Motherhood is one of those indispensable positions. We really can't do without it. The same is true of fatherhood. Catholics hold that every child has a right to a mother and a father. Although some instances make this impossible, outside of anyone's control, to purposefully deprive a child of either parent is to violate their rights and to act contrary to their dignity. We each begin life as a child, with a calling to be sons and daughters. As we grow older we gain a new vocation, to be mothers and fathers. This is universal to every person who has ever or will ever live.
A vocation is a calling, it is what you are called to be. We each have many vocations. Some people are called to be priests, they have a priestly vocation. Some people are called to be doctors, having a medical vocation. Every little boy is called to be a son and every little girls is called to be a daughter. As we travel through life we discover ever more vocations. Our very first vocation is to be children and we never grow out of our vocations, for heaven belongs to such as these.
Vocations are never callings to receive, they are always callings to give, to the gift of self. As children we gave ourselves in trust and obedience. We trusted our parents and teachers to guide us and so we obeyed them. In so doing we gave up our own desires and gave ourselves over to them. As adults we gained a new calling, to be more than children, to be parents. Every man is called to be a father and every woman is called to be a mother. Not necessarily a biological father or mother. If this were it would make life awkward for Catholic nuns and monks and priests. It would also be very unfair to those men and women who can't have children.
Nevertheless, all men and women are called to a type of motherhood or fatherhood. We are called to give ourselves to those who may find themselves under our authority, to be worthy of the trust they are called to place in us, to guide for their sake and not for our own. This is the servant leadership Christ taught us. We so often think that having the position of power entitles us to privilege and honor, it makes us better than those we have authority over, but Christ came as one who serves. You see, the essence of God is love and the essence of love is humility, to place another before ourselves. This is the essence of being a parent, to wield whatever power you may have for the good of another.
The president may think he is the ruler of the free world, but the truth is your parish priest has more real power in his pointer fingers and thumbs than the United States President has in the whole of his office. However, the priest does not seek to force his will on others or enrich himself at their expense. Rather, he pledges himself to poverty, chastity and obedience. In his voice is found the greatest power ever bestowed on mortal man, and yet he does not benefit from it in the slightest. He wields it only for the good of others. This is why we call him father.
Within the womb of a woman is found another great power. The power to bring forth life. A man is necessary for the first fifteen minutes or so, but after that his involvement is more or less voluntary. It is within the woman's womb that this new life finds incarnation, where it is nurtured for nine months, where the mother literally gives herself to her child, providing it with her own nutrients and sheltering it within her own body. The relationship between a mother and child for that first year of life is the purest embodiment of what it means to be a mother.
Within the Church we find nuns and religious sisters, women who have pledged themselves to be be the mothers of the world. They give themselves to God in the three vows or solemn promises of poverty, chastity and obedience. In this way they give themselves not only to God, but to us as well. Although they will never be biological mothers to anyone they become spiritual mothers to all.
To give ourselves in love, for the good of others, is to find the meaning of our existence. For adults, this means to be a parent. Sometimes to our own biological children, sometimes by adoption and sometimes to some person we have never met before and may never see again. This willingness to be a parent is more than just something we do on occasion, it is a state of being. You don't get to be a mom or a dad on a part time basis. Every moment of every day must contain the willingness to be a parent to whomever may have need of us.
This is part of the reason the Church opposes contraception. When we create physical barriers to pregnancy in the midst of sexual union we close ourselves off from our purpose of self giving love, from being moms and dads. Even Natural Family Planning can be contrary to God's will for us if it is done from a desire to avoid having kids. That is, NFP can be done for the sake of being a better parent to those who are already here. Neither it nor any other form of birth control should be used for the purpose of avoiding our parent vocations.
