Shame and Scandal

I have been to a few baseball games with my family, and every once in a while between innings they put up the "kiss cam". I will admit, since I always wear my clericals when I go to a game, it is a bit unnerving to think that they would pan the camera to my wife and I. As it is, we already have a general rule of no public display of affections (to avoid the scandal and misunderstanding that could occur since the vast majority of Catholic priests are celibate). It is part of my calling and though we love each other immensely, we sacrifice our own desires and abide by it for the sake of the Church and the testimony of Christ. It is what God has called me to, so she is called to her part in that.

By now, most people have heard about the CEO and his HR executive who were caught on a "kiss cam" at a concert. What is terribly painful in this whole scandal is to hear people's reactions to it. Some complain that the "kiss cam" invaded their privacy. Privacy? They are committing adultery; they have no right to hide the fact of it--it should be exposed! Others said they should have worked harder to keep it a secret, and faulted them for not planning better. Secret? You cannot hide from God; He will bring all things to light. There were even some giggles about, "they slipped up and got caught". Sadly, I did not find one (there may be one, but I did not find it) person who said, "it is shameful that they are working to destroy the fabric of society" (which is what adultery does).

The American people seem more concerned with "do whatever you want, just don't get caught" than "sacrifice your own selfish lusts for the sake of our nation". Adultery (in all its vulgar forms) is destructive to the family, so it is destructive to the nation, which depends on the family. Sinful desires are not a game that we are to play like "hide and seek" and see if we win. They are harmful to our own soul and to the soul of those we are covenanted with (our relatives), but they also spread their evil influence in many directions. Furthermore, demons love to attach to disordered sexual desires (there are, obviously, "ordered" sexual desires--between husband and wife--and demons hate those because they are powerless against them).

Sexual perversions have a domino effect on one's soul. They lead from one to another to another, and end up in all kinds of evil. So, to the rock star who caught the adulterous couple on the "kiss cam" and said, "either they're having an affair or they're just very shy", I feel sorry for you; very sorry. You see it only as a "whoops" or a "how cute", when you should see it as disgraceful to American society. No, there is nothing inherently wrong about a "kiss cam", but it should be obvious that, in a society like ours with rampant immorality, how many problems it can create. In a godly society the only people "caught" on a "kiss cam" would be people who should be happy to acknowledge their love publicly (even if it puts us few married priests in a situation where we have to appear "unmarried" for the sake of propriety). Our hearts, however, should break when we see people actively working to promote wickedness.