Posted on 01/15/2007 4:38:17 PM PST by NYer
SYDNEY, Australia, JAN. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The monthly newsletter preparing young people for Sydney's World Youth Day '08 focuses on sexuality in its January issue.
On the front page of this month's E-pilgrimage, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher asks, "Is sex just a recreational activity? Is the body just a product to be bought and sold? Do I have to be sexually active in order to be really happy? What is the meaning of this kind of 'body language'?"
"There are many voices in the modern world that overestimate the importance of sex -- as if no-one could be happy who had not had sex in the last few hours -- or trivialize or underestimate its power -- as if it were no more humanly significant than any other bodily function," Bishop Fisher writes.
"But deep down most people know the body, sexuality and fertility are precious and important things which can be used to express some of the noblest things about human relationships, or which can be used instead to hurt and exploit," he adds.
This month's issue of E-pilgrimage explores various ways that "this very positive message about human bodily life and love have been expressed in the Catholic tradition -- right back to the Song of Songs in the Bible through to Pope Benedict XVI's recent encyclical 'God is Love.'"
The eight-page newsletter also includes a prayerful reading of the Song of Songs and a biography of the first married couple to be beatified together.
If genuine love has escaped you thus far, if think you’ve already found that perfect someone, or if regrets and confusion have made you wonder if the love you’ve dreamed of really exists, the following pages have been written for you.If you’re like me, you’ve been told that sex is bad. But when you ask why, you hear something like, “It’s just bad, so don’t do it,” or “You’ll get a disease or get pregnant!” While I’m sure you realize that sex has its consequences—and they might be bad if they happen—these reasons aren’t always convincing.
Our generation has been taught how to avoid venereal infections, but what we really want to know is how to find, build, and maintain a relationship of real love. Sex is supposed to be a great gift, so it’s easy to get tired of hearing about the diseases and unwed pregnancy rates. If you’re ready for a different approach, and you want the gift of sex to be as great as it was meant to be, read on.
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