Every woman is called to be a mother and every man is called to be a father. Sometimes we get to be mothers and fathers to our own kids. Sometimes God has other plans for us. Sometimes we only get to embrace this love for an hour. Sometimes for a lifetime. Sometimes our openness to parenthood leads to us being parents. Sometimes it doesn't. What really matters is the openness. God is always open to being our Father, but we have to let Him. We too ought to be ever open; open to being mothers and fathers, open to being sisters and brothers, open to being sons and daughters. As long as we are open to love, we are growing closer to God. The second we close ourselves off, we have lost sight of our very purpose in being and have condemned ourselves to a misery of our own making.
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Showing posts with label meaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meaning. Show all posts
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
The Meaning and Purpose of Life
Why yes, in fact, i do know the meaning and purpose of life. If you would like to know the meaning and purpose of life, all you need to do is send $100 to 1304...
Ok, never mind.
You don't need to send me money. I'll just tell you. I usually fall far short of it, i'm trying, but it's hard. You see, meaning is tied to purpose. Everything has a purpose and the meaning of existence is to fulfill that purpose. This may seem subtle, but i'll ellaborate.
As humans, there are three big questions we tend to ask. Most everything else is just a version of these. Every answer we seek is the counterpart to one of them; What, How and Why.
What is the most basic question of all? What is the most basic question of all. That's the answer, what. The most basic question of all is, what. What is this thing? What is it called? What is it made of? What defines it? You are a person, a human being. You're made of carbon and water and a few grams of various other minerals, and something else. It is this union of the something else to the material that defines you. There are billions of people, but only one of you. Each person is a union of body and soul, and this distinguishes us from everything else. Angels have souls but no bodies. Animals have bodies but no souls. (They have temporal spirits, but that is very different.)
Only human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. This image is stamped on our souls, our souls are joined to our bodies and we are made the manifestation of God's power on earth. (See post from last week.) As human beings we are defined by the image we bare and this joining of conflicting elements. As individuals, we are distinguished by our souls and the individual vocations to which each of us is called. Your body could be duplicated and your memories downloaded into its brain; but you would still be distinct, you would still be different. Your soul and your vocation, your calling, are unique to you.
How! This is the second question. Science loves asking this question. Although, it really only got popular with the enlightenment, when people lost sight of their priorities. Understanding how something came to be and how it works can tell us how to control it. Answering the question of how grants power, and science loves power. This isn't true understanding, it falls short of answering the final question. In Genesis we find an answer to the question of how. It's an extremely simplified answer, but it is all we really need. God did it. We can push further and ask how God did it, and there is nothing wrong with this, but it is not particularly important. In order to move on to the final question, all we need to know is that God did it. Pushing further into the how must not distract us from the why.
Why did God do it? Why am i here? The why informs purpose. Darwinism, materialism, modern enlightenment thinking says there is no real reason. It was just random chance, happenstance. Just the natural result of causality, like the rain or the sunshine. The only purpose is to exist, and then you die. Yea...
Jesus gives a better answer. In fact, He shows us. As He suffers and as He dies, He proclaims the very purpose of our lives. Two-thousand years ago, upon a cross, God gave Himself for us and He now gives Himself to us every day in the Eucharist. Through Scripture and Tradition , He tells us to do likewise.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.
We were not placed here to pursue just any-old-good for ourselves, we were placed here to pursue the good of others. When we imitate Christ, and give ourselves for the good of the world we discover our true purpose, the very meaning of our lives. This is the greatest good we could ever hope to procure.
We were placed here to love as Christ loved. To love the old man across the street. To love the single mother we pass in the store. To love the unborn child, waiting to be born.
We love others when we place their needs before our own. When we desire what is best for them and pursue it without concern for ourselves. When we accept, from God, a "new heart" which "will make it possible to appreciate and acheive the deepest and most authentic meaning of life: namely, that of being a gift which is fully realized in the giving of self." (Blessed Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 49 [emphasis in original])
I fail in this on a daily basis. But occasionally i succeed, and every time i do i rediscover its truth. I cannot prove my claim philosophically, but it is easy to demonstrate. Find an opportunity to love someone who has no chance to reciprocate. Take a leap of faith, you won't regret it.
