‘Catholic Sexuality’ (part 1 of 7)

     Subjects relating to human sexuality are often hot-button topics in family, politics, and society at large; and Catholics in America have found that the Church’s teachings about abortion, artificial contraception, divorce, the role of women, married clergy, etc., etc. are often lightning rods of controversy even for non-Catholics! Over the next two months, our catechetical page will explore Catholic beliefs concerning human sexuality in general (and some of those topics in particular).   

The Basics— the Bible tells us that, from the very beginning, God made humanity “in His image; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). He then looked upon the humanity He had just created as man and woman “and He found it very good” (Gen 1:31). These simple verses provide us with the foundational belief of ALL Church teaching about human sexuality:

  -God created it;

  -it was given by God as a gift to humanity;

  -God Himself called it “good” from the very beginning.

The ‘Gospel Truth’ about Sexuality— every week at Mass, we recite as part of our creed that the Son of God “became man” in Jesus Christ. In seeking to fully understand the truth about human sexuality, we need to understand the importance of the reality that, when the Son of God took on humanity, He also took on sexuality. By doing so, God was clearly reaffirming sexuality’s goodness, but in an even greater way than He had when He created it and gifted it to us: human sexuality could now be seen as good not only because God had MADE it—but also because God BECAME it!

     From this unique perspective of both God and man, then, Jesus taught with authority on matters of sexuality. He sought to proclaim the goodness of human sexuality as a gift of God and as a gift to be shared with others, and railed against it when it was misused or abused. During His public ministry He taught against divorce and adultery; and He also ministered to and forgave those associated with sexual sins (the woman caught in adultery, prostitutes, etc.). His various teachings on the nature of sacrifice and self-giving in love, exemplified above all by His death on the cross as a human being, form the very center of the Church’s understanding of human sexuality today.

Handing It On— as the writings of the New Testament show, after Jesus had ascended to Heaven, the Apostles continued to teach with great freedom and authority marriage and divorce, sexual immorality of various kinds, and the roles of men and women in ministry. In so doing, they constantly affirm that what the Church teaches about issues of sexuality comes from what Jesus Himself did and said. This too remains the foundation for the Church’s teaching today. 

The Problem— many Catholics today seem to have the sense that everything the Church has to say about sexuality are repeated rules and regulations: “Thou shalt not do THIS; thou shalt not do THAT.” And since Church leadership is largely constructed of celibate men, many Catholics feel that the Church’s teaching on the subject must be biased (as in, “how can an old man in Rome who’s never been married tell ME how to love my spouse? How can they tell ME what’s best for MY family?”)

     These aren’t necessarily bad questions to ask! But if they are really looking for the answers to such questions, Catholics have to remind themselves of where the Church claims to get its teaching on ALL subjects: namely, from Jesus Himself! So does the Church have any business in the bedroom? Well, God sure does! And He entrusted the Church with the Gospel revealed and proclaimed by His Son— including the truth about the goodness (and holiness!) of human sexuality.   

     The good news is that the Church’s teaching about human sexuality has much more depth—and much more JOY!—than what we can find in pronouncements of ‘thou shalt not’. In the coming weeks, we will try to explore just how true that is by illuminating what might at first seem to be just cold ‘rules and regulations’ by viewing them in the love and truth of Jesus Christ.

In the Beginning... ‘Catholic Sexuality’

(part 2 of 7)

     When Jesus was questioned about marriage, He referred back to the very beginning of the Bible, drawing on ‘the story of Adam and Eve’ to show the truth of His own teachings about family and sexuality: “…from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh” (see Mark 10:1012; Jesus is quoting from Genesis 1:27 & 2:24). And since Jesus Himself thought that the biblical story of creation revealed important truths about human sexuality, it’s important to understand that Catholic belief about sexuality has the same foundation!...

‘In His Image’— the first chapter of Genesis tells us that God made humanity “in His image… in the divine image” (Gen 1:27). But how exactly were human beings ‘in God’s image’? Not because we literally looked like Him (God didn’t have a created body), but rather because we truly were like Him in a way that nothing else in creation was: we could love each other in a self-giving way. Consider: God had given animals instinct and in some cases, a limited form of intelligence—  but none of them had the capacity to really know Him. Just so, they could recognize each other through sight or scent, but not come to know each other in a relationship. They could be affectionate, but not truly LOVE either God or each other. He had given animals the ability to mate, but not to marry— to be in a lifelong, self-giving relationship requiring sacrifice for the other person.

