MD203 – Sexuality
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
OBJECTIVE
In today’s culture, the secular world is presenting a different view of sexuality to the Truth that the Catholic Church teaches. How can we include and support those who are struggling with identity and sexuality within our youth ministry while maintaining truth, integrity and safety?
Lord Jesus Christ, I confess here and now that you are my Creator (John 1:3) and therefore the creator of my sexuality. I confess that you are also my Savior, that you have ransomed me with your blood (1 Corinthians 15:3, Matthew 20:28). I have been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ; my life and my body belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Jesus, I present myself to you now to be made whole and holy in every way, including in my sexuality. You ask us to present our bodies to you as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) and the parts of our bodies as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13).
I do this now. I present my body, my sexuality [“as a man” or “as a woman”] and I present my sexual nature to you. I consecrate my sexuality to Jesus Christ.
INTRODUCTION TO SEXUALITY
“God is love and in Himself He lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in His own image and continually keeping it in being, God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being.”
~ Saint Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 11
Love is a gift of God, nourished by and expressed in the encounter of man and woman. However, ever since the sexual revolution in 1960s, the ideology of our sexuality has been completely misinterpreted and distorted. Unfortunately, we are experiencing the consequences as sexuality is now viewed as a choice rather than a gift. Where in fact:
“Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others.
Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life.”
CCC 2332-2333
Therefore, sexuality is not purely biological but also concerns the heart of the person (soul). Our union goes beyond the mere sense of animals because humans have a soul. It is no longer just a physical urge but also a desire for spiritual bonding. If the spirit is God and God is love, humans are thus made for love, that mirrors His love for us – which has certain characteristics: free, total, faithful and fruitful.
When one understands the “soul” of Church teaching about human sexuality, it becomes clear why She maintains that homosexuality and transgender do not reflect God’s free, total, faithful and fruitful love.
Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different way.
CCC 2335
Would you appreciate someone to talk to, or somewhere to find out more information on this sensitive topic? Here are some places to go:
Beyond Blue
Information and support in mental health
1300 22 4636
Centrecare
Counselling, support, mediation and training services
08 9325 6644
Lifeline
24 hours crisis support and suicide prevention service
13 11 14
Centre for Life, Marriage and Family (CLMF)
The agency provides: pre-marriage education; natural fertility education and management; relationship counselling; relationship enrichment
08 9241 5000
The Chastity Project
Catholic website that promotes the virtue of chastity and be free to love. Covers dating & relationship, homosexuality, birth control, etc.
www.chastityproject.com
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