Watch the 15min video shown above. The video is on sexuality and chastity in a Catholic’s life.
Most people think that the Catholic Church hates human sexuality and bans the practice of it except for the necessity of having kids. Well, in fact most of us are just simply misinformed. We need to understand what Church actually means when it says we should practice chastity. It’s not just about saying NO, it’s about living life to the fullest.
Three Ways To Look At Sexuality
- The hedonistic way – Sex meant only for enjoyment and happiness. If it feels good, do it.
- The secular way – Never harm anyone. But anything goes if the two agree to participate.
- The Catholic way – Sex is a holy and good thing created by God for union of man and woman and the procreation of children. It is sacramental in nature. Not to be confused with the type of sex practiced by animals which is basically biological in nature.
We are placed on this earth to know, love and serve God and be happy with Him in the next. Happiness, personal fulfillment etc are not the main goals of humanity. Instead serving God and loving one another are! Sexuality fits into this plan by uniting man and woman producing the foundation of society, mainly the Family. From all of this, comes true happiness on this earth.
Catholic church believes Sex is Good
When God created the Heavens and the Earth, He created them good. When God created the animals, He created them good. When God created man, He created him good. Male and Female He created them. Adam and Eve complimented one another. Together they made humanity perfect. So when they had sex, God saw that it was good and from the love between them came a closer relationship to God and a closer relationship to one another and the family. It was absolutely beautiful!
What is Concupiscence?
That is the tendency we have in our bodies and souls to twist God’s gift including sexuality into dark and sinful ways. The church’s teaching on Sexuality is not complicated, in fact it is very easy to remember.
The 4 Basic Truths
- God created man in His image and likeness. Nothing else in creation is like us or blessed like us. God dwells in us.
- God created man as a physical being. Yes, man has a soul but the body is equally as important. Our bodies are good.
- God blessed us with the physical reality as Male and Female, saying be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.
- Man is created in original solitude. He is alone. And in that solitude he realizes his relationship to God and the fact that he is different from everything else in the world. But God does not think it’s good for the man to be alone, so He creates a partner. Adam is no longer man, instead man is now seen as male and female, from solitude to communion. Now the union of the male and the female becomes a shadow with the trinity, a communion of persons.
What is Chastity?
This is a virtue which helps us against Concupiscence. It is the virtue whereby we regulate our use of sexual activity in accord with our state of life. It does not mean no use of our sexuality, rather it means the appropriate use of our sexual powers given the state of our life. Chastity is a robust, freeing, courageous type of virtue that helps a person be at peace with the urgent longing that human beings feel. Chastity helps us all realize that we are more than just sexual objects.
Catholic Church’s Stand
Like all other things in our life, sexuality must be integrated into who and what we are and the type of lives that we lead. Knowing the truths described above, makes understanding our Church’s teaching on sexual issues much easier. Of course families form the bedrock of our society. They come from that self-giving love that a male and female in marriage share. Of course divorce is not going to be seen as permissible because it breaks up that community of love that is a family.
And of course, we are not going to accept same-sex marriage because marriage by its definition needs a male and a female. Whatever union same-sex partners have, it is not a marriage. We cannot make words mean something they do not. Of course, abortion is going to be wrong. We are made in the image and likeness of God and destroying innocent human life is a terrible thing. And of course embryonic stem cell research which relies on killing an embryo is wrong because it destroys a human being. Same thing with vitro fertilization which destroys life and separates the begetting of children from the love between husband and wife. And even contraception, which a vast majority of Catholics think is OK. That’s not going to be okay if you believe as the Church does, that marriage is both unitive (love side) and procreative (kids side).
Since our bodies don’t have consciences, only our souls do, the very pleasure associated with sex clouds our minds on issues of right and wrong. And that’s why we have to give weight to church’s teaching. Our Catholic morality is based on human experience reflected on in the light of the scriptures for nearly two thousand years. Please follow it.