     At the end of creation, only human beings were in God’s image as Father, Son and the Spirit of love between them because they could form, as He did, a family with Him and with each other—and given them souls so that they could live in that love forever with Him. We were truly created “in His image” as nothing else was.

‘Male and Female’— to further His design for this love that could be shared with others, God made what we call sexuality an essential part of human life: “male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27). God could have just made man OR woman if He wanted a being that could know and love HIM; but He wanted beings who could share the joy of knowing and loving EACH OTHER as well! According to the Bible, this joyful aspect of creation—God’s design of self-giving love between man and woman—is the foundation for marriage and sexual relations WITHIN marriage: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh” (Gen 2:24).

‘Different, but Equal’— it is vitally important to take these Scriptures to their full implications—and over the years, many have failed to do so! Men treat women with disrespect; discrimination, criticism and harassment on both sides have existed (but usually, as we know all too well, directed towards women). The teachings of the New Testament, founded on the teachings of Genesis, sought to curb this tendency among men: “...you husbands should live with your wives in understanding, showing honor to the weaker female sex, since we are joint heirs of the gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). Note the implication of that verse: if men treat women WITHOUT understanding, WITHOUT honor, without respect— then their relationship with GOD will be hurt, or even broken (‘their prayers will be hindered’)! And since God designed sexuality so that ONLY TOGETHER can men and women bring forth human life (“we are joint heirs of the gift of life”), we only resist God’s original design for human love and sexuality when we hurt each other according to gender. There is no Bible verse or Catholic doctrine which tells us that men OR women are superior in human relationships—and in fact, we find “from the beginning” that when we act as though there IS a built-in superiority existing between genders, we find ourselves far from God… and from each other!

Shameless… 
   ‘Catholic Sexuality’ (part 3 of 7)

Last week we saw that Jesus directed us to look to the biblical account of creation, “in the beginning”, to discover fundamental truths about marriage and sexuality. One particular verse from that creation account tells us something further about how God designed the relationship between the man and woman He had created: “The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame” (Gen 2:25).

‘Naked Without Shame’— what does this tell us about human sexuality? That in God’s original design,  there was no fear and no hurt between men and women. In creation, being “naked” wasn’t just about modesty— it shows that the man and woman didn’t need protection, even from each other. And that they felt “no shame” shows that they didn’t even hurt each other’s feelings, much less each other’s bodies! This means that, when sexuality was created, it was designed by God  to fit into a relationship between man and woman where there could be TOTAL trust—with no fear, no shame, no HURT between them. That’s the plan God had for all expressions of sexuality!

The Effects of Sin— due to the effects of Original Sin, of course, sexuality was damaged along with the rest of human nature. The relationship between man and woman was wounded, and has remained so to this day—any human being can hurt another, but there are specific hurts associated with sexuality: from harmful stereotypes and gender discrimination down to lust, adultery and even rape. Fortunately, God still views sexuality as a GOOD thing, both of itself and in its physical expression—and He wants us to experience it AS a good thing! That’s why He continued to speak to His people over and over again about avoiding sins related to sexuality: as long as we fall into such sins, we can know the physical pleasure associated with sexuality, but we lose its original beauty and, ultimately, the joy of the deep, committed, and self-giving relationship that it was designed for!

What Jesus Had to Say— Jesus also adhered to this concept that the goodness and joy of sexuality could only be fully experienced in an environment where men and women could be ‘naked without shame’, and taught thus to His followers: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, whoever has looked at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). Jesus, as always, sets a high standard for love: our hearts and minds (not just our bodies!) are part of our sexuality, and should never be abused or misused (i.e., pornography, etc.). It also means that, in marriage, sharing the gift of our sexuality with our spouse includes a commitment of oneself as a COMPLETE man or woman—body, soul, mind, and emotions!

     Of course, that’s not easy. Jesus had to take His love right to the cross and prove His faithfulness at great cost. But as we know (and as the cross shows us!), true love requires sacrifice—and the more sacrifices that are offered, the more committed and trustworthy that love becomes. Between men and women who love each other, this then enables them to be “naked without shame” on ALL of those levels: complete trust, no fear of hurt, and quick to forgive when hurt DOES happen. Jesus’ teachings (as handed on by the Catholic Church today!) are not meant simply to condemn, allow men and women to return to the joy of God’s original design for the goodness of human sexuality.

