Human Sexuality - Sophia Institute for Teachers

© SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS

UNIT 4

Human Sexuality

Lessons in This Unit ӹ Lesson 1: Exploring Human

Sexuality with Sacred Art

ӹ Lesson 2: Male and Female: The Imago Dei

ӹ Lesson 3: Theology of the Body

ӹ Lesson 4: The Proper Use of Human Sexuality

ӹ Lesson 5: Holy Matrimony

ӹ Lesson 6: Offenses against Chastity and Marital Love, Part 1

ӹ Lesson 7: Offenses against Chastity and Marital Love, Part 2

ӹ Lesson 8: Growing in Sexual Maturity: Friendship and Protecting against Lust

ӹ Lesson 9: Growing in Sexual Maturity: Resisting Temptation and Relying on God and His Grace

Scripture Studied in This Unit

ӹ Genesis 1:26-27

ӹ Genesis 2:18-24

ӹ Psalm 8:4-9

ӹ Matthew 5:8

ӹ Matthew 5:27-28

ӹ Matthew 19:3-8

ӹ Matthew 19:9-12

ӹ Luke 1:26-38

ӹ Luke 1:39-45

ӹ Luke 22:19

ӹ John 2:1-11

ӹ John 15:11-13

ӹ Colossians 1:24-27; 2:2

ӹ 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

ӹ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

ӹ 1 Peter 2:24

ӹ 1 John 3:16

ӹ Revelation 19:6-9

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Connection to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Lesson 1 ӹ 42, 341, 359

Lesson 2 ӹ 200-202, 218-221, 234, 237,

253-260, 298, 355-373, 990-991, 1004, 1605, 2331-2335, 2393

Lesson 3 ӹ 234, 237, 355-373, 1605,

1610, 1614, 1644, 2331-2336, 2364, 2382

Lesson 4 ӹ 238-267, 364, 369-373,

1762-1775, 2331-2345, 2360-2361, 2345

Lesson 5 ӹ 1601-1617, 1640, 1643-1655

Lesson 6 ӹ 1643-1654, 2332, 2337,

2352-2353, 2380-2381

Lesson 7 ӹ 2270-2275, 2354-

2356, 2366-2372

Lesson 8 ӹ 609, 1878-1879, 2347, 2351

Lesson 9 ӹ 369, 384, 1784, 1802-

1829, 2013, 2221-2224, 2207, 2331-2345, 2558-2561, 2848-2849, 2863

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UNIT 4 OvERvIEw

Introduction

The truth about human sexuality is inseparable from the truth of man being

made in God’s image and likeness. Both are fundamental reflections of God Himself and His intimate love for His creation. The mystery and wonder of God’s creation leads man to the contemplation of the beauty and goodness of his own body and of the beauty and goodness of God Himself. God draws us into the mystery of His love and calls us to love as He loves. This requires us to care for our own bodies responsibly and manage our sexuality in accordance with the moral law of God.

The Imago DeiGod made man in His image and likeness: the imago Dei. This means that we are made in the image of the Blessed Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, a communion of Persons bound in an eternal exchange of love. God, at the very core of

His being, in His very identity, is love itself. And God sent His only Son into the world to give His life for us by dying on the Cross, to show us the greatest meaning of love — to give oneself to another. Because God is love and we are made in His image, we are made with the capacity to love, to give and to receive love. This fundamental truth of humanity is written into our bodies in the complementarity of male and female. In fact, this essential truth is revealed to us on the first pages of Scripture: “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). It is precisely in human sexuality, as men and women, that we are the imago Dei and become signs of God’s very life and love.

Theology of the BodyPope St. John Paul II reflected on these truths of God and man in his seminal work,

Therefore, each of us is called to chastity, that is, the true

integration of a person’s sexuality within a person’s bodily and spiritual being.

The Woman Taken in Adultery, by Guercino (c. 1621), Dulwich Picture Gallery

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Theology of the Body. In this series of talks given over many months of Wednesday audiences, the pope proposed that “the body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it” (Theology of the Body 19:4). He further developed this thesis by reflecting on the original state of mankind, who was first made in solitude to recognize his personhood and relationship to God, and then made in unity to discover the gift of sexuality and to respond to God’s call to love as He loves. The original nakedness of the first man and woman revealed that they saw each other for who they were, man and woman, human persons made in God’s image with equal dignity and the capacity to love. They were free of defenses, barriers, and masks. They were completely vulnerable. They were able to be themselves freely and choose to love without any fear of harm or shame.

