Friends, welcome to Word on Fire, Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an apostolate dedicated

to the mission of evangelization, using media both old and new to share the faith on every

continent and to facilitate and encounter with Christ and His Church. The efforts of

Word on Fire engage the culture and bring the transformative power of God's Word where

it is most needed. Today we invite you to join Bishop Robert Baron, as he preaches

the gospel and shares the warmth and light of Christ with each of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, our readings for this weekend are a treasure trove in regard

to human sexuality and marriage. Two topics much discussed and much misunderstood today.

I wanted to draw some basic conclusions from these powerful scriptures. I'd urge you

though when you have a chance sit down on your own time and read through these scriptures

from Genesis, from Hebrews and from the Gospel of Mark, they really are a wonderful source

for understanding what Catholics think about sexuality and marriage. Here's a first

principle now. I'm going to garner from these texts. Catholics are not puritanical

in regard to sex. Let me just say that again. Catholics are not puritons when it comes

to sex. We're not against sex just the contrary. Now I know the opponents of the Church will

often pilarious on this score, as though we're some kind of world denying or pleasure denying

aesthetics. Not true. There's a strain that runs through the history of the religions

and philosophies of the world. Call it the gnostic or mannequin or dualist strain. What

am I talking about? I mean the view that the spiritual is good and the material therefore

is bad. One of the upshadows is that which draws us most fully into the realm of the physical,

namely sexuality, is especially bad. You'll find that as I say in this gnostic or dualistic

strain. It's not just in Christianity. You can find it in many of the great religions

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