LESSON 14:

RESPECT
FOR GOD’S
DESIGNS
What do you think is
the gift you
received from God
that you can’t
easily give up?
SEXUALITY
By living out
the virtue of
CHASTITY.
What is
Chastity?
Chastity
 Comes from the Latin word castus,
meaning clean or pure. The Greek
word for it is katharos.
 In the sixth beatitude, the word
katharos is used in connection with
the heart. Thus, chastity is primarily
a matter of the heart.
 But chastity is a virtue that
expresses itself in the body. Hence,
Chastity
It is the control that one
must exercise over lustful
desires and the quest for
sexual pleasure.
It is to honor the human

body as a dwelling place of

the Holy Spirit.
 Three forms of
chastity
 Premarital chastity – or the
spiritual and physical
integrity that must be kept
before marriage.
 It refers to the avoidance of

sexual intercourse before

marriage.
 Three forms of
chastity
Marital chastity – or


the chastity of
spouses. It is the
fidelity of spouses to
each other and is
concerned with the
 Three forms of
chastity
 Celibate chastity – which must
be observed by people who have
opted not to marry. Some keep
celibate chastity simply because
they believe that married life is
not for them. Others observe
celibate chastity for a religious
motive, that is, for the sake of the
Kingdom of heaven.
 What is
human
sexuality?
Human Sexuality…
 Is the way people experience
and express themselves
sexually.
 It is your sexual feelings,

thoughts, attractions and

behaviors towards other
people.
Christian View of Human Sexuality

Human sexuality is
basically a fulfilling
relationship.
It is a way of relating to

another that satisfies

one’s innermost desires
as well as the other’s
Christian View of Human Sexuality

 These desires spring from the

very nature of the human
person as the image of God.
 In the first letter of

John(4:8.16), we read “God is

love”. For this reason a human
person can find fulfillment
Christian View of Human Sexuality

 Sex is a way of expressing

true love.
 If sex is a language that
communicates meaning, the
meaning that must be
communicated is integral
love. Such love must possess
Characteristics of Integral Love

 Fruitfulness – the first

story of creation,
emphasizes the
procreative meaning of
human sexuality. This
means to say that fulfilling
love must be fruitful. This
Characteristics of Integral Love

 But there are other ways of

having a fruitful human life:
by contributing effectively to
the advancement of culture,
the arts and sciences, and
relationships among persons
and peoples; by helping to
Characteristics of Integral Love

 Union – the second story

of creation, highlights the
unitive meaning of human
sexuality. In other words,
fulfilling love is found in
relational intimacy.
Characteristics of Integral Love

 This union primarily refers o

spousal intimacy, the loving
rapport of husband and wife
that makes them no longer two
but one body (Mt 19:6).
 But this unitive love is also

found in the union of friends,

relatives, members of religious
Characteristics of Integral Love

 Freedom from fear –

love is liberating. In the
first letter of John, we read
“there is no fear in love.
Perfect love drive away
fear, for fear has to do
with punishment; those
Characteristics of Integral Love

 Fear and love are two

irreconcilable opposites.
Thus integral love
expresses itself in the
absence of fear. As long as
fear still grips someone’s
heart, he or she still has
These
 three
characteristics show the
elimination or absence of
one or two destroys the
integrity of fulfilling love.
This destruction of love
becomes evident in
Premarital Sex
 It is sexual activity with no
commitment.
 It is sex for pleasure, with no
concern for its possible
consequences.
 It is so called one-night stand, that

unjustly trivializes a meaningful

and loving act.
 It can even result in the using of
Premarital Sex
 The sexual act has two
phases: (1) foreplay – refers
to what a couple does as
preparatory to sexual
intercourse. (2) intercourse –
is the sexual union of man
and woman, which , if
Premarital Sex
 The attraction of premarital sex has
been with humanity since times
immemorial. In the Old Testament,
it was strictly forbidden because a
non-virgin would fetch a low bride
price.
 This kind of thinking seemed to be

common to most peoples of the

past. Hence, the incidence of
What can be the reasons
for the frequency of
premarital sex in these
contemporary times?
Reasons for the frequency
of PMS in these
contemporary times
 First, people married at a
younger age in the past. The
tendency for late marriages
today has increase the
chances for PMS.
 Second, mass media have
glamorized the human body
Reasons for the frequency
of PMS in these
contemporary times
 Third, the icons of modern
society, those who exude beauty,
popularity, wealth, and success,
broadcast the acceptability of
such behavior.
 Fourth, the more open society we

have today has removed much of

the taboo connected with sex
Reasons for the frequency
of PMS in these
contemporary times
 Fifth, the weakening of the
traditional family has loosened
the roots from the soil on which
young people have embedded
their lives.
 Sixth, the contemporary quest for

immediate pleasure has blurred

the ideal of self-discipline, which
Reasons for the frequency
of PMS in these
contemporary times
Seventh, the weakening


of faith in God has

brought many to discard
the demands of the
divine law.
Premarital Sex
 Some people however, justify
premarital sex if it is done for love.
 It is true that St. Augustine has a

saying in Latin: Dilige, et fac quod

vis. This is translated as Love, and
do what you like. But it should be
understood that the love referred
by St. Augustine was integral
and perfect love, one that is
Premarital Sex
 Single individuals who engage in
premarital sex can never be free
from fear. Such fear normally comes
from the possibility of being
discovered and from the probability,
too, of premarital pregnancy.
 The fear is normally connected with

the non-acceptance of such behavior

by the significant persons in their
Premarital Sex
 Any such fear, of course,
vanishes with marriage.
 Marriage makes sexual
intercourse not only legitimate
but even desirable. People
expect a married couple to
engage in sexual intercourse and
pregnancy is normally a
Premarital Sex