True happiness is this, to love abundantly, with no concern for your own happiness.
Ok, never mind.
You don't need to send me money. I'll just tell you. I usually fall far short of it, i'm trying, but it's hard. You see, meaning is tied to purpose. Everything has a purpose and the meaning of existence is to fulfill that purpose. This may seem subtle, but i'll ellaborate.
As humans, there are three big questions we tend to ask. Most everything else is just a version of these. Every answer we seek is the counterpart to one of them; What, How and Why.
What is the most basic question of all? What is the most basic question of all. That's the answer, what. The most basic question of all is, what. What is this thing? What is it called? What is it made of? What defines it? You are a person, a human being. You're made of carbon and water and a few grams of various other minerals, and something else. It is this union of the something else to the material that defines you. There are billions of people, but only one of you. Each person is a union of body and soul, and this distinguishes us from everything else. Angels have souls but no bodies. Animals have bodies but no souls. (They have temporal spirits, but that is very different.)
Only human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. This image is stamped on our souls, our souls are joined to our bodies and we are made the manifestation of God's power on earth. (See post from last week.) As human beings we are defined by the image we bare and this joining of conflicting elements. As individuals, we are distinguished by our souls and the individual vocations to which each of us is called. Your body could be duplicated and your memories downloaded into its brain; but you would still be distinct, you would still be different. Your soul and your vocation, your calling, are unique to you.
How! This is the second question. Science loves asking this question. Although, it really only got popular with the enlightenment, when people lost sight of their priorities. Understanding how something came to be and how it works can tell us how to control it. Answering the question of how grants power, and science loves power. This isn't true understanding, it falls short of answering the final question. In Genesis we find an answer to the question of how. It's an extremely simplified answer, but it is all we really need. God did it. We can push further and ask how God did it, and there is nothing wrong with this, but it is not particularly important. In order to move on to the final question, all we need to know is that God did it. Pushing further into the how must not distract us from the why.
Why did God do it? Why am i here? The why informs purpose. Darwinism, materialism, modern enlightenment thinking says there is no real reason. It was just random chance, happenstance. Just the natural result of causality, like the rain or the sunshine. The only purpose is to exist, and then you die. Yea...
Jesus gives a better answer. In fact, He shows us. As He suffers and as He dies, He proclaims the very purpose of our lives. Two-thousand years ago, upon a cross, God gave Himself for us and He now gives Himself to us every day in the Eucharist. Through Scripture and Tradition , He tells us to do likewise.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.
(John 13:34)
We were not placed here to pursue just any-old-good for ourselves, we were placed here to pursue the good of others. When we imitate Christ, and give ourselves for the good of the world we discover our true purpose, the very meaning of our lives. This is the greatest good we could ever hope to procure.
We were placed here to love as Christ loved. To love the old man across the street. To love the single mother we pass in the store. To love the unborn child, waiting to be born.
We love others when we place their needs before our own. When we desire what is best for them and pursue it without concern for ourselves. When we accept, from God, a "new heart" which "will make it possible to appreciate and acheive the deepest and most authentic meaning of life: namely, that of being a gift which is fully realized in the giving of self." (Blessed Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 49 [emphasis in original])
I fail in this on a daily basis. But occasionally i succeed, and every time i do i rediscover its truth. I cannot prove my claim philosophically, but it is easy to demonstrate. Find an opportunity to love someone who has no chance to reciprocate. Take a leap of faith, you won't regret it.
True happiness is this, to love abundantly, with no concern for your own happiness.
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This
is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and
died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Catholicism and Same-Sex-Attraction - Part 3 Gay Marriage
Well, this is the last installment of my first series. My next post will cover some similar ground but it will be a different focus. As with the last installment, i want you to know my position before you read this post. Please go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 before reading this. I cannot be held responsible for any offense you may take (and probably will take) if you aren't versed in what i have already said on this topic.
