Wednesday of the
Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(I Peter 1:18-25; Mark 10:32-45)
With so much emphasis on sex today one might think of it
as a wholly contemporary concern. In
truth, however, extramarital sex has always worried people. What is new is its widespread social
acceptance. Few today stand up to
condemn premarital sex. Of course, catechisms
call it sinful, but often preachers steer clear of the subject to not offend Church
members in unlawful relationships. The New Testament letters testify that
licentiousness troubled decent people of the first century and see Christ as
leading the people out of the morass.
Today’s reading from the First Letter of Peter typically
exhorts the people to “love…from a pure heart.”
It reminds them that “’all flesh is like grass’” that withers. Therefore, they are to place their hope in
God and not surrender themselves to debauchery.
Youth may respond to the argument of coherency. After all, they have a sense of justice even
if not fully developed. Coherency
requires congruence between what one says and does. The argument goes like this. Sexual intercourse is the most intimate way
to demonstrate one’s love for another.
Therefore, it should be accompanied by the giving of oneself in a
permanent union. In anything short of a
permanent union, the act becomes a lie as sure as Brutus’ profession of love
for Caesar.
