[metmom]

Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

God Himself said that it was not good for man to be alone and God Himself who created woman to be his helper and companion.

God created sex, and He instituted marriage and blessed it.

The Catholic church can beat the sex is bad/marriage is bad drum all they want and they are only going to be at odds with God.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The Catholic Church lays out the most beautiful sacramental path to marriage rooted in the “mystery” Paul speaks - of the union betwixt Christ and his church in Ephesians 5.

And some of the happiest long-time couples I know are devout Catholics. <3

[CondoleezzaProtege]

And on that note I have also known devout Protestant/Evangelical missionaries --namely women who have been single their whole lives...having travelled the world, adventuring with Christ to bring the Gospel to countless lives. Being mothers and sisters to so many people. They may be old, but full of joy and strength and intimately linked with Christ forever.

The Catholic Church lays out the most beautiful sacramental path to marriage rooted in the “mystery” Paul speaks - of the union betwixt Christ and his church in Ephesians 5.

And some of the happiest long-time couples I know are devout Catholics.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"The Catholic church can beat the sex is bad/marriage is bad drum all they want and they are only going to be at odds with God. "

C'mon, metmom, give me about a million breaks. You're an educated person, you know better than that.

That Catholic Church has never in its whole history taught that marriage or sex is bad. You must have the Shakers in mind --- or the Albigensians --- or Jansenism. You can look all three up, under the general category of "heresies opposed by the Catholic Church."

The Church teaches the exact opposite, which is that Marriage is a Sacrament, and sexual intercourse is a constitutive element of that Sacrament.

So while virginity ("for the Kingdom of God", as Jesus put it) is noble and honorable, marital lovemaking is inherently sacramental, and --- note this -- celibacy is not.

That's what the Catholic Church says.