Friday 6 May 2011

Love and responsibility 4



The sexual urge.
The sexual urge is the powerful force which brings two people of the opposite sex together. Not only does the sexual urge lead to the physical contact of two people, but it also creates a disposition of mind and heart in those people. It is the setting within which the possibility of love arises. The sexual urge does not produce complete, finished and totally mature human actions. What are human actions always dependent on? They are dependent on the will; being able to make personal and freed decisions. Love develops not by feelings but by decision-making. Not just choice but commitment.
What is the difference between choice and commitment? Choice is based on preference. Commitment is based on my discernment of truth and the struggle for personal maturity - the ability to make a decision with my whole person. Paradoxically, our culture thinks of the sexual urge as only a biological function, yet its biological function is procreation – which our culture distains. In fact, the sexual urge sets the scene for the whole culture of love to develop and the real possibility that I am called to marriage.

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