To Love as God LovesHuman sexuality, then, was the original blueprint for love. The marital union of one man and one woman giving themselves completely to one another in marital love is an icon of the Trinity and a sign of Christ’s love for His Church. Sexual desire, the normal feelings or passions that are part of the human experience, are meant to point us toward and move us in the direction of marriage between a man and a woman.

Separated from that purpose, sexual desire can easily become lust and lead to other sexual sin that disrespects the dignity of both persons who are made in God’s image. Therefore, each of us is called to chastity, that is, the true integration of a person’s sexuality within a person’s bodily and spiritual being. In other words, chastity means to control our sexual feelings and reserve sexual acts for the context of marriage, in order to make our sexuality a true and full gift to our spouses.

Marriage, the primordial sacrament of union between one man and one woman, is capable of fully reflecting the love of God, which is free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful. These goods of marital love are found in the two purposes of marriage: the unitive purpose or the good of the couple and the procreative purpose or the generation (procreation) and education of children. The two purposes of marriage are essential for a marriage to be a marriage. In fact, anything that prevents or diminishes these purposes is contrary to God’s plan for marriage. By this standard, then, we can evaluate a moral act related to human sexuality to the degree that it upholds or disrespects the goods of marital love and the virtue of chastity. Some of the offenses against chastity and marital love include adultery, fornication, masturbation, homosexual activity, transgenderism, rape, prostitution, pornography, contraception, and abortion. Each uniquely offends and disrespects God’s plan for marital love, our call to chastity, and our dignity as human persons.

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UNIT 4 OvERvIEw

Overcoming TemptationWhile marital love is the original blueprint, we are capable of loving as God loves in our friendships and in our families; we can love the poor, the sick, and the outcast. Some of us are not called by God to marriage, but are called to ordained and religious life as priests, sisters, brothers, and consecrated virgins. Regardless of our vocation, we are called to love as God loves, to make a gift of self to others. In fact, the virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship and shows us how to follow and imitate Christ. When some friendships bring about romantic feelings, we have the responsibility to avoid the sin of lust so that we do not see the other

person as an object to be used, but rather to uphold the goodness and dignity of that person.

Sexual temptations can be a particularly seductive form of temptation. Learning to resist temptation is a necessary part of Christian living. By cultivating a life of prayer, frequently receiving the Sacraments, especially Holy Communion and Reconciliation, strengthening our will through self-denial, and seeking holiness not only for ourselves, but for our friends, those we are dating, and spouses, we can become the best person God made us to be and authentically respond to His call to love as He loves.

Learning to resist temptation is a necessary part of Christian living. The Temptation of Christ by the Devil, by Félix Joseph Barrias (c. 1860), Philbrook Musem of Art

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Connections to New York Religion Guidelines

Theme Sexuality is a gift from God. It embraces psychological, spiritual and physical characteristics of men and women. We human beings need to integrate our sexuality into our total personality in order to develop into the persons God has called

us to be.

Objectives ӹ To help the young adolescent appreciate

the gift of sexuality.

ӹ To assist the young adolescent in developing correct and positive attitudes concerning sexuality.

ӹ To clarify for the young adolescent how the gift of sexuality can be misused.

Content ӹ Sexuality in the plan of God

Gift from God

Adolescence and the lifelong process of becoming mature sexual persons

ӹ Sexuality and the dignity of the human person

ӹ Proper uses of the gift of human sexuality

Sexual feelings

Relationships

Sexual union in marriage

ӹ Abuses of the gift of sexuality

Lack of respect for ourselves and others

Misuses of sexual activity

ӹ Ways to foster sexual maturity

Sexual activity and love

Resisting temptations

Developing friendships

Seeking advice

Responding to God’s gift

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UNIT 4 OvERvIEw

Vocabulary ӹ Wonder

ӹ Mystery

ӹ Imago Dei

ӹ Trinity

ӹ Masculinity

ӹ Femininity

ӹ Communio Personarum

ӹ Anthropology

ӹ Sex

ӹ Theology of the Body

ӹ Origin, Nature, and Destiny

ӹ Original Solitude

ӹ Original Unity

ӹ Original Nakedness

ӹ Person

ӹ Shame

ӹ Spousal Meaning of the Body

ӹ Trinity

ӹ Icon of the Trinity

ӹ Passions (Emotion)

