Per Christum Catholic Blog

Fr. Wagner, at Stump The Priest, offers some great insight on what is happening to Fr. Cutie. I should say that while I disagree with what Fr. Cutie has done, I have a lot of sympathy for the man. While I understand he made a serious commitment, and has broken this commitment, I also know the way human nature is, and that God’s mercy is available. Fr. Cutie needs our prayers, and his bishop’s direction. I can offer the former. I pray that Fr. Cutie makes the right decision. I commend you to Fr. Wagner’s post, especially how he distinguishes between “luv” and “love.”

In recent news, we have heard of the public scandal of a very famous Priest, Fr. Alberto Cutie. Fr. Cutie has touched the lives of millions of people, particularly in the Latin world, and has helped them to follow Christ more closely. In recent days however we have learned of his own personal struggle with his promise of celibacy, and with chastity, as picture of him with a female companion on a beach in Miami have surface. Fr. Albert made public news with these photos, shocking some, and not surprising others who think celibacy is an archaic and unhealthy lifestyle.

I thought I would put my two cents in.

Celibacy is tough.

It is.

So is marriage though! Life is tough! Sexuality is a tough thing to deal with no matter who you are. If it is something that you don’t struggle with, check your back for wings because you aren’t human. Take it from someone who has been hearing confessions for 5 years, a lot of people struggle with their sexuality, both interiorly and exteriorly. Heck, take it from someone who IS human and struggles with integrating and living a healthy human sexuality. Just because a man makes a commitment to celibacy doesn’t make him weird or superhuman, nor does it take away this struggle with human sexuality in a fallen world…

…At this point I think it would be wise to make a distinction between LUV and LOVE.

LUV is the feeling- the butterflies- the attraction- the excitement. LUV is the stuff that sonnets and “Love” songs are written about. I would guess everyone has felt it for someone or something at some point in their life. LUV is a good thing- it is why people get married- it is why men become priests- it is why people have kids.

In our language, we only have one word for the various types of “Love.” In Greek there are at least 3 words for love! So English is a little deficient when it comes to understanding the concepts. I recommend reading “The Four Loves” by CS Lewis for further distinction of the different types of love.

So it is a sin that Fr. Cutie fell in LUV? Nope… not at all. In fact I can say with all my heart, that I wouldn’t want a priest that was incapable of falling in LUV. That priest would be inhuman. I believe Jesus fell in LUV- we hear him saying that his heart “ached” for the people, as he saw them like sheep without a shepherd. And how often in the Old Testament does God’s relationship with his people imitate what LUV seems to be.

I have fallen in LUV myself a few times. I fell in LUV with the church, with Jesus and his people. I have felt feelings of LUV, in my past before I was a priest, for women (which I am really glad about since I know what that is like). LUV is fun and exciting, and it hurts sometimes, and it is hard to control at times, and can overwhelm us if we let it, as it had Fr. Cutie. LUV is a great thing- probably none of us would be here if it wasn’t for a little LUV.

Married people fall in LUV, fall out of it, fall back into it with each other. LUV, like other “feelings” comes and goes. Sometimes married people fall in LUV with people who aren’t their spouses, and sometimes priests fall in LUV with women. It happens. LUV is part of the human condition. The inability to control ourselves when we are in LUV comes from our damaged human nature.

We are not called to LUV though. A lot of people think that this is the end all be all- that it is what will fulfill us. Like anything that is pleasant, and like any good feeling, LUV can be fleeting. LUV can cause pain sometimes as our hearts ache for the person we are in LUV with. LUV, as I mentioned, comes and goes.

We are called to a more noble purpose though we are called to LOVE… Read the whole thing

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 6:15 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.