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On
the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of
Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the
wedding.
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Maroon
5's song "Makes Me Wonder" is a song of saying goodbye to a
relationship, and although it has a nice sound
to it, it is a song of bitterness. "I
wake up with blood-shot eyes," they begin their song, "struggle to
memorize the
pleasure. I still don’t have the reason
and you don’t have the time and it really makes me wonder if I
ever felt good
about you. Give me something to believe
in ‘cause I don’t believe in you anymore. I wonder if
it even makes a difference to try; so this is
goodbye." From the song, it seems that both are at fault in
the relationship, with the misuse of sexual pleasure
playing a major part.
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John the
evangelist presents the setting of a marriage to be the place
of Jesus' first miracle. Often cited by Christian authors as a
miracle enacted at Jesus' mother's request, the setting
of the miracle is important as well. Jesus and his apostles were
celebrating the wedding of some people that they probably knew.
As Jesus blessed the marriage with his presence, he was also
blessing the marital activity, and
therefore, Jesus in a sense, is blessing the sexual actions of
married couples, something God had already done with the directive to
"Be fruitful and multiply" in the book of Genesis.
Many modern songs speak of sexual pleasure, most of the time in veiled statements, but sometimes in direct statements, as in Maroon 5's song "Makes Me Wonder." Often the pleasure that is sung about is pleasure outside of marriage, as if to say that this sexual pleasure is something that everyone is invited to enjoy. Christians, of course, accept the sixth commandment that God gave to Moses saying that the complete sexual pleasure that people enjoy should be reserved to marriage since it is only then that a permanent commitment is made by the couple. God created human beings to enjoy the sexual interaction between the sexes. Therefore it is a good thing. It becomes a problem when people misuse their sexual ability. It is not an accident that Maroon 5's song ends in bitterness and anger. A couple who engage in sexual activity too early are dealing with a situation that in some way implies a permanent relationship, and when the relationship is not permanent, people will be hurt in one way or another. And it often leads to confusion and misunderstanding. Jesus knew that sexual activity was good for people, and he blessed it in the context of marriage. Sexual acts must be reserved to people who have said "yes" to each other for life, not to people who want to feel good for a few moments. |
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THOUGHT
Do
you think that most Christian people understand the use of their sexual
ability as Jesus would see it? Yes or no and why?
PRAYER Good
and gracious God, you have created us in such a way that we will want
to continue as a human race. You have created our sexual feelings
as something good and holy. Help us use our sexual abilities in
such a way as to always follow you and your Son's directives. Be
with us, we pray.
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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