Hunky Jesus, gay sex.

          As the snow is coming down (yet again ), I am sitting inside writing in front of a roaring fire with my most wonderful husband laying on the couch next to me.  It is quite a visual for me and my mind tends to wander towards the more worldly, fleshy part of our existence if you know what I mean. It certainly doesn't help when you have just read an article in the New York Times about the men who have portrayed Jesus in films. Invariably hunky, sometimes blue eyed, oddly arianesque, ripped abs, almost always the antithesis of what a Jewish man would have looked like. He certainly would not look like the 6 foot 3 inch Diogo Morgado who will portray Jesus in an upcoming film who inspired the hashtag #hotjesus. All this while I am trying to write a spiritual reflection about today's readings. 

           Several things come to mind and again they are all worldly. Aren't these readings though about being worldly? The fact is on one hand how can we not be worldly. The physical is how we relate to this world. We may be called to a higher plane but we are human after all. It is in our humanity that we will (hopefully and prayerfully) achieve our wholeness and holiness.  What I am thinking is that no matter what, our spirituality and holiness are bound tightly to our relationship to our material world. Saint Vincent would say, ' be part of the world but not of the world'.

           For a spiritual gay man to see his hunky husband (not a hunky Jesus) sitting next to him it dawns on me that our sexuality is a considerably basic way in which we perceive and experience this physical world and how we perceive the spiritual world and the next plane of our existence. We are tightly bound to the physical. In being so I revel in God's creation of the man who is my husband. I celebrate and elevate him in every way and see the face of God in him and in his love, every aspect of love. Far from a lustful sex maniac or someone who delights in mere material pleasure, I see God's hand in every physical thing I see. From flowers and fish, pussycats and pastureland, and of course my hunky husband. It all calls me to the divine because it all comes from him and will all return to him.

        In today's second reading we are asked again about the material world and our transcendence into the divine. We so often justify ourselves, our lives and our opinions by the material world. This reading recognizes our relationship to the material and calls us beyond, to a higher plane, to the divine.

      We cannot simply justify ourselves and live simply in the material world with no other concerns. That kind of existence is where words like hedonism and misogyny come from. As believers, we know our calling is beyond the material. We should not be concerned with more, more, more of anything as a goal to itself. However, the material things around us can help us see the face of God better, not in a $10,000 Gucci bag or a $2000 Mercedes 'burnout' suitcase, but in a hug, a smile and yes even in incredible sex with your spouse. 

         The actions and love we express in any way elevate us to a higher plane, helps us to see the face of God and gives us a vision of the wholeness and holiness we are all meant to achieve as  an integral part of God's creation. 

1 Corinthians 3:1-9  ( and Matthew 5:21-37 )

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,

for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?

For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human?

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.

For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.

Matthew 5:21-37

"You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.'

But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire.

So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,

leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'

But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.'

But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.