A new Sex-Culture... a temptation ???

Did you read it ? Very interesting! If not... I fear you are not a regular reader of Southern
Cross... How are you a modern Catholic without knowing what's going on in Southern Africa
with our Church? Fr. Ron Rolheiser, an  OMI who is able to think, has the courage to look into "How we understand Sex" and here he sees a real great change in our time (SC-copy 30.12.2015) And you - did you see it ?

In this article Fr. R looks not into science and technology, but into sex-life and explains:
ONCE (before ca. 1950) 1. Sex was MORALLY connected to procreation; - very strong...
2. Sex was tied to marriage (cf. the commandment: no sex before or out of marriage);
3. Sex has gone along with love and commitment (cf. sex as an expression of love only).
TODAY: 1. The connection of sex to procreation has broken down (cf. pill etc...)
2. Sex outside marriage is now more the norm than the exception.
3. Sex is more and more cut off from love ("hook-up-sex")
This shift into a new "understanding sex" is a widespread reality and more:
it's more or less tolerated or also propagated practice in our society. Also in Namibia ?
The change is a fact... you like it or not.

Now the great QUESTION for every Catholic and for the whole Catholic Church:
How do you see, how do you value this change ???   It's a temptation ???
I. The connection between sex and procreation is solved by the Sec. Vatican Council
(1962-1965): The Church got after a long deliberation the new insight: Sex is first for the well-being of the marriage / family (husband and wife), second for procreation.
This is now clear for the most of the Catholic people, if not for all.
II. Marriage: Here Fr. R takes a firm stand: "Our culture's severing of the non-negotiable
tie between sex and marriage is just plain wrong". Here Society and Church disagree - 
the discussion is in full swing: Sexual activity ONLY between the boundaries of marriage?
And what is marriage today ?  cf. Family-Synod 2015 - no solution...
III. What about "sex + love"? How much are they interconnected morally and practically?
Love with or without sex? Sex with or without love? And what is telling us Human Nature?
Religions? Economy? Health? Society? Science and Philosophy?
The Church: "love each other" never told us to have sex with each other! Love the enemy!
Sex with the enemy (as a weapon of war).. Sure not! Love + Sex are two different "GIFT's"
How to differentiate? Pay attention: maybe "sex"-understanding is strongly changing -
SEX is water - LOVE is wine.

and lead us not into temptation...

A prayer in vain... like JvN (Lk 4.1-13 / 1th Lenten-Sunday C) we all are "in temptation".
a) We ask for the daily bread + wine - it's all what we ask for ???
    We don't need to change bread + wine in the "Body of Christ" ...  ???
b) Worshiping what we like... serving what we see as good, useful, healing...
    really engaged...  but God ? We don't believe: "we are dust and to dust we will return".
c) As "Children of God" we have our Angels; they care for us, they bring us into Heaven -
    the world and the creation law and the natural law are good but not so much for us...
    In case of emergency God will make an intervention in our favor - especially if we pray
    very seriously.

JvN has taken a stand: I give my Body as "Bread for the Life of the World".
                                        I have decided: God is THE Reality in my Life. I'm at his disposal.
                                        I'm convinced God is given; His Grace + Spirit is all poured out.

JvN has gone into temptation - there is no other way - maybe his great temptation was
the cross-way - to represent God without "earthly power" - like powerless... we see later:
the cross-way is the resurrection-way - but today there is a new, modern temptation:
resurrection without cross-way.

We are glad Lk has given us a glimpse into the "psychological trouble" of JvN.
We are convinced he has done his way - we name him blessed.
But - after we got the temptation-story - let Jesus stand and turn to our own situation.
Do we recognize where our own temptations are ? How do you overcome the temptation
if you don't know what is your temptation? Some people feel it's normal today not to believe
in God or in Heaven or in Jesus Christ or in the Church-Community. For many to believe is the temptation. For many it's normal ta ask God to fulfill the own wishes; they feel:
not to ask after the helping Angels is the temptation...

"You are dust and to dust you will return" I feel it's one of the biggest modern temptation to take this reality as the real reality: We are precious Stardust - we live our lives as good as possible (ethically responsible and in good stand); hopefully joyful and blessed... but death is death - after: there is nothing any more. The decision to believe in God, it means: to take God as a Reality: God called us into life... into fullness of Life... all this is nothing else as a hopefully good illusion !!!  ???   Remember: we are in temptation like Jv.N.

DUST - Stardust - CALL ...

After this wonderful festive Season - Christmas-time full of joy and promises -
Jesus is born and recognized as a Savior - until today and sure by many...
Jesus is baptized, certified by God - like we by he Baptism into the Community
Jesus has declared his Life-project: to give his person as life-empowerment.

And now we change time...  we go into Lenten-time... we see Jesus on the cross-way.
From the joy of birth we fall, we crash into death.  ABSTURZ...
Lenten-time may be like a spiritual retreat: we meditate the fact that every Christian-Life
is a cross-way... a cross-way into resurrection; but - again / in every case - a cross way.

We start with Ash-Wednesday (10.02.2016)
The message - all people know: "remember - you are dust and to dust you will return".
This is now what we learn: You are DUST, nothing, useless, you are over, you don't count,
and this as your ultimate reality (to dust you will return!)

It's the most terrible message for a Christian! In the Baptism the Church told us: "Child of God"; as we follow Jesus Christ we are light, bread + wine; we are a blessing for many...
but today: "YOU ARE DUST" and finally only DUST (nothing else).
This sentence as a definition of a person is a real offence. They tell us: You are nothing more than a conglomerate of atoms. The atomic complexity makes you think, speak, love;
you have dreams, plans, illusions, imaginations; you have belief and hope,you have religion (belief in God and hope for Heaven); you participate with the Kingdom of God - but at the end... "to dust you will return". The natural sciences (N-wss) have more delight: showing us "we are Stardust" (for ever) - but the Church in 2016 will remind us: all is only DUST.

Here we touch the greatest temptation of our time  cf. 1. Lenten-Sunday C / Lk 4.1-13:
to agree - yes - all is nothing else than DUST. There is a time to be born, a time to live with good intentions, with religion (God + Salvation + Heaven) but then - all is illusion -
a helpful imagination - at the end: DUST!

Is there a SOLUTION against this pessimistic message: Life is a dream, an illusion - at the end nothing else... ???  FIRST: WE ACCEPT !!! It's very important to accept the reality.
After we accept this "wonderful - ultimate - dust - reality"  we (maybe) are able SECOND:
to make a decision. WE decide: the CALL of GOD into LIFE, into the fullness of Life,
is for us a reality too.  We know the "earthly reality" but we go further and we also believe in the reality of God.