Chastity

Can we be honest for a minute? If you grew up Catholic, chances are the message you received about sexuality sounded something like a long list of things you weren’t supposed to do. Don’t have sex before marriage. Don’t look at that. Don’t think about that. Don’t, don’t, don’t. And if that’s all you heard, I understand why the Church’s teaching on sexuality might feel like a cage instead of an invitation. ...

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance someone in your life has told you that chastity is important. Maybe a parent, a priest, a youth group leader. And there’s an equally good chance you walked away thinking chastity was mostly about saying no. I get it. That’s the message most of us received. Chastity was the long list of don’ts before marriage–no sex, no touching, no going too far. One long “no.” ...