Cool quote....

Here's a neat quote:

Passion is the evil in adultery. If a man has no opportunity of living with another man's wife, but if it is obvious for some reason that he would like to do so, and would do so if he could, he is no less guilty than if he was caught in the act.

- St. Augustine

Chastity

Remember, we are called to love in the image of the Holy Trinity. Father gives Himself eternally to the Son in Love. The Son receives love from the Father eternally. The love that is between them is so real and so strong that it is an eternal person, the Holy Spirit.

So we are made in the image and likeness of God to live in a communion of Love. Men giving their total selves to their wives. Wives receiving all of their husbands and giving their whole selves back to them. This love can sometimes be so incredibly blessed that it brings forth new life!!!

If you're not living God's plan for Sex, which is always within marriage being Total, Faithful, Fruitful, and Free you are not loving in the image of the trinity. You're not loving the other person with your total self. That sex is not total because you haven't given your life to them in marriage and if you're contracepting you're holding yourself back, it's not faithful because there's no commitment, it's not fruitful because you're not growing spiritually because of it and if you're contracepting you're not open to new life. It's not Free either, because you're not choosing the best for you or the other person. If you're going to love someone you have to be able to live in the mindset of Christ

"This is my body, given up for you."

Freedom is choosing the best outcome. License is the ability to choose. Don't get mixed up!

Freedom:

1. The condition of being free of restraints.
2. Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression.

Don't be enslaved by your desires. Be free to live and love without worrying about disease, hurting each other, objectifying someone, being objectified, etc. etc. etc. God calls us to be free. That's why he died for us.

from Life teen How far is too far?

As human beings, we crave relationships. And in each relationship, we need balance to meet all of our needs: God/Jesus, Our Parents, Our brothers and sisters, our friends, our boyfriends/girlfriends, our spouses. The more we go through life without this “balance” in our relationships, particularly from our parents, the more our needs get left unmet.
These unmet needs lead to poor choices, particularly with our sexuality. The needs create a longing in us for intimacy. Sexual experiences give the feeling of deep intimacy, but many times it is a false sense of intimacy, and not the real thing. It soothes us, helps us feel better, but doesn’t meet the deep need in us.

The danger here is that we are using sexual experiences like a drug – to create a feeling of what we need, rather than getting the real thing – it’s an allusion and can lead us into addiction, just like any drug could.



Here are some things we should consider -


1. Understand that before marriage your friendship is not for sexual pleasure. God wants you to learn to love each other and be best friends. Many marriages break up because they are based on LUST not friendship. Build your relationship on being best friends.

2. Make up your mind to enjoy what God has given you now. Friendships are precious, but can be ruined by the power of Lust. Lust will want you to have deeper and deeper sexual experiences and will never satisfy you. Choose right now to not be controlled by lust, but to enjoy your relationship.


3. If you have decided not to be controlled by lust, you’ll know to keep your hands to yourself. Touching people sexually inevitably leads to something deeper. In your heart you do know what is right, follow the Holy Spirit’s conviction, it is always for the best.


Here’s how Fr. J on www.lifeteen.com replied to someone who asked the question - “How far is too far?” “Burning passion is a blazing fire, not to be quenched till it burns itself out.” This passage from the Book of Sirach 23:16 kind of sums it up, doesn’t it? If you’re getting all hot and stuff with the person you’re with then chances are you’re going to get burned. I mean people can play all the “I can control myself ” games that they want to, but the truth is that its not just the action that makes something sinful, its also the intention. Christ said, “From the mind stem evil designs - murder, adulterous conduct, fornication (this is the one you’re asking about), stealing, false witness and blasphemy. These things are what makes a person impure.” (Matt. 15:19-20)

Now I know that being a teenager means that you're this big wound up ball of hormones, but I also know that the body must be subject to the Spirit. I also know that there should never be anything that gets in the way of you making to heaven, including your own passions. Think about it... is the brief time you’ll be having “fun” worth the chance of missing out on eternity with God? Add onto that, is your “fun” worth risking your partner’s chance to get into the big party God has waiting for us?


