The Triumph of Lust
CHRIST & NEIGHBOR
Is it possible to complain about the media’s hard sell of sex, sex, and more sex, without being accused of being a puritanical, Jansenistic, Manichean prude? Probably not. Nor is it likely that one can escape being tagged a representative of the far Right.
Nevertheless, it may be time to call for a new revolution with the slogan “Moralistic mossbacks of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but a reputation for sophistication.”
Recently I watched another primetime soap opera, this one about a priest who for an hour and 45 minutes put up a plucky fight against lust, but then made a graceful surrender, gave up his priesthood, and proved once more that the love of a good, and preferably beautiful, woman is more powerful and in every way more laudable than the love of God.
Then I watched our local Boston public TV station, which is supposed to cater to higher values, showing a teenage girl put up a rather unimpressive fight against lust and then make a clumsy surrender, proving once again that sex, no matter how sordid, must triumph in the end.
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How can good-hearted people, whose hearts bleed for peace and for poor people, not feel the excruciating pain of the child who is destroyed in the womb?
Our emotions and habits may oppress our awareness of the nature of our free will and the grace of God to assist us in all our trials.
The Liturgy of the Word, which is a part of every Mass, would be one logical place for Catholics to look for divine guidance.