Healing Past Hurts— Precisely because our sexuality is such a part of our whole identity and not just our bodies, hurts that stem from our sexuality can run deep and linger for years. Sadly, we have come face to face in the Church with the chilling face of child sexual abuse; even as adults, we know that we have expressed our sexuality at times both past and present in which we ourselves chose the activities which resulted in pain for ourselves or for others. But no matter what pain we have carried or caused concerning matters of sexuality, we have to remember that Jesus could always both HEAL and FORGIVE all pain—so long as people gave it to Him to heal! Turning to Christ, especially for healing in the Eucharist and forgiveness in confession, is an incredible help in giving us peace from pains stemming from misuse or abuse of sexuality—and turning to Him now enables us to be able to experience our sexuality in times to come in a state of being ‘naked without shame’, full of joy, just as He intended!

Contraception?

 ‘Catholic Sexuality’ (part 4 of 7)

Most Catholics are aware that the topic of ‘artificial birth control’ has been a controversial one in the past few decades. The Church maintains (as it always has) that artificial contraception cannot be used, even for good reasons; meanwhile, many Catholics continue to use some form of it in their marriage! So why does the Church teach as it does on this topic when so many seem to disagree? The reason is that the Church’s teachings about artificial birth control doesn’t START with birth control—it starts with what GOD revealed to us about human love, sexuality, and marriage:

In His Image— going back to the book of Genesis, we see that God created human beings “in His image” (Gen 1:27). Now God is a Trinity—three Persons sharing one divine nature. Each Person there (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) completely knows, loves, and gives to the others, so that there is truly only one God united in perfect love. He made humanity ‘in His image’ by creating man and woman, true persons designed to be able to know and love each other in a self-giving relationship. He did so specially in the gift of their sexuality, so that their coming to know each other would be a true discovery of the other, who had gifts that they themselves did not. And in the course of the sexual union designed as part of this loving relationship, the total gift of themselves to each other could deepen “God’s image” as Trinity in them through begetting a ‘third person’ (a child) who shared their human nature, united in perfect love!

Be FERTILE and Multiply— Genesis also tells us that God’s command to the man and the woman was to “be fertile and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). This wasn’t just to produce children, though! After all, if God had intended men and women to express their sexuality ONLY for procreation, he could have made them both ‘fertile’ all the time—but He didn’t. God made our fertility cyclical and fairly predictable so that we could cooperate with Him in our love for each other. He also made sexual relations the means by which, at given times, that cooperation could lead to begetting a ‘third person’ in our children. In God’s plan, sexuality is clearly designed for both life AND love, bonding AND babies.

     So, the loving sexual expression of husbands and wives does not always lead to pregnancy; and nor does God (or the Church) desire it to do so. But God designed sexuality so that even when it literally CANNOT lead to “multiply” in pregnancy, it must ALWAYS “be fertile”— because God made fertility a permanent part of the gift that we share with our spouse. Artificial birth control does more than just try to prevent a pregnancy; it tries to remove fertility too, ‘redesigning’ the way God created us to better suit OURSELVES. Contraception sends the message to God that we only like part of His gift to us. More than that, it tells Him that we believe our love for each other is more important than HIS love for us! Instead of cooperating with God, we try to prevent Him from entering into the relationship with us.

     God designed fertility to be a built-in part of the gift of the person in sexuality. This means that, if married love is meant to be an ENTIRE gift of the ENTIRE person, then that gift is lessened by trying to artificially remove fertility from sexual expression! It changes the gift of ourselves, so that however genuine our love for our spouse is, contraception always sends the subtle message to them that “there is a part of ME that I don’t want YOU to have”— as well as “this is part of YOU that I don’t want to have”. And as we can see in the Bible, that’s not the ‘true love’ that God wants— He designed the gift of sexual expression between man and woman be a TOTAL gift of self, imitating the way He loves us Himself!

All You Need Is Love— so, forbidding artificial contraception is not the Church’s attempt to ‘get more Catholics’, but rather to remain true to GOD’S design for true love between men and women in marriage, enabling an ever-deeper love between them. It’s about the COUPLE, not just the children. And for those loving couples who disern a need to postpone pregnancy at a given time (and there can be good, moral reasons to do so!), there are MANY current ’natural family planning’ techniques available throughout America which the Church heartily endorses (take the time to google the terms ‘NFP’ or ‘natural family planning’!). These use the most up-to-date science available, giving them a higher percentage of success than artificial contraceptives; and better than that, they are shown to STRENGTHEN marital relationships and deepen the appreciation of BOTH spouses for sexuality, so that they don’t feel ‘used’ in the process. The Church’s teaching on contraception is a LOT more than ‘because the Pope said so’—and ultimately, the best reason to apply the Church’s teaching on this subject is because it makes our love for each other happier, healthier, and holier—just like God intended!

