses in February 1999 entitled
"Truth - Forgotten Ideal" stated:
Submission
is one of the deepest needs of the human heart. After a century and a half of
false liberalism, in which it was denied that anything is true, and that it
makes no difference what you believe, the world reacted to totalitarianism. It
grew tired of its freedom, just as children in progressive schools grow tired
of their license to do whatever they please. Freedom fatigues those who want to
shirk responsibility. Then it is they look for some false god into whose hands
they can throw themselves, so they will never have to think or make decisions
for themselves. Nazism, Fascism, and Communism came into being during the
twentieth century, as a reaction against false liberalism.
Amoris Lætitia[1]
Passionate love, violence and manipulation (153-157)On the basis of this positive vision of sexuality, we can approach the entire subject with a healthy realism. It is, after all, a fact that sex often becomes depersonalized and unhealthy; as a result, “it becomes the occasion and instrument for self-assertion and the selfish satisfaction of personal desires and instincts.” In our own day, sexuality risks being poisoned by the mentality of “use and discard.” The body of the other is often viewed as an object to be used as long as it offers satisfaction, and rejected once it is no longer appealing. Can we really ignore or overlook the continuing forms of domination, arrogance, abuse, sexual perversion and violence that are the product of a warped understanding of sexuality? Can we look aside when the dignity of others and our human vocation to love thus end up being less important than an obscure need to “find oneself”? We also know that, within marriage itself, sex can become a source of suffering and manipulation. Hence it must be clearly reaffirmed that “a conjugal act imposed on one’s spouse without regard to his or her condition, or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife.” The acts proper to the sexual union of husband and wife correspond to the nature of sexuality as willed by God when they take place in “a manner which is truly human.” Saint Paul insists: “Let no one transgress and wrong his brother or sister in this matter” (1 Th 4:6). Even though Paul was writing in the context of a patriarchal culture in which women were considered completely subordinate to men, he nonetheless taught that sex must involve communication between the spouses: he brings up the possibility of postponing sexual relations for a period, but “by agreement” (1 Cor 7:5). Saint John Paul II very subtly warned that a couple can be “threatened by insatiability.” In other words, while called to an increasingly profound union, they can risk effacing their differences and the rightful distance between the two. For each possesses his or her own proper and inalienable dignity. When reciprocal belonging turns into domination, “the structure of communion in interpersonal relations is essentially changed.” It is part of the mentality of domination that those who dominate end up negating their own dignity. Ultimately, they no longer “identify themselves subjectively with their own body,” because they take away its deepest meaning. They end up using sex as form of escapism and renounce the beauty of conjugal union. Every form of sexual submission must be clearly rejected. This includes all improper interpretations of the passage in the Letter to the Ephesians where Paul tells women to “be subject to your husbands” (Eph 5:22). This passage mirrors the cultural categories of the time, but our concern is not with its cultural matrix but with the revealed message that it conveys. As Saint John Paul II wisely observed: “Love excludes every kind of subjection whereby the wife might become a servant or a slave of the husband… The community or unity which they should establish through marriage is constituted by a reciprocal donation of self, which is also a mutual subjection.” Hence Paul goes on to say that “husbands should love their wives as their own bodies” (Eph 5:28). The biblical text is actually concerned with encouraging everyone to overcome a complacent individualism and to be constantly mindful of others: “Be subject to one another” (Eph 5:21). In marriage, this reciprocal “submission” takes on a special meaning, and is seen as a freely chosen mutual belonging marked by fidelity, respect and care. Sexuality is inseparably at the service of this conjugal friendship, for it is meant to aid the fulfillment of the other. All the same, the rejection of distortions of sexuality and eroticism should never lead us to a disparagement or neglect of sexuality and eros in themselves. The ideal of marriage cannot be seen purely as generous donation and self-sacrifice, where each spouse renounces all personal needs and seeks only the other’s good without concern for personal satisfaction. We need to remember that authentic love also needs to be able to receive the other, to accept one’s own vulnerability and needs, and to welcome with sincere and joyful gratitude the physical expressions of love found in a caress, an embrace, a kiss and sexual union. Benedict XVI stated this very clearly: “Should man aspire to be pure spirit and to reject the flesh as pertaining to his animal nature alone, then spirit and body would both lose their dignity.” For this reason, “man cannot live by obligatory descending love alone. He cannot always give, he must also receive. Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive love as a gift”.164 Still, we must never forget that our human equilibrium is fragile; there is a part of us that resists real human growth, and any moment it can unleash the most primitive and selfish tendencies.
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