Wednesday
of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 2:1-11; Luke 11:42-46)
No doubt the media highlights clerical
sexual abuse because priests regularly preach the virtue of chastity. Statistics show that they as a group are not
more inclined to abuse than other males.
But most men do not tell others to abstain from sexual activity outside
marriage. In today’s first reading Paul
points out a similar two-facedness.
Paul has just finished excoriating
non-Jews for their sexual licentiousness.
His condemnation included an often cited denunciation of homosexual
activity. Now he turns his critical eyes
on Jews who think that they are better than pagans although in fact they are
guilty of the same sins. Shortly he will
offer the solution to the iron band of evil that entraps all peoples – faith in
Christ.
We live in a society of many fewer
sexual inhibitions than found in previous generations. Masturbation and fornication are considered
normal, not corrupt, activities. Hankering
after the pleasure from these pursuits, youth will not be able to form
permanent, caring relationships. Jesus,
who modeled implicitly the chastity he preached, still serves as our best guide
to sexual integrity.
