This is a slide for the first movement

What responsibilities come with our sexuality? Human sexuality is the God-given gift of being a man or a woman. Our sexuality is God’s divine plan for creation. Saint Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body teaches: The goodness and sacredness of the human body That love shares our truest and most intimate self Comment on this teaching from 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, ‘Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit’.

What responsibilities come with our sexuality? God created men and women to be equal sharers in his creative power. The ultimate relationship between a man and a woman is both love-giving (nuptial, matrimonial) life-giving (generative, procreative) In the covenant of marriage a man and a woman become one flesh.

The universal vocation to live a chaste life Christ is the model of living a chaste life Chastity fosters the dignity of human sexuality in our self and others Chastity nurtures the unity between our bodily and spiritual being Abstinence is refraining from sexual intercourse, and other inappropriate sexual activities, until one marries.

The universal vocation to live a chaste life Purity of heart: Understanding the body as a ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’, an image of divine beauty. Modesty: To dress, act and speak in a manner that supports purity and chastity. Modesty: Encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships.

The universal vocation to live a chaste life Living a Chaste Life means respecting yourself and others as sexual beings. Build healthy relationships Set Boundaries Practice respect for yourself and others Avoid situations that can lead into temptation Guard your mind Pray about your relationships Celebrate the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation regularly Take your time with relationships

Self-control fosters the freedom to love Concupiscence: The ‘disorder in our human appetites and desires as the result of Original Sin’. Lust: Knowingly giving into the temptation to seek sexual pleasure in ways contrary to the moral order God created. Abusing the freedom to love Misusing your own or another’s body for sexual pleasure Know that love is free, total, faithful and fruitful. Lust does not posses these characteristics.

Self-control fosters the freedom to love Pornography is sexually explicit material that perverts the sexual act for erotic pleasure or sale. Anyone who produces, buys or consumes pornographic materials violates human dignity. Pornography is addictive, easy to fall into and tough to get out of. It is a fantasy world It is self-indulgence in action It is a lack of self-control It defies self-mastery

The Sacramental Covenant of Marriage The Sacrament of Matrimony Marriage is an ‘intimate communion of life and love’ (CCC, no. 1660) For a marriage to be sacramental and valid, the following elements must be present at the time the spouses enter the marriage. Free and freely entered into by the couple Unity, a total giving of each other to become one Indissolubility, lasting until the death of one spouse Fidelity, excluding other sexual partners Fecundity, being open to raising offspring

The Sacramental Covenant of Marriage The Sacrament of Matrimony Married couples are called to be open to the gift of children. A couple should discern how many children they can raise responsibly. They should take into consideration: The health of the spouses The family’s economic and social situation Raising a family requires a secure and loving environment for nurturing children physically and spiritually.

The Sacramental Covenant of Marriage The Sacrament of Matrimony The Catholic Church recommends self-observation and Natural Family Planning for the spacing of children. These methods make use of the observation of the days of fertility and infertility of a woman’s cycle. For those couples who cannot have children, adoption is an act of love both from the birth parents and the adoptive parents. Widespread adoption has been found to reduce the number of abortions in a society.

The Sacramental Covenant of Marriage The Sacrament of Matrimony Attitudes and actions contrary to the dignity of marriage are: Adultery Divorce Polygamy Incest Free union

Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Louis and Zelie Martin celebrated their marriage on July 13, 1858. In their union, God would always be ‘the first served’. They welcomed a five-year-old boy into their home, whose widowed father was burdened by raising eleven children. Louis and Zelie gave birth to nine children, of which five girls survived. All the girls became nuns.

Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux The spiritual life of Louis and Zelie was at the heart of their vocation to family life. The girls were taught the simple acceptance of daily difficulties ‘to please Jesus’. This became the basis for the ‘little way’ taught by Sr. Thérèse of Lisieux, the most celebrated of their children whom the Catholic Church would name a saint. The Martin couple is a true model for today’s families.