As I mentioned in a previous post, I am reading "Strangers in a Strange Land," by Charles Chaput. In Chapter 5, Love Among the Eloi, he writes:
Contraceptive intimacy, in contrast, is finally not "intimacy" at all. It makes every sexual contact a disconnected point in time and an event without a future -- two people using each other as instruments for their own relief.
This strikes me as being extremely similar to a song from 1976 by Bob Seger: Night Moves.
The lyrics include: I used her, she used me and neither one cared, we were getting our share practicing our night moves. A song that encapsulates a generation's sad attempt at living in this immoral age. We are called to so much more than "working on our night moves." We are called to the fullness of joy. Not a night of passion, a weekend tryst, a short lived coupling of cohabitation. No, we are called to an eternity of intimacy with the source of our existence. A union we do not deserve, and without which we will remain utterly unhappy, and unsatisfied. If we seek our fulfillment in this world we cannot be satisfied, because God has made us for himself, as St. Augustine tells us. Let us not work on our "night moves," but on our relationship with the One who loves us more than we love ourselves. Marana Tha. Oh Lord, come!
Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
St John writes: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life—
The face of the Lord has been seen. Symeon saw it and sang:
Now Lord, you can dismiss your servant in peace, for you have fulfilled your word. My own eyes have witnessed your saving deed, a light to the nations and the glory of your people, Israel.
Mary saw his face, and washed it, and kissed it.
The advent of the Lord brought our savior to us, and we have been saved. Let us see your face Lord, and we shall be saved.
Charles Chaput, the archbishop of Philadelphia, has published a book entitled "Strangers in a Strange Land." The title is take off on a Robert Heinlein science fiction novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land." But Chaput has a subtitle: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World. Early in Chapter 1 he is writing about the state of our culture, and what we as Christians are to do about it. He points at the writings of Tocqueville where he writes about the role of religion in democracies. Chaput writes:
But religion only works its influence on democracy if people really believe what the religion teaches. Nobody believes in God just because it's socially useful. To put it in Catholic terms, Christianity is worthless as a leaven in society unless people actually believe in Jesus Christ, follow the Gospel, love the Church, and act like disciples. If they don't, religion is just another form of self-medication. And unfortunately, that's how many of us live out our Baptism.
As I read that this morning, I thought it particularly appropriate as today is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and we are reminded not only of the Baptism of Jesus, by John, but also of our own Baptism.
