Sex is a beautiful and complex part of human life. Sex is a communion of persons through which the very image of God, as community, is expressed. Sex is the most powerful way through which we participate in the generative activity of God’s creative nature. Sex is an expression of our embodiedness, and a reminder that we have been gifted our bodies as we offer our bodies to another as gift. Sex is a communication of self through the universal language of flesh and blood; the same language through which Christ himself communicates God to us through the incarnation and the Eucharist.
These truths about sex are the reasons that Catholics take sex seriously. Our relationship with sex is connected to our relationship to both God and neighbor, the two most sacred relationships we have (Matthew 22:37). The sacredness of our sexuality obliges us to express it with care and consideration. But sometimes we take so much care to protect our sexuality that we don’t give space to talk about it. Talking about sex is uncomfortable, and sometimes is seen as dangerous. Sometimes people fear that if we talk about the particulars of living as sexual people that people will become particularly sexual. As a result, too often, people are raised learning about sex from the worst sources. The sexual tutors of our culture are TV, movies, trial-and-error, peers, and pornography. For every gap that is left undiscussed these new instructors will fill the void. For each lacunae we deem too taboo, there will be a willing instructor enlisting as a volunteer.
When we talk about sex as a mystery we have to remember that it is meant to be mysterious in a sacramental sense NOT a biological sense.
I write this as a plea. Take time to talk about sex.
So often the church only talks about the chronology of Sex without talking about the biology, psychology, theology or methodology. We leave those up to our cultural tutors.
It doesn’t have to be a big deal. You don’t have to make talking about sex a huge conversation. Just try to incorporate instruction about it into your everyday life (just like you do with everything else). I think one example of this is done brilliantly by the folks at Blue Street Studios on the subject of consent.
This is a topic that is essential to helping teach people about sex, but is too often ignored or forgotten. Take a look at how they present it in everyday language. We can do this! Let’s try. Let me know any good content you have seen or used to help talk about sex in the comments below!
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