Is Pure Love Possible:
A Talk at Mar Auraha Church in Arizona
Wednesday 07-29-09
Mar Auraha Church of Chaldeans and Assyrians in Scottsdale, Arizona in the person of Corbishop Felix Al-Shabi, invited Deacon Keith Esshaki from St. Peter Chaldean
Catholic Cathedral in San Diego to speak on Chastity before and after marriage and if
Pure Love is possible. Over 70 people attended the event and were all touched by
Deacon Keith’s passionate presentation. Following is a summary of the Deacon’s talk:
The human body is created in the image of God so we do what God does which is love. The marital sexual encounter is a foretaste of heaven as Pope John Paul II said. But our love can only be blessed if we do it the way God ordained it which is in the context of a holy marriage. We need to trust God and not be fooled by the devil the way Adam & Eve did. Every one is called to chastity, those who are not married as well as those who are married. Chastity is the freedom to be able to love as God loves. We are called glorify God in our bodies. Those of you who are not married need to start praying for your future spouse today and start writing letters to your beloved to present it to him/her on the wedding night. Today you may not know who your spouse will be but God knows so start your commitment today. Your number one example of chastity is the Lord Jesus Himself who gave all His precious blood for His bride, the Church. According to Pope John Paul II, since marriage is a sacrament of service like Holy Orders, the husband and wife give themselves completely to each other in the conjugal act which makes the marriage bed into an altar.
Since we are called to glorify God in our bodies which are temples of the Holy Spirit we are not to desecrate our bodies and our marriages with, lust, masturbation, promiscuity and the evil of contraception. The Catholic Church teaches that contraception is evil and allows us to use Natural Family Planning (NFP). But there are many methods of NFP. The old Calendar/Rhythm method has a 13-20% failure rate but the new methods like the Ovulation and Symptothermal methods can be 99% effective if couples follow the rules.
So if we expect our children to live a life of pure love and not sin before marriage then we must lead by example and not treat each other as objects of lust and use
contraceptives in marriage. If we can’t abstain for 7-10 days a month how can we expect our children to abstain for years before marriage?
At the end of the talk one of our seminarians, Simon, who is Deacon Keith’s son
addressed young people on why he is feeling a calling to the priesthood and said that
when he went to Steele Canyon High School he saw a lot of young people falling in sin and ignoring their faith and he is feeling a calling to do something about it by becoming a priest to give an example of chastity. Simon also said that the chastity of the priest, of young people and of married people can only happen by the grace of God.
Raad Delly
Media Group
Arizona
>>> Click Here for Pictures <<<
Comments are closed.