Although we often hear claims to the contrary, the Catholic position on marriage is not based on our view of gay people. Even if the Church didn't hold homosexual activity to be harmful to those who engage in it, our view of marriage would be the same. Why? Because our understanding of marriage is really based on our understanding of sex.
For Catholics, we start with an assumption of meaning. The universe has meaning, everything has a purpose. This, you kinda gotta take on faith. Either there is meaning and purpose or there isn't. If there is no purpose or meaning then there is no true happiness, for happiness cannot exist apart from meaning. There is just the now, to be lived to the fullest and then comes despair and death and nothing more. (nice thought, huh?)
But what if there is meaning? Remember from Part 2, we discussed the three right desires; truth, goodness and beauty? For the moment, i'm only concerned with truth. A thing's purpose is tied to the truth of that thing. To pursue something in truth is to pursue it in accord with its purpose. (I know this seems abstract and confusing, bare with me for a moment longer.)
Contemplate a house with no one to live in it. No family to cuddle before its fire place. No children to play in its yard. No mom to tell bedtime stories. No dad to scare away the monsters. The purpose of a house is to be a home. What is the allure of fixing up an old house, of restoring it, of making it a home once more? That joy, that is from pursuing the house in accord with its purpose.
Now contemplate sex. What is its purpose? The natural, physical purpose of sex is procreation, having kids! There is also a spiritual purpose of joining the two individuals together, of uniting them together in love. Children are the miraculous sign of this union. This purpose should not be forgotten, but primarily it's the natural purpose which comes to bare on this topic. When we separate sex from its procreative element we are separating it from its purpose, we are not pursuing it in truth, we are pursuing a falsehood.
So sex and procreation can't be separated from each other if we are to find right desire. But what about marriage? Marriage is unique among all human institutions as the only one to flow seamlessly from the natural order. When two people have sex they establish an everlasting bond. They have joined themselves together for all time. They pledge themselves to one another, giving themselves over, fully, without reserve. Sometimes this is incarnated in the form of a child, a living union. Marriage gives words to this act. In marriage these truth are recognized, the two pledge themselves to one another, they join themselves for life. Marriage gives words to this act. Sex gives act to the words.
Here, homosexuals get a bum deal. It would be one thing if Christians applied this idea evenly across the board, but they don't. We tolerate divorce; trying to end an everlasting bond. We tolerate contraception; separating sex from its procreative ends. We tolerate co-habitation; separating sex from marriage.
The truth is, we're all a bunch of hypocrites. We tolerate divorce and contraception and co-habitation because opposing them would be hard, because opposing them would affect us! We want divorce and contraception and co-habitation. What we want for ourselves we turn a blind eye to. But we don't want gay marriage, we don't want gay sex and so we fight it. We fight it because it's icky, because it doesn't affect us.
The truth is, i don't agree with democrats on this point, but i respect them far more then i respect the republicans. At least the democrats are consistent. There is no such thing as gay marriage. Gay sex, by its very nature, is closed to procreation. It cannot be pursued in a way that respects its natural ends. The sexual act of two gay men is not the sexual act to which marriage gives words, its a different act. An act which i believe impedes the happiness of the men and women who engage in it.
But at least i'm consistent. I would say the same thing about divorce and contraception and any sex apart from marriage. I place no burden on you to agree with me. You are free to ignore what i have said and live your life as you choose. I am proud to be Catholic and i am proud to not be a republican. I am proud to be Catholic because this is the only place where these truths are found. Not in any protestant church, not among Muslims nor Jews nor Buddhists. Among the almighty atheist, agnostic, free thinking mob these ideas have never even seen the light of day.
Living life in accord with truth is hard. I know you can't do it yourself, don't force others to. Go live your life to the best of your ability. If you want one final piece of advice, i'd live it as a Catholic. Only here is the fullness of truth to be found. Only here is it united to the fullness of goodness and beauty. Only here can true happiness be obtained.
I might be wrong, but i really don't think i am.
