A Bold and Refreshing Proposition

The Current Issue of NCR features an article by Gordon J. Hilsman titled , 'Toward A Catholic Kama Sutra'. I call this bold because it forces us to take seriously the human experiences in a shared history of humanity and give them their due in historical context. It is refreshing in that it urges a departure from the attitudes of an infractional view of spiritual practice. The marital relationship is repeatedly cited as the source relationship in the family core of the church, but the Freedom of the Laity is given short shrift and negligible encouragement in practice.
I have my copies of Fr. Andrew Greeley's books ' Sexual Intimacy ' and ' Love and Play ' within arm's reach if anyone wants to discuss this topic seriously. This is a very Catholic topic and it has nothing to do with the ' ... almost pornographic... ' content of the Hindu text that the author of this article cites. It gets straight to the core of creativity and the passing on of tradition to the next generation. In his treatise on Catholic Education , Fr. Greeley states very succinctly that ' The purpose of Education is to prepare the student for Beauty '. In my view this is exactly what needs to be addressed here , the nature of Beauty in everyday practice .