Amen!
Yes. The Magisterium does not have to spell out every form of forbidden sexual behaviour like the Book of Leviticus under the Old Covenant. Prayer, conscience and mutual respect will bring the married couple to the truth on this issue.
Dear Mickey,
Cordial greetings.
A hearty Amen to the above remarks, my dear chap.
Certainly the Catholic Church declares universally valid teachings, not admitting any exceptions, but she also expects the faithful to use some jolly good old fashioned sanctified common sense as regards their decision making upon matters upon which she has chosen, for whatever reason, to remain silent. The present topic is a case in point and we must therefore use our prudential judgement to aid us in arriving at the truth on this matter. However, if our conscience is radically defective then our decisions will necessarily be wide of the mark, for how could it be otherwise. There is, dear friend, nothing uncharitable in making such a comment, it is simply stating an obvious and undeniable fact, especially given the Laodicean times in which our lot is now cast. Worldly conformity
is an immense problem, not only within Catholicism, but also within the other mainline Christian churches as well. Christians of all people ought to refuse to descend to the level of those whose minds are blinded by the god of this world and who’s outlook is consequently circumscribed by that which is transient, but this is not what is happening in modern Christendom, unfortunately. However. that is another topic for another day.
Since the permissive revolution of the Sixties we have witnessed the moral deterioration of Western society and, sadly, many contemporary Catholics have not remained impervious to the wide-spread moral decay that has engulfed us. Alas, dear friend, multitudes have embraced the spirit of the age to such an extent that they are hardly distinguishable from their pagan neighbours. There is this half-hearted ‘Catholicism Lite’ approach to relgion, which allows men to rationalize activities which our forefathers would have recoiled in disgust from, such as manual and oral stimulation of the genetalia by spouses. Unfortunately, there are those who will take refuge in the fact that Holy Mother Church has not declared her mind explicitly on certain matters pertaining to morality; their slogan is,
dublis libertas (where doubt exists freedom should be granted), which sounds jolly plausible but is in fact very flawed reasoning because it completely disregards the role of a well-formed conscience in
correctly discerning what is morally permissible and acceptable. The result is a relativisic mindset where an everybody is right and nobody is wrong mentality prevails, especially upon matters where the Church has not issued some official magisterial pronouncement. This is a very sad state of affairs and hardly good for the Church’s credibility in the eyes of the watching world.
God bless and goodbye to you, dear friend, and all other contributors to this current thread. Have a very pleasant day.
Warmest good wishes,
Portrait
Pax:tiphat:
