Blog 10

Pope Francis’ chapter on love (chapter 4) treats love as a virtue to be formed. Name three practices that a person might take up to develop this virtue.

 

Pope Francis describes love as a virtue that must be formed. This means that love is not an automatic thing that just happens. You have to be willing to work at it and sometimes make sacrifices to help love between a couple or a family or anyone grow. This could be seen as a reason for an increasing divorce rate. People expect love to be easy or that it will just happen, but it does not. Self sacrifice is not a common thing in a fallen world such as our world. It is something that has to be learned and practiced if people want it to be part of their life. According to Pope Francis, “Love is experienced and nurtured in the daily life of couples and their children.” One thing that a person can practice to develop the virtue of love is patience. Patience is being slow to anger and not acting impulsively. This does not mean that you should allow people to take advantage of you. Patience allows you to react in a more acceptable manner. Pope Francis says, “Patience takes root when I recognize that other people also have a right to live in this world.” Patience is understanding that you are not the center of the universe and that people are not here just to make you happy. A second practice to help develop virtue is to be generous. This means that you have to love others more than yourself. You have to want to put others before yourself. Being generous is according to Francis, “Expecting nothing in return.” You cannot help someone if you expect a reward and consider yourself generous. You have to do things for people just because. A third practice that a person can take up to help develop the virtue of love is forgiveness. Forgiveness is not easy; it requires sacrifice. If you never forgive then relationships will not be possible and you will always be upset. According to Pope Francis, “We need to learn to forgive ourselves, in order to have this same attitude towards others.” He says that this is only possible through having been forgiven by God. These practices can all be found in God. When people love, they try to love as god loves. To grow the virtue of love, people should try to be like God wherever they can in their lives.

Blog 9

John Paul II’s Theology of the Body recapitulates (summarizes) much of what we’ve already read about marriage. What are three dimensions of his thought where you recognize something we’ve already thought about. Where does he differ from a previous incarnation of these themes?

 

John Paul II’s Theology of the Body mentions many aspects of the nuptial mystery that we have read from other authors this semester. Three of these topics are the mystery, the love of Christ in the church, and the indissolubility of marriage. All three of these topics were covered before in class. Mystery was discussed by Scheeban. Love of Christ and the church was discussed by both Scheeban and Aquinas. Indissolubility was discussed by Augustine and Hildebrand.

John Paul II talks about the mystery of Christ being revealed in the church. You cannot separate Christ from the Church. He says that Christian vocation is attunement to the mystery of Christ. Jesus shows people the fullness of human existence in his sacrifice on the cross. This is similar to Scheeban who talks about mystery. Scheeban describes mystery as something that cannot be realized through human reason alone. God has to help people reach the idea of they mystery. The mystery of Christ cannot be reached without his sacrifice. He needed to become man and interact with people and show them the fullness of life for them to understand.

He also talks about the love of Christ in the church. The love of Christ and the church can be seen in marriage. The love between spouses shows the love of Christ and can even become intertwined with it. Aquinas talked about the love of Christ and the church being pointed toward by the love between spouses. During the sacrament of marriage, a supernatural grace is bestowed on them and it points towards the love of Christ. Scheeban took Aquinas’s point a step farther by saying that not only does the love of spouses point towards the love of Christ, but that it actually contains the love of Christ.

The third dimension that we have seen before that is also in Theology of the Body is the indissolubility of marriage. Marriage lasts forever and the love contained in the marriage does too. This idea was discussed in Augustine. One of the three goods that Augustine saw in marriage was the permanence of the bond. Hildebrand also thought the permanence of marriage was a good. He said that love wants to last forever. Love cannot be fleeting.

Blog 8

Read the Jeweler’s Shop. Assess how Karol Wojtyla deals with the three dimensions of love (metaphysics, psychology, and ethics) throughout the play.

 

Karol Wojtyla writes about the three dimensions of love, metaphysics, psychology, and ethics, and all three dimensions can be found in The Jeweler’s Shop. The metaphysical component relates to a philosophical account of love; it describes what love is. The psychological component is about the interior or lived dimension of love. The ethical component is about virtue and love being the formation of will. John Paul II was using the works of Thomas Aquinas and the idea of personalism. Personalism says that people are real and that they cannot be erased or destroyed.

