St. Cecilia's Youth: 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.