Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 157



157.  All the same, the rejection of distortions of sexuality and eroticism should never lead us to a disparagement or neglect of sexuality and eros in themselves.  The ideal of marriage cannot be seen purely as generous donation and self-sacrifice, where each spouse renounces all personal needs and seeks only the other's good without concern for person satisfaction.  We need to remember that authentic love also  needs to be able to receive the other, to accept one's own vulnerability and needs, and to welcome with sincere and joyful gratitude the physical expressions of love found in a caress, an embrace, a kiss and sexual union.  Benedict XVI stated this very clearly: "Should man aspire to be pure spirit and to reject the flesh as pertaining to his animal nature alone, then spirit and body would both lose their dignity".163  For this reason, "man cannot live by oblative, descending love alone.  He cannot always give, he must also receive.  Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive love as a gift".164  Still, we must never forget that our human equilibrium is fragile: there is a part of us that resists real human growth, and any moment it can unleash the most primitive and selfish tendencies.

163 Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (25 December 2005), 5: AAS 98 (2006), 221.
164 Ibid., 7.


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