Marriage & Sexuality
In Scripture & Tradition
Close your heart to every love,
but mine;
hold no one in your arms but me,
Love is as powerful as death;
passion is as strong as death itself.
It bursts into flame and burns
as a raging fire.
- Song of Songs 8:6, NAB
"Young husbands should say to their wives: I have taken you in my arms and I love you and I prefer you to life itself. For the present, life is nothing and my ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not separating in the life reserved for us . . . . I place your love above all things and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you."
- St. John Chrysostom, 4th century
"Marriage is not instituted solely for procreation. Rather, its very nature as an unbreakable compact between persons . . . demands that the mutual love of the spouses, too, be embodied in a rightly ordered manner, that it grow and ripen.
Therefore, marriage persists as a whole manner of communication of life, and maintains its value and indissolubility, even when offspring are lacking, despite rather often, the very intense desire of the couple."
- Vatican II, Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, No. 50
| Ever Better Lovers . . . - Practice tenderness & appreciation.
- Nourish intimacy by a sensuous and satisfying sexual relationship.
- Develop a sexual relationship beyond sexual intercourse.
- Include sensitivity to one another's total needs.
- Become aware of the needs of the other at any given time.
- Protect the sacredness of their sexual relationship from becoming public.
- Are willing to try new ways of expressing their sexual love for each other.
- Know that forcing is contrary to the goal of lovemaking.
- Maintain the displays of affection that they showed when dating.
- Show affection and thoughtfulness.
- Keep their friendship alive.
- Give their spouse emotional support.
- Give their spouse respect and honor.
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"Married love . . . becomes a power which enriches persons and makes them grow and, at the same time, it contributes to building up the civilization of love. But when the sense and meaning of gift is lacking in sexuality, a 'civilization of things and not of persons' takes over, 'a civilization in which persons are used in the same way as things are used. In the context of a civilization of use, woman can become an object for man, children a hindrance to parents . . . ."
- The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, Pontifical Council for the Family, 1995.
Sexual intercourse between spouses is
- Both open to life and a bond uniting the couple in love
- Good, enjoyable and designed by God
- A beautiful gift from our Creator
- The ultimate form of communication between married couples
- An act of trusting our new spouse and ourselves
- An expression of our identity
The "Spice" of Life
Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul
- CCC, 2332
S - spiritual
P - physical
I - intellectual
C - creative, communicative
E - emotional
