Column
by
Archbishop John G. Vlazny
|
Archbishop's
Column by Archbishop John G. Vlazny |
Sin is no excuse for abandoning the
cause of virtuous living
9/10/99
There is little disagreement about the
fact that people of faith are
called to virtuous lives. But what’s a
virtue? The Catechism of the
Catholic Church tells us that “a virtue
is an habitual and firm
disposition to do the good.” But what’s
the good?
People concur that justice, charity, patience
and honesty are virtues.
They clearly bring out the best in us,
and they do indeed help us become
like God. Another virtue that has always
been included in that category is
chastity. But today, it would seem, not
all agree that chastity is a
virtue worth taking seriously.
Chastity means the successful integration
of sexuality within the human
person. Sexuality especially concerns
affectivity, our capacity to love,
to procreate and to bond more intimately
with others. Chastity is related
to human temperance, which seeks to control
our passions and appetites in
a reasonable way. Chastity is also a gift
from God, a grace. We grow in
chastity as we grow in all aspects of
the virtuous life.
But things happen that make us wonder about
positioning chastity within
the ambit of virtues. After all, so many
people behave in unchaste ways.
We are aware of all kinds of violations
of chastity in the lives of others
and in our own lives as well.
Chastity as a way of living takes effort
and grace, with many falls along
the way. But is this different from any
other virtue? Who among us is
always charitable, always patient, always
truthful, always just?
The struggle to lead the virtuous life
is never an excuse for abandoning
the cause. Our failings in human charity
do not excuse us from its
pursuit. Why should failings in chastity
be any different?
The truth of the matter is that many people
in today’s society simply no
longer see chastity as a virtue. In fact,
when those of us who espouse
chastity fail in our efforts to practice
it, we are judged hypocritical,
two-faced, dishonest. The simple truth
is that we are sinners, in need of
God’s grace and genuine conversion. Sin
is no excuse for abandoning the
cause of virtuous living!
It is clear that the Church teaches that
all homosexual activity is
unchaste. But some mistakenly consider
this a bias against a certain class
of people who are not attracted to heterosexual
activity. The Church,
however, also teaches that much heterosexual
activity, in fact all
heterosexual activity outside of marriage,
is also unchaste. This is no
prejudice against homosexuals or unmarried
heterosexuals. It is fidelity
to the integrity of the person to which
we are all called.
The sin of a priest or bishop against chastity,
either through unchaste
heterosexual or homosexual activity, is
aired in public. Does this mean
that teachers of the Church are inconsistent?
Yes, if you mean that they
are not always faithful to their call
to live virtuously. But that is no
excuse for them not to teach virtuous
living. Long ago St. Paul reminded
his people that teachers of the faith
are fragile vessels of clay, easily
broken, always in need of God’s healing
grace.
Many young people choose today to live
together unchastely before
marriage. Others choose to live together
unchastely without ever being
married. Is the virtue of chastity thereby
irrelevant, no longer important
for true love? Of course not. In fact,
experience suggests that such
relationships are generally unhealthy
and unsuccessful in the long run,
much more self-centered than self-giving.
Wrongful human relationships simply do
not become right because they are
common practice. The historical subjugation
of women, the slavery of
people of color, the travesty of ethnic
cleansing in this 20th century, as
common as they have been, still remain
behaviors most folks perceive as
leading in no way to doing good.
In recent years many of our schools have
offered “sex education” programs.
These words have become a red flag for
some parents, because not all these
programs promote chastity. Many of them
in our secular schools merely
promote pregnancy prevention, as if that
were a virtue.
As people of faith, we promote the virtuous
life for all God’s children.
Our failings in human chastity should
in no way be taken as a sign of our
lack of conviction and sincerity about
its value and merit. I am hopeful
that our Catholic community will be much
more concerned in the future
about education for virtuous living, including
chastity, than about “sex
education.”
As disciples of the Lord, each one of us
is clearly called to lead a
chaste life in keeping with his or her
particular state of life.
Fornication, pornography, infidelity and
homosexual practices will
probably continue until Christ comes in
glory. But they are no excuse for
our abandoning the pursuit of chastity
as an integral component of a truly
virtuous life.