The Great Repression

Man is higher than beast in a fundamental way. Rather than one who works on instinct alone, he is a rational being who can make decisions based on what is good and bad, right and wrong.

Yet, so many people advise us to "go with your instinct," to follow your feelings, to let your impulses lead you wherever they will. This insures that you will express your true self, who you really are. Often this is said in the context of sex, or in some aspect of business or personal relationships, but it could be set in any number of contexts. It is represented as a virtue; on the other hand, they say it's destructive to "repress" your desires.

Who wants to be guilty of "repressing" something? That doesn't sound good. It's a negative-sounding word -- to "repress."

The truth is that it depends on what you're repressing.

Bishop Fulton Sheen, in one of his Life Is Worth Living telecasts entitled "How to Psychoanalyze Yourself," explains that when you repress something, you express something else; when you express something, you repress something else. He gave the example of an alcoholic. When the alcoholic represses his alcoholism by intentionally avoiding alcohol, he expresses love for his wife and family. When he represses his love for his wife and family, he expresses his alcoholism.

The alcoholic's instinct -- his immediate desire that screams for instant gratification -- is to drink himself silly. But as a human being, he is able to choose the higher road and make a "right" decision because of his rational nature. That rational nature is what separates the men from the boars, or any of the other animals.

Therefore, for the alcoholic to satisfy his instinctive cravings without consideration is to betray his own nature. That is to say, he "represses" that which makes him a human being. He is the one who truly commits the self-destructive act of "repression."

He should instead express his higher nature as a human being by exercising his rationality, choosing to do what is right, even if it means denying his impulses. To do otherwise is to participate in the Great Repression that has bankrupted countless souls in the human economy.

Quick-Fix Faith

The following was written by Msgr. Zacharias Kunnakkattuthara, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palestine, Texas, for today, the nineteenth Sunday in ordinary time. Used with permission.

Psychologists have long claimed that a vital sign of maturity is the ability to delay gratification. Children in their natural immaturity will insist on having what they want immediately. Their desire is all-consuming, and they will have what they want now or go ballistic. As adults we should have developed enough maturity to value something other than immediate gratification of our desires. We should be able to take the longer look and live according to commitments we have made and goals we have set.

An ocean of immaturity surrounds us today. Our consumer culture, with its endless products and its marketing genius, stimulates our desire and convinces us that we need what is being offered. The culture promotes instant and effortless consumption. How can we get "fast food" to people faster? How can our products be made more "user-friendly"? This attitude becomes so pervasive that we believe we should not have to wait for anything.

Cartoonist Gary Trudeau once showed a young couple leaving a suburban church. It seems the cool, contemporary minister has slipped up and used the word "sin." The couple says to the minister, "We're looking for a church that meets our needs." What would Jesus say about a "user-friendly" church? We live in a culture that both reflects and encourages the immaturity that expects both instant and effortless gratification, even in the realm of our spiritual needs.

Jesus and our culture will never make peace. The "what's-in-it-for-me" approach to religion, the search for an effortless spirituality, and the desire for a "quick-fix" faith will not find their answer in Jesus. In the New Testament it costs for follow Jesus. What it costs, however, is more than worth the joy of receiving the gift of God's kingdom.

In Susan Howatch's novel Absolute Truth the adult son of an Anglican bishop talks with his father, about leaving his work at the BBC to serve the Church. His father says it isn't true that people can only serve God by doing what they hate and making themselves miserable. The son points out that the Christian faith is about suffering. His father suggests that he see "suffering" as effort. "Christianity's about effort . . . about shedding blood, sweat and tears to be what you've been designed by God to be and do what you've been designed by God to do. That's certainly not incompatible with personal fulfillment and lasting happiness. What's incompatible is not bothering to find out who one is, settling for something other than what one should be, tramping on others in order to realize a self designed by the ego instead of valuing and caring for others in order to realize the true self designed by God."

Your friend in Jesus,
Msgr. Zach