Now that we've laid the groundwork in a lot of recent columns, the time has come to start diving into the "big" stuff when it comes to TOB. I've long held the premise (and over the last four months defended the premise at CE) that the majority of presentations on John Paul II's Catechesis on Human Love (or Theology of the Body) are badly flawed.
My main beef is they present a theology with little or no understanding of the reality of concupiscence. As a result, they don't really see the need for the sacraments to enter into the discussion. That's the subject of today's column.
In talking about this issue, Kevin O'Brien talks about a certain "madness" that can very easily overcome faithful Catholics who will go to extreme legnths to rationalize their behavior, just like anyone else. Why do they do so? Sin is a vicious mistress, and concupiscence is the affection we have for that mistress that we can never hope to beat on our own. The only way to beat it is to forcefully repent and approach the sacraments and slowly but surely drive out those affections, and replace them with something good instead.
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