Every part of me wants to tell you that it will be real easy to avoid being tempted to give into your sex drive, but the truth is its not easy. Its not easy as a teenager and it doesn’t get any easier when you get older. Still, the message is clear... our bodies (and the bodies of those with us) are temples, are sacred because God made us that way and never should they be used as toys to get us excited. If you’re worried about going too far... answer to you is that you’re already there. Stop trying to push the boundaries of sexual experimentation and do something really cutting edge... actually get to know the person you’re with, because that experience, unlike sexual passion, has no limits.



For more info on Chastity, Dating and Theology of the Body....Click the picture!!

Good Advice

This again, it makes sense.

Shake, shake, shake....okay it's getting old.

The girls are winning the "Which gender is going to have the most attendees at the retreats this weekend?" contest.

So far I have:

14 girls

7 guys

Okay...there's no real contest. But seriously! Let me know if you're coming! It's going to be awesome!

Every single person registered in the youth group has been called......I wonder which team is going to win. :) See you all on Saturday!!! Bring friends!!

Cancelled

In case you didn't get the e-mail or get the message the Snowshoeing trip is cancelled. Sorry for all those who were looking forward to this trip. Maybe next time!

Keep your days clear for February 24th for

Shake your Beauty

and

Virtuous Reality!

Homosexuality

Here's more background info on what we talked about. Click on the underlined large words for the full articles and documents.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Chastity and homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

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From Catholic Answers

Homosexuality

Every human being is called to receive a gift of divine sonship, to become a child of God by grace. However, to receive this gift, we must reject sin, including homosexual behavior—that is, acts intended to arouse or stimulate a sexual response regarding a person of the same sex. The Catholic Church teaches that such acts are always violations of divine and natural law.

Homosexual desires, however, are not in themselves sinful. People are subject to a wide variety of sinful desires over which they have little direct control, but these do not become sinful until a person acts upon them, either by acting out the desire or by encouraging the desire and deliberately engaging in fantasies about acting it out. People tempted by homosexual desires, like people tempted by improper heterosexual desires, are not sinning until they act upon those desires in some manner.

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From the group COURAGE

Persons with homosexual desires have always been with us; however, until recent times, there has been little, if any, formal outreach from the Church in the way of support groups or information for such persons. Most were left to work out their path on their own. As a result, they found themselves listening to and accepting the secular society's perspective and opting to act on their same-sex desires.

His Eminence, the late Terence Cardinal Cooke of New York, was aware of, and troubled by this situation. He knew that the individual dealing with same-sex attractions truly needed to experience the freedom of interior chastity and in that freedom find the steps necessary to living a fully Christian life in communion with God and others. He was concerned that many would not find this path and would be constantly trying to get their needs met in ways that ultimately do not satisfy the desires of the heart.

In response to this concern, he decided to form a spiritual support system which would assist men and women with same-sex attractions in living chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love.
Knowing of Fr. John Harvey's extensive ministry experience in this field, he invited him to come to his Archdiocese.

With the help of the Rev. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., and others, Fr. Harvey began the Courage Apostolate with its first meeting meeting in September, 1980 at the Shrine of Mother Seton in South Ferry.

With the endorsement of the Holy See, Courage now has more than 110 Chapters and contact people world-wide, over 1500 persons participating in its ListServs, and hundreds of persons per week receiving assistance from the main office and website. It has become a mainstream Catholic Apostolate helping thousands of men and women find peace through fellowship, prayer, and the Sacraments.

The Courage Central Office operates through the prayerful and financial support of the Archdiocese of New York as well as contributions and volunteer work from Courage members and other individuals and organizations committed to advancing its efforts.
Individual chapters throughout the world are self-supporting and exist with the permission of their diocesan Bishop.

In helping individuals gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the Church's teachings, especially in the area of chastity, Courage extends the Church's invitation to a life of peace and grace. In chaste living, one finds the peace and grace to grow in Christian maturity.

Copyright (C) 2000 Courage

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If you are struggling with Homosexual inclinations or know someone who is feel free to come and talk with me or get in contact with the Washington Chapter of Courage.

TOB Intro Part II

I hope this week was a little easier to digest especially with all that small group time :) Next week we're talking about what the Church says about Homosexuality. Here's the info from last night!
(modified from Life Teen's "Off the Wall" night)

From last week’s talks, would you say that in this world sexuality is viewed as it should be?
No.

But our God is asking us, just like he asked Peter today, to have faith in Him. Have faith in his incredible plan for our sexuality so that we might marvel at the wonder he shows us when we do.