ӹ Reason

ӹ Sexuality

ӹ Chastity

ӹ Self-Mastery

ӹ The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony (Marriage)

ӹ Covenant

ӹ The Purposes of Marriage

ӹ The Goods of Marriage

ӹ Chastity

ӹ Purposes of Marriage

ӹ Adultery

ӹ Fornication

ӹ Masturbation

ӹ Homosexuality

ӹ Transgenderism

ӹ Pornography

ӹ Prostitution

ӹ Rape

ӹ Contraception

ӹ Abortion

ӹ Friendship

ӹ Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship

ӹ Lust

ӹ Prayer

ӹ Virtue

ӹ Self-denial (ascesis)

Pacing Guide NoteAim to begin presenting Unit 4 in April.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 1

UNIT 4, LESSON 1


ӹ CCC 42

ӹ CCC 341

ӹ CCC 359

Vocabulary ӹ wonder

ӹ Mystery

Learning Goals ӹ God calls each of us to love as He

loves, and this call is written in our bodies.

ӹ We are made in God’s image and likeness and are meant to be self-gift to one another.

ӹ God’s plan is in some way knowable to us through contemplation of the beauty, wonder, and mystery of creation.

Exploring Human Sexuality with Sacred Art

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place — what is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor.

PSALM 8:4-6

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.

COLOSSIANS 1 :24

Chastity Strand

BIBLICAL TOUCHSTONES

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Materials ӹ wonder and the

Image of God

ӹ Handout A: The Starry Night

ӹ Handout B: Cape Cod Morning

ӹ Handout C: Studies for the Libyan Sibyl

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Lesson Plan

DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Project an image of all three paintings (The Starry

Night by Vincent Van Gogh, Cape Cod Morning by Edward Hopper and Studies for the Libyan Sibyl by Michelangelo Buonarroti) from Wonder and the Image of God. Give students several minutes to quietly view the images before you say or ask anything. Allow them to come up and stand closer to the image to examine details.

B. Once several minutes have passed, ask students:

ӹ What do you first notice about these works of art?

ӹ Which painting stands out to you the most? Why?

ӹ What do you like about these works of art?

ӹ How do these works of art make you feel?

ӹ Why do you think these paintings are being shown together?

C. Read Psalm 8:4-9 aloud to your students:

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place — what is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, put all things at his feet: All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

D. Ask your students which of the paintings the Psalm makes them think of, and why.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 1

ActivityA. Arrange your students in small groups and give each group a copy of either Handout A:

The Starry Night, Handout B: Cape Cod Morning, or Handout C: Studies for the Libyan Sibyl. Have them discuss with each other the questions about the painting they were assigned on the back of the handout. During this time, focus on keeping students intent on the artwork and the discussion questions, letting their conversations go in unexpected ways.

Note: The images and reflections for Handouts A, B, and C were taken from Called to Love: A Companion by Paige Sanchez, a supplemental guide to Called to Love: Approaching John Paul II’s Theology of the Body by Carl Anderson and Jose Granados.

Formative AssessmentA. Circulate among the groups, listening to their discussions, keeping them on task, and

offering insights or clarification where needed.

B. Before moving on to the next activity, have each group write one question they would ask the artist about his painting and turn it in.

DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. One at a time, project each image from Handout A, Handout B, and Handout C, and

read aloud a few of the most interesting questions offered by the student groups the previous day. Allow students to share their reactions and other personal responses to the art.

B. Explain to your students that in this unit of study, we are going to be considering God’s plan for human sexuality and how His call to each of us to love as He loves is written in our bodies. We are going to learn about how we are made in God’s image and likeness and how we are meant to be self-gift to one another. Each of these paintings portrays some aspect of the beauty, wonder, and mystery of God’s plan.

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Activity and Assessment A. Arrange students in the groups they were in the previous day. Give each group a copy

of the art they were previously assigned, and have them skim over the questions they discussed the previous day. Then project again each image and call on each group in turn to share their answers to each of the questions as they correspond to the images.

B. Conclude by giving each group a few minutes to discuss the following for their painting: Imagine that each of these pieces of art was exactly what God saw when He looked at His creation. In other words, through these paintings, you are looking through God’s eyes. How do you think these works of art help us understand God’s perspective on creation — specifically, on humanity?