One part of the metaphysics of love is fondness. This does not mean that you just think of the other person as good. You also want to spend time with this person. Love cannot be founded purely on fondness. Another aspect of love relating to metaphysics is desire. Desire is linked to love, earliest experiences of love are desire, but desire is about you so it is not love. There is one more aspect of love related to metaphysics, which is benevolence. Benevolence is a pure form of love and involves willing the good of another, but it is not romantic love. “I suddenly realized that Teresa was still there in my consciousness and memory” (Page 25). This quote describes the desire felt for Teresa by Andrew. Even when he does not wish to desire her, he does. This relates to the metaphysical part of love in desire. “But this did not spoil the pleasure of the ramble for me” (Page 27). Teresa wishes the good of Andrew even though she has feelings for him, and he likes someone else. She can still enjoy the time spent together because she is happy for him.

The psychological part of love involves impression, emotion, and value. Experiences create impressions for people. As you experience someone they create impressions and if these experiences are good then it draws you more into love. Impression lets you experience value through emotion. Impression and emotion cannot be only guides for love. There is also a sexual component, but sexual desire is not enough because desire changes. “There was no need for reflection, no need to struggle between motives” (page 24). This quotes deals with impression. Teresa feels no need to think about it because of the impression that has been made and the emotion associated with it.

The ethics of love sees the fundamental meaning of love is recognizing person as person. Others are not just objects; they have their own lives, and their personhood interrupts yours. Recognizing another person as person changes you and causes you to reorder things in your life. Self-gift is only possible if you see someone else as a person. It is mentioned in The Jeweler’s Shop about Andrew wanting to make Anna happy by listening to her advice. This shows the self-gift of Andrew.

Blog 7

Dietrich von Hildebrand is the first author we’ve read who seeks to understand love and marriage as linked to one another. How might his account of love and marriage serve as an antidote to the hook-up culture?

Dietrich von Hildebrand writes about love and marriage and the connection between the two in Marriage: The Mystery of Faithful Love. What he speaks about is the opposite of the hookup culture described in Frietas’ The End of Sex. In hookup culture sex is about you and your physical gratification or is a status symbol. In either case, sex has nothing to do with love or marriage. Hildebrand argues that sex is a part of marriage. He does not think that it is the primary end of marriage, but he does think it is part of marriage and should only take place between a married couple. Hildebrand says that the meaning of sex is the realization of the communion of love between two people. Sex is a way for a couple to grow closer to one another, and to produce children in the image and likeness of God. Another point that Hildebrand makes is that procreation should never be intentionally separated from love. This means when sex occurs that there should be a possibility of children. It is not wrong to have sex if a child is not conceived, but it should be possible for it to happen. In hook up culture, children are not wanted and steps are taken to avoid having children. People use contraceptives when they have sex in hookup culture. The use of contraceptives causes a disconnect between love, sex, and children. These three things go together for Hildebrand in marriage. Hildebrand writes about the permanence of love. Love is something that is given forever in marriage. Hookup culture has no long-term relationship. The point is to have sex and then leave and not encounter the other person any more. Love should be involved in sex. This means that sex should not be something that is avoided after the fact, and people who have sex should be happy to be around one another afterwards because it will have helped them grow closer together. Hildebrand says that love is not blind. He says that love allows a person to see all of another person. Love means knowing the other person and their entire being. Hookup culture avoids knowing the other person because that could lead to an attachment. An attachment is unwanted in hookup culture because it would lead to someone being hurt or wanting something more. If a person knows another person’s entire being then there would have to be some sort of bond formed. Marriage: The Mystery of Faithful Love is the antidote to hookup culture because it is completely contrary to it. If people would understand love from Hildebrand’s perspective, they would not hookup. They would understand that sex should be saved for marriage and that sex is not about lust and that there is an emotional component involved.

Blog 6

What are three essential dimensions of Thomas Aquinas’ account of marriage in the Summa Theologica?

Saint Thomas Aquinas said that the three essential dimensions of marriage in his Summa Theologica were the sign (sacramentum tantum), the reality (res tantum), and the sign and reality (res et sacramentum). The sign of marriage is the consent given by both the man and woman. This consent needs to be freely and continuously given between spouses. If the consent is not freely given, if someone does not want to truly get married, then the marriage is not real in the Catholic Church. The consent has to keep being given; this is why if someone’s spouse dies that person can remarry, because someone who has died can no longer give consent. He says that the heart of marriage is consent not sex, which many people thought and continue to think is the center and most important part of marriage. The reality of the sacrament is the bond between the married couple. This bond is unbreakable and restores the original friendship that was seen before The Fall. This bond involves two things according to Aquinas. These are fidelity and procreation. The couple remains faithful to one another for as long as they are married. The bond allows them to have children and raise them believing in and praising God. Saint Augustine agrees that these two things are goods of marriage, but also says that the sacrament, the permanence of the bond, is also a good. They disagree on this last good. Thomas says that these first two goods are from the natural institution of marriage. He says that the supernatural institution of marriage confers grace to the fidelity and ability to procreate. The grace conferred to these good is part of the sign and reality. The other part of the sign and reality is the union of Christ and The Church. In a sacrament God is the first cause and he, himself, confers the grace that the couple will experience as a result of their bond. The second cause is the consent, which joins the nature and grace of marriage. Saint Thomas Aquinas is similar to Saint Augustine in thinking that marriage is a good thing and a sacrament, but they do have some differences. Augustine said that there may have been sex in Genesis, but Saint Thomas disagrees. He says that sex would not have occurred before original sin. He thinks this because sex is not the most important part of marriage; consent is.

