2.3 Response
STAGE 2: Awareness of Self
MY SEXUALITY
SUSTAINING PASSION
RESPONSE
Aim: To acknowledge that often we respond to the energy of sexuality in sinful ways.
Readings
Sinful heart (LEW 38-39): “Man’s entire being was bright without shadow, beautiful without blemish, pure without stain […] He had the pure love of God in his heart […]. But, alas, this vessel of the Godhead was shattered into a thousand pieces. This beautiful star fell from the skies. This brilliant sun lost its light. Man sinned, and by his sin lost his wisdom, his innocence, his beauty, his immortality. In a word, he lost all the good things he was given and found himself burdened with a host of evils. His mind was darkened and impaired. His heart turned cold towards the God he no longer loved. His sin-stained soul resembled Satan himself. The passions were in disorder; he was no longer master of himself”.
Adulterous heart (Mt 5:27-30): Jesus said to his disciples, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell”.
Comment
I love to say that the union of sexuality and spirituality is like an electrical connection. Proper joining holds promises. Wrong joining leads to disaster. We often fail to respond adequately both to the image of God revealed through our sexuality and to the call of love hidden in our passions. Thus we face the consequences of a “shattered vessel”, which St. Louis-Marie de Montfort applies to the “fallen man/woman” and describes as a condition of fragmentation and impurity of heart.
The involvement of the heart is crucial to our sexuality. Talking about adultery, Jesus seems to say: “Look here! You are unfaithful to love when you go with another woman or with another man; but you are unfaithful to love even when you do nothing to keep love alive. When you are cold and distant, aren’t you unfaithful to love? When you humiliate the other, or simply when you do not open your heart to the other, aren’t you unfaithful to love? Where is love when a man doesn’t show any sign of tenderness to his wife, when he beats her and threatens her verbally?” Jesus has a wider concept of adultery: it is not just a matter of sex; it is a matter of heart.
Personal Reflection and Sharing
As I reflect on my personal sexual history, how do I respond to the challenging words of Jesus?
In which areas of my life do I experience impurity in my heart and fragmentation in my mind?
How am I responding to the call to associate sexuality more to affectivity than to genitality?
[2-3] CALL RESPONSE COMMITMENT PRAYER