You, are the hope for this world. You, bearing God’s gifts, vision, and promise. Our generation has already started, there is a revival. Teens and young people are starting to wake up to the truth about their sexuality and are realizing that they shouldn’t settle for the lies about our sexuality.

We need to seek the truth about our sexuality and guard our hearts against the disordered messages we’re getting from everywhere. Oral sex, sex parties, petting, pornography…these are not okay. This is not what God had in mind when he designed you, body and soul. And the fruits of abortion, contraception, suicide, STDs, depression, and despair clearly show this. This is not the happiness God intended for you when he created sex.

I don’t know exactly where each one of you stands with your faith life, I wish I did but I’m not there yet as a youth minister, so let’s level the playing field and make sure we’re all on the same page. I hope and pray that all of you are rooted in the belief that the Catholic Church speaks the truth revealed by Christ, but in case some of you are unsure consider this point when listening tonight because everything that we’re talking about is rooted in scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. So consider this…

Is it possible that a rational, intelligent person could accept the teachings of Christianity, and more specifically the Catholic Faith, as Truth? Yes... The world is full of rational, intelligent people who not only believe them to be true, but have been willing to give their lives for what they believe. So, it must at least be something worth investigating right? So please, keep an open mind while we’re talking about the Theology of the Body because for the next 5 life nights, we may be discussing things you’ve never heard and possibly disagree with. And with that….let’s get onto the truth about ourselves.

Beginning in 1979, about after a year of being Pope, John Paul II began a series of teachings at his weekly Wednesday public audiences about the human body and sexuality. These five weekly teachings lasted FIVE YEARS. This collection is now known as the Theology of the Body, and it is revolutionary and prophetic. John Paul II could see even in the late 70’s how broken our sexuality was starting to become with the “sexual revolution” and where we were heading if it did not change.

So let’s look at where we began. We’ve already discussed Genesis a lot. When God created us in his image and likeness, male and female he created us. So realize this, every bit of you, who you are, how you were made, what you look like, from your fingernails, your eyeballs, even down to your genitals, is made in the image and likeness of God. Our bodies image Him and the functions of our bodies mirror and reveal to us the mysteries of God and His love for us.

So undo the twisted ideas that say that the body is dirty, sinful, or unholy, or that your sexuality is unholy. The Catechism says “the flesh is the hinge of salvation”, but remember that is only true when “the flesh” is in line with the design of the creator. Our bodies are beautiful. We need our bodies for our faith. We believe in the WORD MADE FLESH who came to dwell among us and redeem the flesh. It is through your body that you sense and experience your faith. This is why we have sacraments, those outward and physical signs of inward grace being bestowed upon us by God. Holy water at baptism, sacred Chrism at baptism and confirmation, laying on of hands at confirmation and ordination, eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ at Mass, confessing your sins with your lips, anointing the sick, becoming one flesh in marriage; these are the sacraments, without your body you can’t receive them!
It is through our human flesh that we encounter the divine mystery.
To fully understand who we are and what we are we must understand in what image we are made and why.

Pope Benedict XVI has started off his Pontificate explaining it all for us, in his encyclical “God is Love”. God is a union of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God the Father is the lover, Jesus his only Son is the Beloved, and this love is so true and consuming that it is the blessed third person of the Trinity the Holy Spirit. When man and woman come together in a nuptial union, it images the trinity. This image is stamped in our bodies. So we are called also to reflect the love of God and love as he loves.

God loves us in many ways and these types of love are described by the scriptures and in much more detail in Pope Benedict’s encyclical. Some of the loves in the Bible describe God’s love as
-The love of an artist for his work.
-The love of a father for his son or daughter.
But the most used metaphor in scripture to describe how God loves us is that of the love between a Man and a Woman. The Bridegroom for his Bride. Our Church is called the eternal Bride of Christ and heaven is called the Eternal Wedding Feast.

Ephesians 5

Men your calling is to love your wives and all women as Christ loves the Church.

Women your calling is to allow yourselves to be loved as Christ loves you.

Submissive = under the mission

Suboordinate = under the order

Therefore....we are to be under the mission of men loving us as Christ loves us ladies. And men you are called to the difficult mission of loving as Christ loves. Corinthians 13 tells us....

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated,
it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

Don't settle for anything less, Christ wouldn't want you to.

Neat video.