 

Blog 5: Song of Songs

Using two of the authors we’ve read dealing with the Song of Songs (Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, and Hugh of St. Victor) describe three ways that the nuptial mystery is essential to the spiritual life of both monk and married person alike.

 

When someone hears the nuptial mystery, they normally think about a man and woman who are married. This is true for Bernard, Hildegard, and Hugh as well, but they also think of the spiritual marriage between God and his people, the Church. At the time when Bernard was alive, it was common for people who were once married to join the monastic life after a spouse died. These people knew what marriage and sex were like from a non-academic standpoint. They would start to desire these things, which they should not as monks. Bernard said they should redirect their desire towards God. It is easier to desire God in your life, if you do not already have everything. A married person could also do this. They could be celibate for a time to increase their desire towards God. The sermons that Bernard wrote would make the reader desire God. Hugh was interested in the idea of restoration of the self through life in the church. He believed that this restoration occurs in the nuptial mystery. Hugh believed that sacraments recalibrate a person towards God. The sacraments teach a person what to love, God. Hugh argues that marriage is a sacrament because in marriage kids are created and it binds society together and restores friendship in society. He says creation of society is at the heart of marriage. If friendship and society are the important components of the nuptial mystery then everyone can take part in it, not in a physical but a spiritual way. Monks and married people can try to restore the original friendship that Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden. Another way that the nuptial mystery is important to Hugh is that all of human life can be seen as betrothal to God. This is a life of desire. People receive God, but then it goes away. This causes people to desire god even more through his absence. People should be preparing through their entire lives to experience God. They can do this through the church. The sacraments are a way of adorning yourself for God. God gives himself in body and blood in communion. This is his betrothal gift to all people. All people experience this betrothal to God, not just monks or married people.

Blog 4

Why is Christian marriage healing of human sinfulness for Augustine?

 

St. Augustine in his text The Excellence of Marriage said that human beings are social creatures, who desire friendship with one another. Before Adam and Eve sinned, humanity was more connected to each other God than anyone can be since the fall from grace. Augustine talks about how men and women were created together for one another. He sees marriage as a return to the closeness that people had before original sin. Augustine sees three main goods of marriage. These are procreation, the couple can have children and raise them together; fidelity, the spouses are faithful to each other and help one another avoid sin; and sacrament, the permanence of Christian marriage. Augustine says that marriage is good because it can make something bad into something good. He talks about how lust is evil, but if you are married you are able to have children as a result of this lust. This turns the badness of lust into something good. This shows how marriage can heal human sinfulness, in this case lust. People are able to have children to continue the human race. They are also able to raise the children to good Christians, who do their best to avoid sin. Augustine says that both men and women should be faithful to each other in marriage, not just wives have to be faithful to their husbands. Adultery and fornication are sins, but by being faithful to a spouse you avoid these sins. He says that when you are married you can have sex for reasons other than procreation. Normally this would be sinful but because they are married it is not adultery or fornication. In this way marriage heals sinfulness. Married people are supposed to help each other with their weakness, sexual desire. People are able to help each other avoid the sin of adultery through marriage. He does say that complete abstinence is better because this is a response to Jovinian. The third good of marriage is the permanence of the bond. The scriptures say that a husband who divorces his wife causes her to be an adulterer. Marriage, for Christians, is something that lasts until death. This means that divorce cannot occur, so no one commits adultery by remarrying. If there is no divorce then there will be no sin from the consequences of it. All three of these are ways that marriage is the healing of human sinfulness.

 

 

 

Blog 3

How might a sacrament, based upon your reading of both Marion and Ratzinger, heal the pornification of love examined in our reading of Frietas’ text?