Priestesslessness
 
‘Catholic Sexuality’ (part 5 of 7)

The Teaching— the Catholic Church has always allowed only men to be ordained (that is, receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders) since the time of Jesus. In recent decades, several prominent Christian denominations have begun allowing women ministers after centuries of all-male hierarchy and ministry; but the Catholic Church has remained steadfast in teaching that only men may be ordained to the priesthood. Moreover, this teaching has been defined by the Church as belonging to the ‘Deposit of Faith,’ which makes it unchangeable even in the future.

Where It Comes From— the Catholic Church bases this teaching on the fact that Jesus Himself was the person who created the first priests and bishops (the Apostles)—and He picked only men for this special ministry in His Church. We see in the Gospels that Jesus treated women with more dignity, respect, mercy and tender care than they had EVER received in that society; He called them to important love and service in relation to His Gospel; He invited them to deep and intimate participation in the mysteries of His incarnation and redemption;  but He did not call ANY women to receive the unique ministry of the Apostles. So, while Mary was the first person to literally have the Body and Blood of Jesus within her in intimate communion (cf. Luke 1:35), only the Apostles received the power to celebrate the Eucharist (Luke 22:14-20). While Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus risen and believe in Him (John 20:1-18), only the still-frightened Apostles were entrusted with the power to celebrate Reconciliation just after that (John 20:19-23). Since JESUS ordained only men, the ordination of an all-male priesthood belongs to the “Deposit of Faith” — the words and deeds of Jesus Himself— and can never change as a result!

WHY?— so just WHY did Jesus select only men as His priests? After all, God had created BOTH man and woman “in His image” (Genesis 1:27); Jesus had broken many social norms by treating women with equal dignity and respect; and the apostolic teaching which followed His example declared that when it comes to importance, “[t]here is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

     So the equal DIGNITY of women is not in question in the Church teaching—rather, it is the ROLE of the priest that determines this aspect of the Deposit of Faith. What is that role? Several times in the New Testament, the Church is described as “the bride of Christ”, and Jesus is shown as the husband who loves her so much He dies to save her (see Ephesians 5:25-32). When the priest stands in Jesus’ place at Mass to declare “This is my Body, which will be given up for you”, Christ is speaking through him AS this bridegroom, offering Himself up for His bride. Christ lives EQUALLY in both men and women through Baptism; but the Sacrament of Holy Orders calls a person to literally ‘stand in the place’ of Jesus when He is the HUSBAND of the Church. Women are certainly MORE than able to know, live and preach the Gospel, to love their neighbor and minister to the needy and forgive and etc. and etc.—  but to specifically offer Eucharistic sacrifice (the most essential act of the priesthood), in which Jesus speaks and acts AS this Bridegroom, requires the gift of ’maleness’ in both the physical and spiritual sense. In other words, He can act in this way ONLY through a male minister who is ordained into this priesthood. Think of it this way: bread and wine are not ’more important’ or ’better’ than lettuce and water— but God only makes the Sacrament of Eucharist from one and not the other, because of what He needed it to mean for His Church. In the same way, men are not ’more important’ or ’better’ than women— but God only makes the Sacrament of Holy Orders possible for one, and not for the other, because of what He needed it to mean for His Church!

Women’s Work— History clearly demonstrates that the Church suffers when it ignores what John Paul II called “the feminine genius”: the God-given gifts that ONLY women possess, without which men CANNOT ever be fully “in the image of God”! (if you really want to know the beauty of this teaching, get on the internet and look up “Mulieris Dignitatem” [‘On the Dignity of Women’] by John Paul II– you won’t regret it!) It was women who first believed when they saw Jesus risen— while Jesus had to rebuke His new priests for NOT believing (cf. Mark 16:1-14). At age 30, Catherine of Siena convinced the Pope to change his mind and heal a tremendous Church rift, changing Church history forever. And due her intimate union with Christ AS A WOMAN, Mary’s simple “yes” to God affected more men in history than ANY priest ever will. “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of priest”, as the old saying goes— and every priest better remember it.

