More Shoddy Reporting from MSNBC.
Ok, I came across this article on MSNBC.com.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23254178/
The article talks about reclaiming Virginity after its lost. Although its not physically possible to reclaim it, I do believe that it can be reclaimed spiritually, so that you can save yourself for your spouse. I am a perfect example. I made a mistake one time, and though I can not ever physically take that back, through prayer, sacramental confession, and devotion, I have rewrapped the gift of Virginity, and now I am saving it so that it can only be unwrapped by my Wife after we get married.
The big problem I have with this particular article is the false interpretation of what Pope John Paul said, and the heresy that it is saying about the catholic church. Here is the quote I am specifically referring to: "During the early Middle Ages, Christians were taught that while sex in marriage was not a sin, it was not as holy a state as complete abstinence from sex. (This is still the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II declared that believing parents should “devote special attention and care to education in virginity or celibacy as the supreme form of that self-giving that constitutes the very meaning of human sexuality.”)"
First of all, the Catholic Church does not teach that complete abstinence from sex is holier than sex in Marriage. In fact just the opposite. To quote from the Bible "A man shall leave his parents, cling to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Pope John Paul taught that the Marital Embrace (AKA Sexual Intercourse) in its proper form is among the most holy and intimate acts that a husband and wife will share with each other. In fact, it also teaches that if there is no possibility of intercourse (i.e. Impotence), then there is no possibility of Marriage. The marital embrace is where God reveals his divine love through our bodies.
Pope John Paul himself was no prude. Let me share with you a quote from one of his writings to illustrate this. "If a husband is to truly love his wife it is necessary to insist that intercourse must not serve merely as a means to allow his climax. The man must take into account the difference between male and female reactions so that climax may be reached by boht, and as far as possible occur in both simultaneously. The husband must do this not for hedonistic, but altrusitic reasons. If we take into account the shorter and more violent curve of arousal in the man, such tenderness on his part in the context of marital intercourse acquires the significance of an act of virtue." That does not sound like someone who is against sex to me. The pope also wrote "The very words 'I take you to be my husband/wife' can be fulifiled only by means of conjugal intercourse. With this act we pass to the reality that corresponds to these words". It is obvious to me reading this passage that we are called to the marital embrace, even after having kids.
What the MSNBC article refers to is how we should raise our kids in the faith. What the pope is actually saying here is that Virginity and Celibace are virtues we need to embrace before we get married, and by doing so we can give more freely to our spouses when we do get married, since only by the virtue of chastity can we see the people we are courting as the people they truly are, and not some object for our selfish desires. This is not by any stretch of the imagination saying that couples should be celibate unless they are trying to conceive. This is one reason I think the church has suffered, is because this lie about the church's teaching continues to be spread. I could go on all day about this. But Theology of the Body, one of the greatest gifts JP2 gave us, is finally revealing the truth.
I pray that people will see the truth in what is being taught. Unfortunately, if MSNBC continues to put out these heresies about the Catholic Church, I think it hurts us all in the long run.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23254178/
The article talks about reclaiming Virginity after its lost. Although its not physically possible to reclaim it, I do believe that it can be reclaimed spiritually, so that you can save yourself for your spouse. I am a perfect example. I made a mistake one time, and though I can not ever physically take that back, through prayer, sacramental confession, and devotion, I have rewrapped the gift of Virginity, and now I am saving it so that it can only be unwrapped by my Wife after we get married.
The big problem I have with this particular article is the false interpretation of what Pope John Paul said, and the heresy that it is saying about the catholic church. Here is the quote I am specifically referring to: "During the early Middle Ages, Christians were taught that while sex in marriage was not a sin, it was not as holy a state as complete abstinence from sex. (This is still the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II declared that believing parents should “devote special attention and care to education in virginity or celibacy as the supreme form of that self-giving that constitutes the very meaning of human sexuality.”)"
First of all, the Catholic Church does not teach that complete abstinence from sex is holier than sex in Marriage. In fact just the opposite. To quote from the Bible "A man shall leave his parents, cling to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Pope John Paul taught that the Marital Embrace (AKA Sexual Intercourse) in its proper form is among the most holy and intimate acts that a husband and wife will share with each other. In fact, it also teaches that if there is no possibility of intercourse (i.e. Impotence), then there is no possibility of Marriage. The marital embrace is where God reveals his divine love through our bodies.
Pope John Paul himself was no prude. Let me share with you a quote from one of his writings to illustrate this. "If a husband is to truly love his wife it is necessary to insist that intercourse must not serve merely as a means to allow his climax. The man must take into account the difference between male and female reactions so that climax may be reached by boht, and as far as possible occur in both simultaneously. The husband must do this not for hedonistic, but altrusitic reasons. If we take into account the shorter and more violent curve of arousal in the man, such tenderness on his part in the context of marital intercourse acquires the significance of an act of virtue." That does not sound like someone who is against sex to me. The pope also wrote "The very words 'I take you to be my husband/wife' can be fulifiled only by means of conjugal intercourse. With this act we pass to the reality that corresponds to these words". It is obvious to me reading this passage that we are called to the marital embrace, even after having kids.
What the MSNBC article refers to is how we should raise our kids in the faith. What the pope is actually saying here is that Virginity and Celibace are virtues we need to embrace before we get married, and by doing so we can give more freely to our spouses when we do get married, since only by the virtue of chastity can we see the people we are courting as the people they truly are, and not some object for our selfish desires. This is not by any stretch of the imagination saying that couples should be celibate unless they are trying to conceive. This is one reason I think the church has suffered, is because this lie about the church's teaching continues to be spread. I could go on all day about this. But Theology of the Body, one of the greatest gifts JP2 gave us, is finally revealing the truth.
I pray that people will see the truth in what is being taught. Unfortunately, if MSNBC continues to put out these heresies about the Catholic Church, I think it hurts us all in the long run.