#wisdom text

[templevirgin]

Sin is, above all else, a loss of relationship.

[templevirgin]

“You kneel before your future wife because she is the altar and the sacrifice.

Rightly ordered sex is procreative and her body and mind will forever be marked by that.

She will literally allow her soul to hang off the precipice between life and death in order to bring you an entirely new soul. It’s a journey only she can take.

She embodies the miracle and the accidents.

She is co-creator with God himself.

If you can’t fall to your knees in awe of what a woman is, what God has made her to be, you will never understand justice.”

[templevirgin]

It is up to us to sow this mustard seed in our minds and let it grow within us into a great tree of understanding reaching up to heaven and elevating all our faculties; then it will spread out branches of knowledge, the pungent savor of its fruit will make our mouths burn, its fiery kernel will kindle a blaze within us inflaming our hearts, and the taste of it will dispel our unenlightened repugnance. Yes, it is true: a mustard seed is indeed an image of the kingdom of God. Christ is the kingdom of heaven. Sown like a mustard seed in the garden of the virgin's womb, he grew up into the tree of the cross whose branches stretch across the world. Crushed in the mortar of the passion, its fruit has produced seasoning enough for the flavoring and preservation of every living creature with which it comes in contact. As long as a mustard seed remains intact, its properties lie dormant; but when it is crushed they are exceedingly evident. So it was with Christ; he chose to have his body crushed, because he would not have his power concealed.... Christ became all things in order to restore all of us in himself. The man Christ received the mustard seed which represents the kingdom of God; as man he received it, though as God he had always possessed it. He sowed it in his garden, that is in his bride, the Church. The Church is a garden extending over the whole world, tilled by the plough of the gospel, fenced in by stakes of doctrine and discipline, cleared of every harmful weed by the labor of the apostles, fragrant and lovely with perennial flowers: virgins' lilies and martyrs' roses set amid the pleasant verdure of all who bear witness to Christ and the tender plants of all who have faith in him. Such then is the mustard seed which Christ sowed in his garden. When he promised a kingdom to the patriarchs, the seed took root in them; with the prophets it sprang up; with the apostles it grew tall; in the Church it became a great tree putting forth innumerable branches laden with gifts. And now you too must take the wings of the psalmist's dove, gleaming gold in the rays of divine sunlight, and fly to rest for ever among those sturdy, fruitful branches. No snares are set to trap you there; fly off, then, with confidence and dwell securely in its shelter.

Sermon 98, St. Peter Chrysologous (400-450 AD)

[templevirgin]

“Most people who go to Mass are normal and happy people.

In my experience, the more devout, the less guilt-ridden. ‘Catholic guilt’ is mostly something that haunts the non-practicing, and they think those of us who are devout must feel it too. We don’t, at least not how they do.

And there’s a great, soothing help for those among the devout who struggle with guilt:

Absolution and penance.”

[templevirgin]

“In eternity, all will be consummated…For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation…Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, ‘the holy city’ of God, ‘the Bride, the wife of the Lamb’” (CCC 1405) We will know all and be known by all, we will see all and be seen by all. And God will be all in all.”

— The Love That Satisfies, Christopher West

[templevirgin]

A woman only submits herself to a man when that man has declared before God and man that he will commit to her and love her like Christ loved the church.

Anything less than that is unacceptable.

This is also why premarital sex is not okay.

Guard your heart and your body and don’t let anyone into the depth of your greatest intimate places (emotions, intellect, and spirit included) until he dedicates his love and life to you.

[templevirgin]

“The ark of the covenant was created to house the manna from heaven (bread), Aaron’s staff (true priesthood) and the stone tablets (word of God). The ark was then overshadowed by the Holy Spirit - making it holy and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Mary as the new Ark was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and conceived the Word made flesh, the bread of life and high priest. Mary became the dwelling place of the Lord. One would never use the Ark like a regular storage container. It belonged now to God.

Secondly, in Jewish culture the betrothal between Mary and Joseph was where they became consecrated to one another and adultery of any kind was viewed as a serious sin. So serious that as we see in 2 Samuel king David put away the concubines defiled by Absalom and whilst he cared for them he never had relations with them. By Jewish custom Mary had made herself the spouse of the one whose child she carried and as Deuteronomy 24:4 clearly outlines the former husband cannot take her again to be his wife. Just as we saw with King David in 2 Samuel 20:3, after the angel appeared, Joseph knew that he was to take Mary into his home as his wife and care for her, though he could never have marital relations with her. According to Scripture and ancient Jewish tradition, Mary belonged to the father of her child—the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit could not be the protector that Mary needed. So Joseph fulfilled the physical role of provider, protector, husband and father - but he kept the Lord’s commandments surrounding sexual purity with a woman who had the child of another.”

[templevirgin]

lex orandi, lex credenda

the law of praying establishes the law of believing.