 

The pornification of love describes how sex has changed recently. It is no longer representative of the love that two people share for one another, but is only physical. It describes the hook-up culture and the idea that women should be subservient to men during sex, as seen in porn. Marion writes about love in Prolegomena to Charity. He is writing about love I general, so this includes romantic love. He says that desire has nothing to do with love because desire fades when you get what you want. He talks about the invisible gaze and how another person’s existence interrupts yours when you look into their eyes. He says you can’t just love something about someone, which according to Frietas in The End of Sex many people in today’s world seem to think you can, you have to love all of them. In hook-up culture, you use another person for your own pleasure. According to Ratzinger, in The Sacramental Foundation of Christian Existence, sacraments are signs of something more. Sacraments aren’t just random things; they are rooted in biblical tradition and redeemed in Christ. Sacraments are what took place in Christ now happening here. This means that God is involved in the sacraments, and he is the primary actor in these sacraments. These two readings are opposed to the pornification of love and the culture that was described by Frietas. The sacrament that is most likely to be involved in healing the pornification of love is marriage. Marriage is the opposite of the pornification of love because it is the commitment of two people to one another and God, and through this sacrament they become an image of divine love. Ratzinger’s description of the sacraments and Marion’s description of love intersect in marriage. Marion says that love is acknowledging another as a person. This can’t be done in the hook-up culture where the goal is to form no connection between yourself and your partner. Ratzinger says that sacraments give grace and involve God. Loving someone and allowing God to be a part of you relationship heals the pornification of love because it means you are equals and take part in the divine love of God. The sacrament of marriage is the opposite of the pornification of love, and is a way that it might be healed.

Post 2

What resonates with you about Donna Frietas’ The End of Sex? What do you find more problematic?

 

One thing that resonates with me from Frietas’ work is that she does not think that sex should only be between married people. She is against hookup culture, but thinks that sex in a committed relationship is fine. When reading I did not feel like Frietas was judging those who participate in hookup culture. She knew what she believed, but did not look down on those who enjoyed or participated in hookup culture. The idea that not everyone wants to be a part of hookup culture resonates with me. I think applying a blanket statement about everyone wanting to hookup is lazy and incorrect. It seems like people who think everyone is a part of the hookup culture look only at frat parties or other such gatherings, and ignore people who don’t attend them.

 

I find the fact that she surveys a small population problematic. She only interviews college students from smaller schools that are receptive to the idea of here conducting her research there. Participation in Frietas’ study is optional, which means that the people most likely to respond are those who feel strongly about the issue one way or another, mostly leaving out the group that is indifferent to hookup culture. This means that the data she collects is not likely representative of the whole college population, not even including those who don’t attend college. Another problem that I have with The End of Sex is that she extrapolates based off of what people say. At you point, Frietas claims that a student’s use of the word “that” while describing the hookup culture and her own experiences was a way to distance her self from the culture. This seems to be a fairly big jump to make based off of a person not using more specific nouns. This student could be perfectly fine with hookup culture, but Frietas decided that the student feels regretful for taking part in the culture. She seemed to spend a large amount of time repeating things she had already said, which made the The End of Sex longer than it needed to be to explain her viewpoint. Another problem that I have with her book is that she mostly ignores the group of people who do enjoy hooking up. She makes it sound like every person who participates in hook up culture will regret it. It seems more likely that there is a group of people who are happy with the culture the way it is.

 

 

Blog 1

Why are you interested in the themes of this class? What’s your own religious or theological background?

I have already taken many theology classes and one at Notre Dame. I heard that this class was interesting and different from other classes here. I have never taken a class on marriage before, but have taken one on the sacraments in general. I think learning about the sacrament of marriage specifically could be useful to me later in life. I also heard from my roommate who was previously in the class that you were engaging and could explain the subject well, and help everyone, even the uninterested w\understand the course material. I think the fact that you offer extra credit for going on a date is unusual and intriguing, and I think that it shows this class will be thought provoking. As a college student reading about the hook-up culture and how it has affected people interests me. Most people that I am around often, other college students, think that it is a good thing or are indifferent to it. Hearing another viewpoint, whether or not I agree with it, should help me grow as a person. Both of my parents are Catholic, and raised me to be Catholic. I have gone to Catholic schools since the beginning of my education. As I have progressed through my education and life, I have felt less and less like the church is correct for me. I believe that the church’s teachings on forgiveness and being a good person, but do not believe in the specifics. I do not think that believing in Jesus or the Prophets or anything else involving people in the Bible are not important to being a good person. I have found that going to Mass weekly has not helped me grow as a person or in my faith. I am not exactly sure on what I believe in, but I do not like the idea of organized religion very much. One thing with the church that I have a problem with is that they have kids take the sacraments. I think that the sacraments should only be administered to adults who have decided for themselves. I think God is real, but probably does not care about the specifics of what we do.