Casual sex is like a slavery that “holds the user in bondage to
practises that cause physical, emotional and psychological harm,” say
the Canadian bishops in a pastoral letter Chastity, which gives old truths in a new way.
In the letter, they ask young people to wait for marriage, to choose
their friends wisely, to pray and go to the sacraments regularly in
order to live or recover a chaste lifestyle.
In the video posted on
Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGn4WXZnbxs) seven young people take it in turns, using an autocue, to read the Canadian bishops’ letter.
“Our thinking was that young people don’t read pastoral letters,”
producer Pedro Guevara from Salt & Light TV in Canada told ciNews.
“But maybe they’d watch a two minute video on Youtube.” Discussions
raised in the pastoral are generating lots of Facebook traffic, probably
mostly from young people.
In the letter, the bishops note the challenge of chastity, especially
in a ‘sex saturated’ world. For single people, whether heterosexual or
gay, it means abstinence; for married people, it means loving each
other “as persons” rather than “an object of pleasure or satisfaction.”
“Married people living chastely can have vibrant sex lives,” they
add, quoting Pope John Paul II when he said, “Only the chaste man and
chaste woman are capable of true love.”
Sex in marriage can be so intimate that it becomes an “emotional,
intellectual, physical and spiritual experience.”
But though pleasure
may be present “some acts are a misuse of sex when they fall short of
what God intends.”
They affirm the life of consecrated chastity as a divine gift.
“Chastity is meant to create a space which frees the human heart so that
it burns with love for God and all humanity.”
If this decision is not
well integrated, they warn, it can lead to “self centredness.”
A young person who wants to live a chaste lifestyle or recover one,
needs to pray, says the letter. The sacraments of Eucharist and
Reconciliation help on the journey.
Ken Parkes from Pure in Heart says it is important that the bishops put out a pro-chastity message in Ireland too.
“The value of sex is misunderstood,” he told ciNews. “It is not a recreational thing.”
For two years Ken was on mission with Pure in Heart and found
students very open to its message.
“Students with that value were
reinforced by the message. Those who hadn’t heard of it were struck too
because they saw the value of living a chaste lifestyle.”
He advised parents to read up on the subject and what it means.
“It’s not enough to tell children ‘Don’t have sex before marriage.’ You
must be told why and the benefits of living a chaste life.”
For
resources for parents he recommends www.chastity.com.
While chastity is a challenge, it is not impossible, according to the
Canadian pastoral.
It recommends that young people surround themselves
with friends who want to live in the same way, dress modestly, chose
entertainment wisely, go to the sacraments regularly and confide
temptations to a “spiritual guide.”
Finally it proposes a few saints to help along the way: St Augustine,
sexually active from 17, who struggled with purity, praying “Make me
chaste and celibate, but not yet” yet rose to become a great saint; a
native Indian saint, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and two Italians from the
20th century: Pier Giorgio Frassati, a single man who combined
political activism and social justice work with holiness and St Gianna
Beretta Molla, a married lay woman and doctor.