Diocesan Resources
Love 101: Back to Basics Bulletin Insert (2015)
Love 101: Back to Basics Bulletin Insert
As baptized Christians, we are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. God, who is Love and who loves us beyond comprehension, wants us to live forever with Him in full and perfect love. We were created for this love, and our relationships on earth are meant to help us, and others, grow in this love.
Do you think of chastity as “just a bunch of rules” that prevent us from expressing affection? On the contrary, we can discover true love through the practice of chastity, “the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being” (CCC no. 2337).
Chastity is about how to love well as a man or as a woman. Because as human beings we’re both body and soul, chastity isn’t just about physical actions; it’s about how we love in every aspect of our lives. It affects not only what we do or don’t do, but also what we say, think, wear, watch, listen to, read, and so on. It includes respecting our sexuality in these and all areas—for our sake and for the sake of others. Everyone is called to live chastely whether they’re single, married, or religious. However, this article deals specifically with chastity in dating: romantic interactions between unmarried people.