- Introduction: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
- Gender and Beauty – Goodness in the Appealing Nature of a Woman’s Body, the Pinnacle of God’s Creative Beauty
- Gender and Beauty – Clothing, Relationships, and Dating
- Body vs. Soul
- Mass Intimacy
- Prayer Tips for Spiritual Eros
- Conclusion: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
One of the most important aspects of Love a Man needs to remember is to be faithful to the Vocation he has been called to by Jesus Christ. There is a tendency in our world today for men to break their vow of faithfulness to their vocation because of their impulse to follow their emotions or hormones instead of keeping their eyes centered on Jesus. We have too many divorces in our world today because of these impulses.
Jesus was faithful to his vows which were the New Covenant shed in His blood to redeem us. Even when Jesus’ emotions weren’t looking forward to the cross, and sweat blood in agony, Christ was still faithful to His commitment to us. We need to be like Jesus and remain faithful to our promises, and by keeping our eyes and our hearts centered on Jesus’ Sacred Heart. If we do, Jesus will grant us the grace to remain faithful to our vocation.
A vocation such as Marriage and consecrated life (single or religious) is a permanent commitment which must be faithfully lived out in season and out of season. It must be stressed that consecrated single life should not be confused with single life. Single life can be a transition to another vocation such as marriage or consecrated life. Consecrated single life is when a man or a woman becomes a consecrated virgin who remains in single life. Consecrated virgins in single life should not be confused as a nun or a brother for example. Those in religious life are part of a religious community and live out specific charisms and ministry. Those who are in single life and are consecrated virgins are taking a vow of celibacy but are not attached or obligated to a specific community and carry out any number of charisms and missions they discern. Any form of a vocation when an official vow is taken is permanent until “death do part” unless there is a grave necessity granted by the Church to leave such a vocation.
Faithfulness to vows is an act of love. When a Husband and Wife, for example, remain faithful to their vows of marriage, they are expressing a true form of love because love in its nature is faithful and committed and sacrificial. However, when a man or woman commits adultery, they are violating their vows and turning love into a sacrilege. This includes men and women who are not married yet but are promiscuous in thought or deed because they are breaking vows they may make to someone else, or even each other, in the future. Our world today talks about love all day long but in reality, knows nothing about what Love is. Yes of course there is a sexual dimension to love but it is not the complete picture. Love is not about physical pleasure; love in its true nature is the sacrificial gift of self. The gift of self in the virtue of Love can be physical or spiritual. For example, a ManHusbandDad can show his love for his wife by cooking her dinner and putting the kids to bed, giving her an opportunity to put up her feet and read a good book. A spiritual example of the gift of love which can be connected to a man who is married or single, is offering his joys and suffering to Christ in prayer for his beloved.
It is my hope that these multiple series on love with the four loves, and expanding upon love, in the area of beauty, gender, the mass and prayer, has enriched every ManHusbandDad’s spiritual life. Love truly is patient and kind, and more, as St. Paul mentions in I Corinthians 13:4-7. I pray that the Sacred Heart of Jesus may grant you, whether Man or ManHusbandDad, to live out the Twelve Righteous Virtues in your vocation, and to remain faithful to that vocation. May St. Joseph pray for us and grant us, through his intercession, the ability to always keep our eyes centered on the crucified Jesus.
