Material Girls - and Guys

   Before some say, "Well, of course she thinks that way. She's an old lady. Times have changed. We are so enlightened today."

   Rubbish! To those who delude themselves, human nature is the same in every generation. Centuries have not altered that. The difference today is that the "enlightenment" is secular humanism, materialism, selfish pleasure above all, allowing one to ignore eternal truths. Morality, knowing (or caring) what is sinful doesn't fit the modern view of life. If we look back - way back - in history, it is more paganism than enlightenment.

   When I saw Ms. Fluke from Georgetown University pleading for the U.S. government to subsidize her immorality, because that's what it is, I was ashamed for her; because, obviously she, and most of today's younger generations don't know what shame is.

   "Here we go," one says, "a sermon about how it used to be." Well, that would be correct. There was a time when girls and women cherished and guarded their chastity and modesty. Men preferred to marry a virgin (never mind that most of them didn't observe the same rules for themselves - that's another topic).  They wanted a wife, home and family, the firm base of a civilized society. People actually used to think that way.

   What it meant to young men was that they could expect faithful wives and good mothers for their children. The "easy" or "loose" girls might be suspect in the faithfulness department. And yes, they were often called sluts and whores. It was expected, even if the men had "fooled around," because they had (and still have) less self-control, that once they married, they became men, husbands, fathers, excluding all others. A proper marriage ceremony actually says that - excluding all others. Marriage is supposed to be a deterent to concupiscence. Once one finds the right mate, love for each other and raising a family, in other words, growing up, is the expected outcome. Did men stray? Do they still? Yes, and it's still called adultery and it still is a mortal sin. The problem is that today women are too often just as guilty.

   Birth control pills were hailed as a boon to married women so that they could control the number of children they had, or could space them for "health reasons." The Catholic Church has never approved the pill or any other means of artificial birth control. That includes devices,vasectomies, tubal ligations, hysterectomies, except for disease. Those methods interfere with the natural purpose of the marital act. It isn't just a Church law. It goes against natural law, which our modern society has ceased to recognize. I haven't time for a treatise on Thomistic philosophy, but it's rock solid. There is natural family planning, which is accepted by the Church and does not go against natural law. It works. A little sacrifice and self-control is all that's necessary. If it doesn't work for some reason, then - and here's the phrase that makes people cringe when they hear it, "It's God's Will."

   God doesn't come into the modern lifestyle. He's the last thing people think about. They may get married "before God" in a church or before a minister, but the vows taken before Him are just so many words to be ignored if one or the other spouse doesn't measure up. "Til death do us part" are just words. "For better or for worse," (and that includes cheating) are just words. "For richer or for poorer," (which includes gambling savings away or being careless with money) are just words. "In sickness and in health," (including alcoholism or drug abuse) are just words.

   I have a paragraph here on cheating. Pornography is cheating. It is a current problem in the ruination of marriages. It abases married love. The movie,  Fireproof, should serve as a lesson. What passes as entertainment in sit-coms on TV, half-time performances at the Super bowl, movies that must have blatant sex scenes, all contribute. People have become so de-sensitized to smut, foul language, disrespect, that they aren't even conscious that their living rooms and movie theaters are becoming cesspools.  Look at the children. How do they talk? What do they act out? How are they affected by their parents' behaviors? And that outcome - in the children - may not show up for years. But it will, in some way.

   Hasty marriages or marriage for any number of wrong reasons do not excuse the breaking of those vows. Catholics who marry before a priest, in church, are married - til death do them part. If a divorce occurs, for a really serious reason, such as abuse, the parties may never re-marry until the death of the other. A vow is a vow is a vow. To break it is a mortal sin.

   I strayed from the birth control issue, but a lot of this is connected. The whole societal view of sex and marriage is skewed. It's the "If it feels good, do it. Whatever makes you happy, do it. If it gets to be a drag, toss it. If the old magic is gone, toss it. If anything messes up the 'I deserve to be happy' quotient - toss it."

   We have gone from a nation of moral values and firm religious convictions to a nation of hedonism and immorality. The young woman wanting someone to pay for her and her fellow students to have sex anywhere, any time, with any body and be "safe" from pregnancy is asking the taxpayer (who funds the government) or an insurer or organization that has a religious belief to uphold and defend, to pay for a sinful lifestyle. Sex is good - in the married state. Sex, as fornication (it's in the Bible), outside the married state - is sinful. What a concept! It's only one of the Ten Commandments. They haven't been rescinded - yet!

   While I'm alienating all and sundry, I may as well go on with my sermonizing. The Bible says that a man committs adultery in his heart when he simply has lustful thoughts about a woman. It is a mystery to me why modern women, who do not want to be simply "sex objects" go out of their way to be just that. There is no modesty, no sense of shame in dress - or rather perhaps, un-dress. Some skirts are so short and bikinis so devoid of material that the wearer might as well be nude. Thongs are worse, if that's possible. Blouses and other tops show too much cleavage. All of these "fashions" are displeasing to God. Believe it. If women think that men are not "turned on" by looking at these states of undress , then they are ignorant of male libido or are very aware and want the men aroused. In either case, they contribute to men's committing sin. In turn, they sin by being an occasion of sin.  There's that word again. People don't want to hear it or believe in it; but sin is serious business. It sends an immortal soul to Hell.

   It may be that I thought to write this because of the Epistle read in yesterday's Mass, Second Sunday of Lent, Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians I, 4:1-7.  I underlined a bit. In part it says "We pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus that, as you have received from us, how you ought to walk and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles (pagans) that know not God....because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, as we have told you before and have testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification: in Christ Jesus our Lord."

   Those who claim to be Christians and follow Christ, might want to pay attention to what the Bible teaches, the Book which Christians are supposed to live by. God and His Word are eternal. This world is not. This life is not. Our souls - and eventually our bodies - will dwell forever in the next. Will it be Heaven or Hell?  Lent is a good time to think about the "forever" part.