Must... Resist... Temptation!

Totally feeling like this right now.

So I've been doing an incredibly bad job of resisting temptation recently. 

About three seconds ago, I decided that instead of giving in completely, I should try to go "half-sies" and see if that doesn't work out better.

I had posted a quote up on my FB page last week that I found through a Tumblr (brought to my attention via Deo volente when he posted it to Dymphna's wall).  A brief conversation followed which had me at my religious blackboard for a few moments and all has been mostly silent (likely because by this point, most of my friends have me on "hidden" so they aren't forced to suffer through my conservative ramblings). 

Anywho, this is what the conversation looked like:

Me:  No one ever said following Christ would be easy. He didn’t say, “Come pick up your pillow and follow me.” - Sister Karen of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George

I think this may be my new favorite quote. *Giggle*

Friend K:  Did you see the new thing on the news? Now they are questioning if Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.

Me:  Yeah, I saw this and it's the same argument they've been attempting to make forever. *grump grump grump*

We've got ancient papyrus that mentions Jesus shooting angry laser beams at other kids who made fun of Him when He was a child, too. LoL. I'm not kidding.

There's a reason certain things were left out of the Bible. Not everything was written with the guidance of the Spirit. This would be a good example.

Unless, of course, we're talking about Christ's Bride being the Church (which we're not).

So while I've heard of this on the news recently, I haven't paid it any attention because it's the same tired song that's been sung for a long, long time. No matter how much folks want to believe that Christ was married to Mary M, the truth will always be that He was, from all eternity, married to the Church. It's why He came specifically to lay down His Life for Her.

Which, BTW, was the complete reversion of Adam's refusal to lay down his life for his wife, Eve (which subsequently got them booted out of the garden).

But I digress (as I'm prone to do when theological topics tickle my fancy).

Friend T:  well i understand that not everything written down is true but if something wasn't written with the guidance of the spirit, does that make it not true? jesus shooting laser beams is sort of far fetched...but...come on...if you think about the things catholics believe in (water into wine, walking on water, raising from the dead, virgin birth) that's a little harder to believe but we still believe it. then we find ancient text saying a man from the middle east 2000 years ago had a wife and you say its the same old crazy story.

i reread one of those sentences and it has some structural issues but u get the point

Me:  Structural issues aside (*grin*), I'm not asking anyone non-Catholic to believe or disbelieve in the papyrus. I'm simply pointing out that no matter how many various scrolls are found that say Jesus was married to Mary, faithful Catholics will never believe it because we know through the 3 Pillars that Jesus - from all eternity - was and is united to the Church. He never married during His stint on earth, and anyone who said so (today or 2,000 years ago) got their information wrong (either intentionally as in the case of heretics, or unintentionally as sometimes happens through human nature). This is why we Catholics believe so strongly in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

He makes sure that heretical / misguided information stays out of our Scriptures because He's got the foresight to see that this issue will keep cropping up every few decades.

And an interesting tidbit for anyone who cares:

The most utilized analogy in the Bible as a whole (this included the OT and the NT) of Christ to His Church is that of the Bridegroom and His Bride.

Not the Good Shepherd leading His Flock, and not the King and His subjects. God, throughout Salvation History, has highlighted the idea that we are not only His Family, but His INTIMATE family. He wishes to know us and love us as two people so closely united that they become one.

This, my friends, is why Catholics hold the Sacrament of Matrimony to be so incredibly sacred... it is humanity's call to emulate God. THIS is why we will fight tooth and nail to ensure that this Sacrament remains faithful to the truth of Divine Nature.

See? There I go digressing again...

*Grin*

That was the end of the conversation.  I've even been relatively silent on updating statues and such on account of the focus on Vince's birthday this weekend.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I find this message in my message box this morning:

Friend S:  I saw your post about gay marrage and still dont see why everything has to boil down to two men getting married in a church for you catholics.  live and let live already.  and while your at it, acknowledge that your story book contains just as much fact as my grimms fairytails. 

I'll be honest.  After reading it, I was HIGHLY confused (and I admit, HIGHLY irritated).  "Gay marriage" post?  WHAT gay marriage post?  I was trying really hard to remember if I'd spoken about marriage at all let along gay marriage last week.  The second sentence was my only clue to what post this person was talking about.

Instead of writing back one of my normal fire-brandishing messages, I resisted.  I actually typed a terrible response that was more reactionary than I care to admit.  I smartly deleted it upon further reflection.  However, I can't say I successfully bucked Satan on this one.  I half-gave in and simply wrote back that considering my original topic had nothing to do with gay marriage, and almost NONE of the subsequent follow-up had to do with gay marriage, the only one who can rightly be accused of boiling anything down would be him.

*Le sigh* 

I need to go read Shalimar's entry on forgiving and letting go, because I'm all sortsa "I want to punch things" right now...

I loathe having my words twisted into something unrecognizable.  I really, really do.

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