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A CELEBRATION OF SEXUAL LOVE (SONG OF SONGS 2:1-7)

REFLECTION

A celebration of sexual love is the theme for our reflection. Celebration means acknowledging or honouring the importance of a person or an event. Sexual love is the feeling of sexual desire and attraction. It is also known as Eros or erotic love. Celebration of sexual love means honouring or acknowledging the importance of sexual desire, attraction, and emotional and physical intimacy in marriage. We shall reflect on two facts. First, sexual love must be celebrated because it is God’s gift to married couples to sustain passion, physical attraction, joy, satisfaction, pleasure, and emotional and physical intimacy. Secondly, sexual love must be celebrated within the confines of marriage.

Firstly, sexual love does not only lead to procreation but enables married couples to remain attracted to one another even as they experience passion, joy, satisfaction, pleasure, and emotional and physical intimacy in their marriage. We read a celebration of sexual love in the discourse between Solomon and his beloved when Solomon wrote, “Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the young women. She also replied, 3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste…His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. (Song of Songs 2:2-3,6) Solomon and his wife shared an intense sexual love in their relationship. Sexual love is celebrated when we delight in appreciating and cherishing the physical attributes of our spouse. We must never become weary or disinterested in the physical attributes of our spouses. A husband must love and appreciate every part of his wife’s body and the wife must also appreciate and be interested in the body and appearance of her husband. Sexual love is largely based on physical attraction therefore we must take good care of ourselves, and practice good hygiene. Again, we must take good care of our spouses and invest in their health so that they will always be physically fit, sexually fit and attractive to us.

The younger we are in our marriages, the more pleasurable, exciting and better we celebrate sexual love. It is for this reason that Solomon again said in the book of Proverbs, “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. (Proverbs 5:18-19). It is therefore our marital responsibility and divine obligation to love our spouse sexually and unconditionally. We must kiss, hug, embrace and sexually satisfy our spouse. Let us not become too busy and get carried away by the exigencies of life to the detriment of our sexual love and marriage relationship. Our spouses feel much cherished when we share sexual love and intimacy with them. It is essential to remember that the most important gift God has given everyone is his or her body. Through the expression of sexual love, we share our most cherished and important gift, the body, with the one we love most as a spouse. We give satisfaction, joy, and pleasure and strengthen the bond of intimacy through the sharing of our bodies through sexual love.

Secondly, sexual love must be celebrated within the confines of marriage. Important advice is given to us, especially, those of us who have not yet found a spouse to celebrate sexual love within the confines of the marriage relationship. Sexual love must not be forced, it must be given time to ripe so that we can enjoy its fruits. It is for this purpose, that Solomon’s wife advised the young ladies in Jerusalem “Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. (Song of Songs 2:7) In other words, sexual love must not be expressed until the right sexual partner is found. Sexual love that is expressed outside marriage only brings temporary satisfaction but does not lead to meaning and long-lasting intimacy and relationship. God’s desire is for us to experience sexual love within the confines of marriage so that it will serve the purposes of procreation, pleasure, joy, satisfaction and sustained intimacy among married couples.

In summary, we have discovered two lessons in today’s reflection. First, Sexual love must be celebrated because it is God’s gift to married couples that guarantees physical attraction, joy, satisfaction, pleasure, and emotional and physical intimacy. Secondly, sexual intimacy must be celebrated within the confines of marriage.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, strengthen us to remain faithful spouses even as we benefit from God’s gift of sexual love in our marriages. Amen.