It Is Not Good For Man To Be Alone (part one)

It is not good for man to be alone.

In all of history, it’s the first thing that God identified as “not good”. Up until then, all of creation was good.  Dry land, water, vegetation, the sun and the moon, separation of light and darkness, living creatures.  He saw that it was good. Then God created man and it was self-evident. It is not good for man to be alone.

You would think the church would put more focus on this, based on that revelation alone.
Because when God saw that it was not good, He went right to work making introductions.

God: Have you met horse? Horse is helpful, strong, and really quite beautiful.
Man:
God: Yeah, not a great mate huh? 

After exhausting introductions with all the animals, God created a help meet. Woman.

God wasted no time recognizing the tragedy of man, alone in the world.

But the Church.  The Church takes it for granted. Everyone shows up married, apparently. 

Let’s strengthen marriages, the church says. Let’s build strong families. Yes. Of Course!

You single people… take care of your own needs. But you know, don’t sin… stay chaste, in return we’ll ignore you when you show up at Mass on Sundays. But could you volunteer for this and that… you know, since you have so much free time because you’re alone.

And we shouldn’t complain about it either. That one I don’t understand.  

When The Church plunks World Marriage Day down on the same week of Valentine’s Day (also known as Single’s Awareness Day)  – it is a bit of insult added to injury.

Hey, I’m more than happy to focus on strong marriages. I support all of my married friends, encouraging them through their struggles, rejoicing in their joys, making sweet baby gifts, offering to babysit so they can have time alone, together.

 

A little reciprocity would be nice. Just a little acknowledgement that it must be hard to approach and then live your 40s without marking any grownup milestones like marriage and children, not to mention the horror of facing family dynamics at holiday gatherings. (Sweet Lord, take me now.)

Admittedly, the Catholic Church was completely unprepared for the fallout of the sexual revolution. Logically, the Nice Catholic Boys and Girls weren’t going to succumb to it.  What the Church was unable to realize, is that the Nice Catholic Boys and Girls suffer the repercussions in ways those who participate in the debauchery never will.  When the rest of the culture delays marriage, it has a ripple effect. Men and women who wanted a life of marriage and family, live without both.

The irony is a tragedy. Because secular feminists get to have babies. They may not want them, but they get them. They may never have a wedding, but they get the family. Meanwhile the chaste, single Catholic Girl prays for an opportunity to have babies, but those babies will not turn up until a Nice Catholic Boy gets his head and heart into gear.

God was distressed to realize that it is not good for man to be alone. So much so, that He set forth to do something about it, pretty immediately. Why then, is the Church so stubbornly opposed to intervene in what is “not good” for it’s single population?

It is not good for women to mourn the loss of their fertility, while still hoping and praying for a husband. It is not good for men to live without companionship, to rely on p*rnography as a substitute for intimate relationships or to be so concerned about losing everything in a divorce that they never take on the risk of loving someone, united with God.

What is the Church doing for Adult Catholic Singles?

When will they start thinking about it?