C. After students have had sufficient time to discuss the question, call on each group to share their answer.

DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. Project Colossians 1:24-27; 2:2, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory… that their hearts may be encouraged as they are brought together in love.

B. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ This is a difficult passage to understand fully. Although it seems to imply that something is incomplete in Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, this is not what St. Paul means. Rather, he is suggesting that as a minister of the Church, in his own sufferings, he makes Christ’s sufferings known to those for whom He died. What is it that St. Paul suggests the sufferings of his “flesh” make known that has been hidden from ages and from generations past? The mystery of God.

ӹ What is this mystery of God? Christ in (us), the hope for glory.

Lesson Plan (continued)

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UNIT 4, LESSON 1

C. Explain to your students that in this unit, as we study human sexuality and God’s gift of marital love, we are going to discover that from the very beginning, God made Himself known to us and made us a living sign of His love. Christ completed God’s plan for salvation by His sacrifice on the Cross and gave us a model. Therefore, we are all called to love as God loves, as Christ loved His Bride, the Church, and gave His life for the Church.

Activity and AssessmentPope St. John Paul II strongly encouraged that the faithful memorize important passages of Scripture. In the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae, he wrote: “The blossoms...of faith and piety do not grow in the desert places of memoryless catechesis.” When students have memorized important Scripture passages, the Word of God resides in their minds and hearts and is at the ready when a student needs it.

To respond to Pope St. John Paull II’s wish, have your students write out and commit to memory some or all of the following Bible verses, which complement all the lessons in this unit. Give students a few minutes each day to study them and practice recitation and writing. Before completing this unit, select one or two of these verses to have students write out from memory as a quiz at the end of the unit. Use the Blank Copywork Page at the beginning of the book for these memorization quizzes. You may also choose to have your students recite some or all of the memorized Scripture.

This copywork activity is but one means of helping students commit Scripture to memory. Encourage your students to explore other means of memorization, such as hanging important Scripture verses on their refrigerator at home, or on their bathroom mirror, reciting and discussing Scripture with their parents, using passages in conversation, and other creative means of use and memorization. Students should also be able to identify the work of art in this lesson.

ӹ Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

GENESIS 1 :26-27

ӹ “This one, at last, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.

GENESIS 2:23-25

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ӹ “Blessed are the clean [pure] of heart, for they will see God.”

MATTHEW 5:8

ӹ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20

ӹ Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

LUKE 1 :38

ӹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

LUKE 1 :41-42

ӹ “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

JOHN 15:11-13


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DIGITAL IMAGES AvAILABLE AT WWW.SOPHIAINSTITUTEFORTEACHERS.ORG

Wonder and the Image of GodThe Starry Night, by vincent van GoghCape Cod Morning, by Edward Hopper

Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, by Michelangelo Buonarroti

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Museum of Modern Art, New York City


The Starry NightBY vINCENT vAN GOGH (C. 1889)

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The Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh (c. 1889)

HANDOUT A

The Starry Night

Directions: Take some time to quietly view and reflect on the art. Let yourself be inspired in any way that happens naturally. Then think about the questions below, and discuss them with your classmates.

Discussion Questions

1. What do you first notice about this painting?

2. What is the artist depicting in this painting? How do you think he feels about what he’s painting? What makes you think that?

3. Is this painting more realistic or stylized? Why do you think the artist chose to depict the subject of his painting in this way?

4. The Starry Night painting portrays the contrast between life and death: the bright stars in the sky are contrasted with the darkness and peace of the village below. Further, the tree found in the foreground of the painting is a cypress, which traditionally represents mourning. Despite this, many describe the painting as depicting hope. Why do you think they come to this conclusion? Do you agree? Why or why not?

5. The church spire in the town can be understood to represent man and the tree in the foreground to represent nature. Both are reaching toward the heavens. Read the following reflection about wonder and then discuss the corresponding questions:

Wonder gives birth to questions about who man is and is a reference to something greater than him. The questions provoked by wonder are not just posed to thin air but to Someone who listens and answers through man’s daily experiences, which invite an ever deeper inquiry.

a. How does this painting cause you to wonder at God’s creation? What does this painting reveal about the relationship between God and His creation?

b. How does an experience of beauty in nature or in art cause us to wonder about God and our own existence?

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Smithsonian American Art Musem, gift of the Sara Roby Foundation. Photo by cliff1066@flickr.