For the sake of the Kingdom ‘Catholic Sexuality’ (6 of 7)

What It Is— celibacy is a state of life committed to by bishops and priests (as well as those in religious orders) in the Roman Catholic Church. In taking a vow of celibacy, such men and women choose a life apart from marriage in which they can best live out what they believe to be a call from Christ to embrace their particular vocation. Particularly in the case of priests and bishops, celibacy is seen by the Church (as it has been for many, many centuries) as the best way to live out the unique ministry that is transmitted through the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

Where it Comes From— neither Jesus nor the early Church commanded these ministers to be celibate. In fact, Saint Paul referred to the fact that several of the Apostles (including Peter!) were “accompanied by a wife” in their ministry (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:4); and he wrote to Timothy “A bishop must be married only once…” (1 Tim 3:2-4).

      However, even that early in Church history, celibacy was strongly supported as an ideal state for these ministers to embrace their vocations. Paul was not married, and though he obviously did not believe the Apostles to be in error, he nonetheless stated flatly that “I would want everyone to be as I am” (1 Cor 7:1-7); he affirmed the goodness of marriage, but goes on to say that for ministry, “he who refrains from marriage will do better” (1 Cor 7:38). And Jesus Himself seemed to provide a good basis for Paul’s belief in this regard when He taught His Apostles, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom it is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it” (Matthew 19:11-12).

Can It Ever Change?— Yes. The commitment to celibacy by priests and bishops in the Church is understood on a technical level not as a doctrine (an official and unchanging teaching stemming from the words and deeds of Jesus), but as a discipline (a pastoral decision made by the Church to help live doctrine better). So if it CAN change, why hasn’t it? After all, the ‘vocations crisis’ of the Church in the Western world is often being touted in Catholic circles, often alongside a somewhat popular belief that allowing priests to marry would dramatically increase priestly vocations. And let’s not forget: it’s not like Jesus didn’t like marriage—He made it a Sacrament!

     In the early Church, the benefits of the discipline of celibacy were practical—it’s hard to imagine Paul able to travel and preach with the freedom he did if he were married with children! Moreover, all but one of the Apostles were martyred; while these men were in prison or after they were executed, how could they provide for their families? In light of how all of this affected both the Church and families, what was considered the ideal became the norm for priestly ordination in the Western Church, and it remains so: those who seek to answer Christ’s call to the ordained priesthood are expected to take a vow of celibacy. The reasons for continuing to strictly observe this discipline in the Church today are much the same: with married clergy, one of two things would happen in the current situation—the parish would break up or the marriage would! Imagine the feelings of a child whose father has to leave their birthday celebration because of Mass schedules or visiting the sick; or someone dying without the Sacraments because that birthday party made them late. Children would grow to resent or even abandon religion, which they would feel was ‘more important’ than they were. Imagine the wife who has to ‘share’ her husband with several hundred parishioners, who must always take preference over her; imagine the husband who would constantly have to choose ‘for’ or ‘against’ his family by attempting to embrace TWO vocations at once!

      In light of such considerations, even as a discipline, the ‘question’ of priestly celibacy doesn’t currently  appear to have much change on the horizon. And though only God knows what the future may bring for His Church, we should ALWAYS understand that all those in the Church who have embraced a celibate life “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven”, as Jesus put it, deserve our unending respect and support. They certainly get it from Our Lord, after all: “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time… and in the age to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-31).

Here Comes the Bride(groom)! 
 ‘Catholic Sexuality’ (7 of 7)

We know that when the Son of God became a human being, He chose to become a man—not because man was superior to woman, but because He wished to state something clearly about the relationship between God and humanity. As with the Sacraments, Jesus coming as man was not only a symbol— it reflected the REALITY that Jesus’ love is not merely a distant, impersonal love of a God who was far off, but in fact the intimate and sacrificial love of a HUSBAND! Jesus chose a marriage (Mary and Joseph) as the way in which He would enter into humanity; He chose a wedding as the setting to begin His ministry (John 2:1-11); He referred to Himself several times in parable form as a “bridegroom” (Mark 2:18-20/Mt 9:14-17; Mt 25:1-13), just as John the Baptist had done for Him (John 3:22-30).

     Above all, it was as a bridegroom that Jesus offered His life on the cross. And who was His bride, the ‘woman’ He loved so that He would die for her? The Church! The New Testament describes the Church as “the holy city… coming down from heaven from God, prepared as a bride for her husband” (cf. Rev. 21:1-4). To make this ‘bride’, His people, able to love and be healed in spite of sin and suffering, Jesus the Bridegroom DIED for her. He gave His life, not thinking of Himself but only of ‘her’, making her holy by giving her the gift of Himself, that she could have that gift within her always and bring forth new life from it. As in the realm of married sexuality itself, the bridegroom enters from outside and gives the gift of new life, which the bride may cherish with her own gifts, bringing forth new life from within herself and nourishing it with her own self. This is the high standard of self-sacrifice that would be expected of ALL husbands who claimed to be followers of Christ: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her…” (Eph 5:25).   