Therefore, the
presence of fear puts
in doubt the love that
gives meaning to
sexual intercourse.
Because if there is
Contraception
 The use of artificial means of
birth control is one of the most
controversial issues of today.
 In fact, there are many studies

regarding the use of birth control

that the Church opposes. Just like
how the Anglican Church
(Lambeth Conference) allow its
Contraception
 Pope Pius XII had to react to
this decision of the Lambeth
Conference.
 On December 31, 1930, he

issued Casti Connubii, the

encyclical letter on Christian
Marriage. The Pope said, in no
54, that no reason, however
Contraception
 The conjugal act of the sexual
act of spouses is primarily for
having children. Thus, those
spouses who have sex, but
prevent the possibility of
having children, sin against
nature and do something
morally wrong.

Ogino-Knauss study
 It should be noted that Casti
Connubii did not consider the
recent scientific findings.
 In 1924, Kyusaku Ogino from

Japan and in 1929, Hermann

Knaus an austrilian doctor, they
both reach the same conclusion
on there study.
Ogino-Knauss study
 According to these studies,
ovulation or the release of the
ovum or egg cell occurs sixteen
to twelve days before the
anticipated first day of the next
menstrual period.
 Therefore, a woman with a
regular menstrual cycle could
Ogino-Knauss study
 Pope Pius XII who took into serious
consideration the Ogino-Knauss
findings.
 As he spoke to the Italian catholic

society of midwives on Oct. 29,

1951, he explained that husband
and wife may engage in sex even
during the days of natural sterility,
but if they limit the conjugal act
Ogino-Knauss study
 A little later, on November
26, 1951 in his address, he
said that to employ the
natural means of regulating
birth was moral. What was
immoral was to employ
artificial means of birth
control.
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth
 Pope St. Paul VI on his encyclical
letter, he explained in nos. 8 and
9 that the nature of conjugal
love is necessarily human, total,
faithful, exclusive, and
productive.
 The core of the encyclical is in

no. 11, where the Pope stated

 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth
 This means to say that there must
be no attempt to prevent each and
every sexual intercourse from the
possibility of begetting a child.
 The main reason for this teaching is

that there is an inseparable

connection, willed by God, between
the two meanings of conjugal act:
the unitive meaning and the
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth

In other words, every



marital union must

bring about the intimate
union of husband and
wife and must remain
open to the possibility
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth

As a consequence of this teaching, in

no.14, the following ways of
regulating birth were declared illicit:
 Directly willed and procured
abortion;
 Direct sterilization or the surgical

intervention resulting in the

infertility of husband (vasectomy) or
wife (tubal ligation);
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth
 All forms of artificial contraception
are immoral. Some are used before
sexual intercourse, such as the
use of the pill.
 The pill controls the secretion of the

two feminine hormones, the

estrogen and progesterone.
 Estrogen is responsible for the
preparation of the egg cell or of the
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth
 Progesterone is responsible for
preparing the milk in the mammary
glands and the thickening of the
uterus wall for eventual pregnancy.
 The presence of progesterone
prevents the secretion of estrogen.
Thus, no ovum will be manufactured
as long as progesterone is in the
bloodstream.
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth
 Other ways are used during the
very act of sexual intercourse,
such as condom. Which prevents
the possible meeting of sperm and
ovum.
 Still, others are employed after the

completion of sexual
intercourse, such as medication
to prevent nidation or the
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth

 Since the existence of the

human person is linked with the
fertilization of the ovum, artificial
means of contraception used
after sexual intercourse are
abortifacient, that is, they cause
abortion and are not merely
contraceptive.
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth
 However, the Holy Father, in no.15
allowed the use of artificial
contraceptives for the sake of
therapy. Some women have highly
irregular and erratic menstrual
cycles, which makes the use of the
natural method of birth control
almost impossible. Under the care of
expert physician, of artificial
 Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter on the
Regulation of Birth

 In no. 16, the Pope declared that it

is moral to have recourse to the
natural periods of feminine
infertility when there are serious
motives to space out births, the
natural method does nothing to
prevent conception.
 Thus, with the natural method, the

marriage act remains open to the

 Moreover, abstention during
the period of feminine fertility
demands personal sacrifice.
Love is just that – it is proven
by sacrifice.
 Therefore, the use of the
natural method is a loving