33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; 1 Thess 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30

+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
16 Nov 2008

It is sometimes, perhaps even regularly, asserted that Catholics rarely hear a Sunday sermon these days on sexual morality.

I probably would have to plead guilty to that charge although in many other places I have tried to present Christian teaching on this vital topic.  In my distant youth many serious Christians, not just Catholics, were tempted to think that sexual failings were the worst sins; perhaps the only sins worth mentioning.

We know that this is not the case as there are many sins worse than sexual weakness, although sexual sins are regularly prompted by selfishness, which can sometimes be brutal, aggressive and even violent, bringing great harm to others.

Most Sunday congregations are very mixed with people from every age group, including the very young and this mix is not ideal for sermons on sexuality.  But it is unusual in our sex obsessed society, where all of us and especially the young are bombarded relentlessly in the media with vulgarity and soft porn that we have a silence from the pulpit.

In this youth Mass on Sunday evening with a Cathedral full of young people, mostly university students, I decided to say a few words on the topic beginning from the excerpt from Proverbs about a perfect wife and concluding with the parable about the talents.

As I follow the discipline of the Latin rite in the Roman Catholic Church I am a celibate priest, without a wife and therefore less qualified than any husband to speak about the blessing of a good wife.

But everyone is the son or daughter of a mother and as most mothers are wives, I am more than happy to agree with the author of the Book of Proverbs that a good wife is priceless, although I would leave it to the husbands to decide how many wives are perfect!

Good marriages purify the couple both as spouses and parents, where their mutual duties radically diminish natural selfishness.  But a lot depends on the qualities spouses bring to a marriage; so they need to train and prepare.

Lust is still one of the seven deadly sins and not because Christians are spoil-sports.  A disordered sexual appetite causes damage.  This rudimentary self knowledge is essential, together with a realisation of our limitations.

Healthy sexual desire is a blessing, but like every desire it needs to be trained, well directed and restrained.  We now recognize that sexual addiction is as much a disease as addiction to drugs or alcohol, because habits feed on themselves for good or ill.

I chose this topic because of the sad news last week that New South Wales is suffering from an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers, where the rate of diagnosed Chlamydia among girls and young women is more than double the rate found among teenage boys and young men.

The 16 to 24 year olds had the largest percentage infected and south-east Sydney and the Hunter regions were the worst affected areas.

Lust is more of a problem among older age groups than it is among teenagers, but it is sad to see some of them making trouble for themselves in the future with the threat of infertility, as they are encouraged to drift into disordered patterns of life while still at school.

Across Australia 50,000 youngsters tested positive for Chlamydia last year, more than 12,000 of them in New South Wales.  Disturbingly high rates were found among fifteen year olds.  Doctors estimate the real rate of annual infections at a quarter of a million a year, because many are too embarrassed to seek medical help or persist in thinking they are invincible, that such diseases only strike others.

Too many of our young people are sold short on sex, because nobody is telling them the whole truth and many have to learn only from their mistakes.  I once had an 18 year old Catholic from a Catholic school claim he did not know sexual intercourse before marriage was sinful.

Many are relentlessly encouraged to reject the traditional Christian teachings on sexuality, usually without any sort of examination or comparative assessment.  And even Church going young Catholics can be tempted to think that Christian teaching is too negative; or impossibly high minded.

It is evidence of a very low estimate of young people’s altruism to tell fifteen and sixteen year olds that the best answer to sexually transmitted diseases is a condom; and this was implied in last week’s press reports.

No one is perfect and our instincts are partially disordered, but human beings are more than a mass of uncontrollable desires.  Self control is possible and necessary.

Sexual activity is lit by a fire, sacred or profane, which in the long term either purifies or corrupts.  It is not as morally neutral as other physical activities, not a recreational right, because sexual activity should be linked to love.  And love comes from our hearts and changes the core of our being.

Lust is selfish and uses the partner as an object.  Love is unselfish, and acts with the good of the loved one always in mind.

In the Christian scheme love, openness to children and sexual activity are all linked together as a worthy ideal, a trinity preparing for marriage and family.  True love is urged to wait.

Truly human teaching on sexuality recognizes the need for ideals as well as human weakness.  Lust is damaging, an easy option, but true love is precious and different.

A final word about the parable of the talents.  While the commandments are for every one, more is expected of those brought up in loving households where Christian teaching is respected.  The good God expects you to live by the principles you learnt at home and not succumb to the lowest standards of those around you.

Society needs this too if we are to avoid sinking into an ever deeper morass of sexual irresponsibility with ever worsening consequences for children and parents.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.