First good; now SACRED— Jesus made marriage the proper context to understand what He did for our salvation, and to understand the true power and intimacy of God’s love for us. This is why the Church came to view marriage as a Sacrament: even though marriage existed “in the beginning” with Adam and Eve, Jesus had raised it to a whole new level! St. Paul quoted Genesis to make this very point, showing that with marriage, Christ had taken a good thing— and made it SACRED: “’For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ [Gen 2:24]… This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church” (Eph 5:31-32).

     As Christ Himself put it, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh” (cf. Matthew 19:3-9). Viewed in this light, the Catholic view of marriage is that of total commitment; it is a living out of the same kind of covenant love that God showed for His people, even to death and beyond! When Catholics are able to understand that marriage is not just ‘having their love blessed by the Church,’ but in fact embracing Christ at the center of their love and striving to imitate this intimate and self-sacrificing love, the fullness of that Sacrament carries them through both good times and bad. Otherwise, without this understanding of marriage AS a Sacrament, even Catholics who marry in the Church will not EXPERIENCE it that way— as a result, many blessings are in fact lost and ‘bad times’ seem impossible to overcome.

‘...And the Two Become One Flesh’— precisely because of this self-giving, self-sacrificing love that Christ gave as the “Bridegroom” in the New Testament, sexual expression can only be blessed by God and made holy within marriage. Men and women don’t just have bodies; they have thoughts, emotions, and souls! All of these things are inseparable from one another. Knowing that your spouse wants to sacrifice for you as much as JESUS did creates a deep trust, and this allows a powerful emotional intimacy that enhances the physical. Knowing that the other person considers marriage AS a Sacrament, as a sacred covenant, allows spiritual intimacy which likewise enhances their physical relationship! Only with Christ truly at the heart of marriage— and of life!— will sexual relationships find their most rewarding (and most ‘Catholic’) expression.

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Not an easy read

     “Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand. As for me, the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand.” 
 M. Twain

Q&A: What to Read

How are the readings for each Sunday chosen?

Each Sunday the word of God is proclaimed in our church in the form of three scripture readings and a psalm. The first reading and the psalm always come from the first testament of the Bible (the “Old Testament”), except during the Easter season, when the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. The second reading is a selection from one of the non-gospel books of the second testament of the Bible (the “New Testament”). The third reading is always chosen from one of the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. It is clear from the title “liturgy of the word” that the scriptures are an integral part of Sunday Eucharist.

This emphasis on a more thorough and varied use of the scriptures is a direct result of the renewal of the liturgy called for by the Second Vatican Council: “The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s word.” To meet this need, a new lectionary (or book of readings for worship) was published in 1970. It included assigned texts for each Sunday based on a three-year cycle of readings. And, as noted above, each Sunday included three readings as well as a responsorial psalm.

This was a major change. Previously, only one set of Sunday readings was used year after year. Two readings and a psalm verse were appointed for each Sunday. And one of those readings, the gospel, was almost always from the Gospel of Matthew. The gospel readings in the 1970 lectionary include selections from all four evangelists: Matthew in what is called Year A, Mark in Year B and Luke in Year C. We hear the Gospel of John during the major liturgical seasons as well as during Year B (the year of Mark), perhaps because Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four and wouldn’t otherwise fill out the whole year.

The gospels were assigned first. The first reading was chosen for its connection to the day’s gospel. The psalm that follows the first reading is related to it. The psalm is the assembly’s response to the word that has just been proclaimed. The second reading is not necessarily related to the other readings. Selections from the chosen book are simply read somewhat in order.

As people baptized to live not by bread alone but by the word of God as well, the liturgy of the word should not be the only time we hear the readings. One way to live with the lectionary is to do an attentive reading of the scriptures before the liturgy each Sunday—a fruitful and enriching way of entering more deeply into the prayer. Another approach is to hear the word proclaimed in the assembly first, and then spend the following week rereading and meditating on it. Whichever method you choose, several helpful resources have been published to aid you.

Copyright © 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1900 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by Kathy Luty. Art by Luba Lukova.