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Post by Dr. Robert Gotcher on Jun 11, 2021 1:59:19 GMT
How do we know when a pleasure gives honor and glory to God?
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Post by Tom Brefka on Jun 7, 2023 19:35:11 GMT
The answer is love. Always love. If our pleasure is showing love towards God or love towards neighbor it is giving glory to God. There are so many ways that we could show our love towards God or neighbor while getting pleasure out of the situation. Participating in the Liturgy, volunteering for an organization, assisting neighbor in need are just a few quick things that would be pleasurable and also give honor and glory to God.
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marc
New Member
Posts: 8
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Post by marc on Jun 12, 2023 3:53:25 GMT
I like Toms answer of love. God made many things pleasurable and that was His intention. So to draw pleasure from them in line with God's will gives Him glory and is a good. I think life was intended by God to have both pleasurable and painful things experienced in it. But to spend life seeking the most pleasure all the time is hedonism and to find enjoyment in pain only is a kind of masochism, I think. The middle road seems to be the right answer, and when morally appropriate and with temperance pleasurable things are good as I see it. John Paul II would probably say something similar to my last statement there and has in his theology of the body discourses.
Nonetheless, the history of the Church and tradition have often leaned toward an ascetic lifestyle in an effort to be detached from the world in order to be focused on the spiritual life. This was/is more prominent in monastic life, but I would also say more so in the past rather than in modern Church life now too. An example would be the fast before receiving holy Communion - one hour now but a full day in the past during certain periods in the Church.
The bible says fasting is a good way to get closer to God and overcome temptation as well - In Matt 6:16 Jesus even gives advice on how one should fast. I think as Christians we should lean toward asceticism, even if not as strict as the monks but the needle should tend in that direction. The needle tending in the other direction may not always be sin but may not provide any spiritual benefit either. In this way one could argue a little suffering is a better choice over a little pleasure.
As deacons I imagine we should commit ourselves to living more toward the ascetic side of the scale. The diaconal handbook mentions we should live simple lives, I think these things go together. How can one be both a simple living deacon and a hedonist at the same time? They do not go together. I think we as deacons we will have our work cut out for us in this area since we are in America where there is plenty of material goods and fancy meals readily available.
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