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 youve already found that perfect someone, or if regrets and confusion have made you wonder if the love youve dreamed of really exists, the following pages have been written for you.If youre like me, youve been told that sex is bad. But when you ask why, you hear something like, Its just bad, so dont do it, or Youll get a disease or get pregnant! While Im sure you realize that sex has its consequencesand they might be bad if they happenthese reasons arent 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 its easy to get tired of hearing about the diseases and unwed pregnancy rates. If youre 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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