Although we often hear claims to the contrary, the Catholic position on marriage is not based on our view of gay people. Even if the Church didn't hold homosexual activity to be harmful to those who engage in it, our view of marriage would be the same. Why? Because our understanding of marriage is really based on our understanding of sex.
For Catholics, we start with an assumption of meaning. The universe has meaning, everything has a purpose. This, you kinda gotta take on faith. Either there is meaning and purpose or there isn't. If there is no purpose or meaning then there is no true happiness, for happiness cannot exist apart from meaning. There is just the now, to be lived to the fullest and then comes despair and death and nothing more. (nice thought, huh?)
But what if there is meaning? Remember from Part 2, we discussed the three right desires; truth, goodness and beauty? For the moment, i'm only concerned with truth. A thing's purpose is tied to the truth of that thing. To pursue something in truth is to pursue it in accord with its purpose. (I know this seems abstract and confusing, bare with me for a moment longer.)
Contemplate a house with no one to live in it. No family to cuddle before its fire place. No children to play in its yard. No mom to tell bedtime stories. No dad to scare away the monsters. The purpose of a house is to be a home. What is the allure of fixing up an old house, of restoring it, of making it a home once more? That joy, that is from pursuing the house in accord with its purpose.
Now contemplate sex. What is its purpose? The natural, physical purpose of sex is procreation, having kids! There is also a spiritual purpose of joining the two individuals together, of uniting them together in love. Children are the miraculous sign of this union. This purpose should not be forgotten, but primarily it's the natural purpose which comes to bare on this topic. When we separate sex from its procreative element we are separating it from its purpose, we are not pursuing it in truth, we are pursuing a falsehood.
So sex and procreation can't be separated from each other if we are to find right desire. But what about marriage? Marriage is unique among all human institutions as the only one to flow seamlessly from the natural order. When two people have sex they establish an everlasting bond. They have joined themselves together for all time. They pledge themselves to one another, giving themselves over, fully, without reserve. Sometimes this is incarnated in the form of a child, a living union. Marriage gives words to this act. In marriage these truth are recognized, the two pledge themselves to one another, they join themselves for life. Marriage gives words to this act. Sex gives act to the words.
Here, homosexuals get a bum deal. It would be one thing if Christians applied this idea evenly across the board, but they don't. We tolerate divorce; trying to end an everlasting bond. We tolerate contraception; separating sex from its procreative ends. We tolerate co-habitation; separating sex from marriage.
The truth is, we're all a bunch of hypocrites. We tolerate divorce and contraception and co-habitation because opposing them would be hard, because opposing them would affect us! We want divorce and contraception and co-habitation. What we want for ourselves we turn a blind eye to. But we don't want gay marriage, we don't want gay sex and so we fight it. We fight it because it's icky, because it doesn't affect us.
The truth is, i don't agree with democrats on this point, but i respect them far more then i respect the republicans. At least the democrats are consistent. There is no such thing as gay marriage. Gay sex, by its very nature, is closed to procreation. It cannot be pursued in a way that respects its natural ends. The sexual act of two gay men is not the sexual act to which marriage gives words, its a different act. An act which i believe impedes the happiness of the men and women who engage in it.
But at least i'm consistent. I would say the same thing about divorce and contraception and any sex apart from marriage. I place no burden on you to agree with me. You are free to ignore what i have said and live your life as you choose. I am proud to be Catholic and i am proud to not be a republican. I am proud to be Catholic because this is the only place where these truths are found. Not in any protestant church, not among Muslims nor Jews nor Buddhists. Among the almighty atheist, agnostic, free thinking mob these ideas have never even seen the light of day.
Living life in accord with truth is hard. I know you can't do it yourself, don't force others to. Go live your life to the best of your ability. If you want one final piece of advice, i'd live it as a Catholic. Only here is the fullness of truth to be found. Only here is it united to the fullness of goodness and beauty. Only here can true happiness be obtained.
I might be wrong, but i really don't think i am.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
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