Cape Cod MorningBY EDwARD HOPPER (C. 1950)

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Cape Cod Morning, by Edward Hopper (c. 1950)

HANDOUT B

Cape Cod Morning


Discussion Questions1. What do you first notice about this painting?

2. What is the artist depicting in this painting? How do you think he feels about what he’s painting? What makes you think that?

3. Is this painting more realistic or stylized? Why do you think the artist chose to depict the subject of his painting in this way?

4. In the Cape Cod Morning painting, the time of day is morning. What do you think that tells us about what the woman in the window is thinking and feeling as she looks out the window?

5. How does this painting depict a sense of expectation or anticipation for the unknown future?

6. There is great contrast between the hopefulness of the bright morning light shining in the window and the foreboding darkness of the forest. This contrast helps to create a sense of mystery in the painting. Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the corresponding questions:

The world calls forth wonder, not because it lacks meaning but because it is saturated with it. Mystery is that which has infinite intelligibility (the ability to be understood). Mystery is not an enemy, but a help, because it makes man ask. And every asking leads to prayer. The experience and revelation of love signals the truth of man’s being as the birthplace of wonder.

a. What do you think the woman in the painting is looking at?

b. How does the contrast between light and dark and the mystery of the woman’s gaze lead one to contemplate God?

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Metropolitan Musem of Art, New York.


Studies for the Libyan SibylBY MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI (C. 1511)

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Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, by Michelangelo Buonarroti (c. 1511)


Discussion Questions1. What do you first notice about this drawing?

2. What is the artist depicting in this drawing? How do you think he feels about what he’s drawing? What makes you think that?

3. Is this drawing more realistic or stylized? Why do you think the artist chose to depict the subject of his drawing in this way?

4. This drawing was made by Michelangelo to study the way the human body moves in order to prepare for a larger painting of a woman on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The model who posed for this drawing was a male because women were not allowed to pose. What in this drawing tells us that Michelangelo worked to perfect his artwork and did not settle for something less than that perfection?

5. This drawing creates a peculiar sense of watching a human person being made bit by bit, from toes to fingers to the head. How might that reflection on this drawing help us to understand God’s work of creating not only human beings but all of His creation?

6. Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the corresponding questions:

Man is able to experience wonder because he is in the body. The body is that through which man receives and participates in reality. Man has the capacity to experience his body, and his very existence, as gift, inaugurating a relationship with the original Giver. Man’s body reveals that he is made for and is open to communion.

a. How does this depiction of the human body suggest an openness to God and to relationship with others?

b. What does the fact that the figure in this drawing is not complete suggest about man’s experience and participation in reality? What does it suggest about his relationship with God?

HANDOUT C

Studies for the Libyan Sibyl

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Answer Key Handout A: The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh 1. Accept reasoned answers.

2. The Starry Night depicts a vast night sky filled with swirling clouds, bright shining stars, and a crescent moon, all over a small town below. A large cypress tree is in the foreground of the painting.

3. Accept reasoned answers.

4. Accept reasoned answers but may include reference to the brightness of the stars and the moon shining through the darkness.

5. a. Accept reasoned answers but may include reference to God being a light in the darkness or that man wonders about God through the beauty of creation.

b. An experience of beauty can cause to be in awe or wonder at the creator or source of that beauty. Since there is great beauty in the human experience, it causes us to be in awe and wonder at our own creator, God.

Handout B: Cape Cod Morning by Edward Hopper 1. Accept reasoned answers.

2. Cape Cod Morning depicts a woman looking out a window into the morning light. There is a dark forest or grove of trees in the background, but what seems to be an open space or field before her is bathed in light.



5. The woman is inside the house, confined by the walls of the house and the glass of the window, her present situation. She looks out in the unknown, which is bathed in bright morning light, perhaps indicating hopeful anticipation.

6. a. Accept reasoned answers.

b. God is, to a certain extent, a mystery. Although He reveals Himself to us and His existence can be known by us, we will never fully understand Him and His ways. Therefore, we look forward in anticipation to the next life, when we will be with Him in heaven and know Him in ways not possible in this earthly life.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 1

Handout C: Studies for the Libyan Sibyl by Michelangelo Buonarroti 1. Accept reasoned answers.

2. Studies for the Libyan Sibyl is a drawing of a nude male model made in preparation for painting a larger female form on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The figure is twisting at the waist and has outstretched arms.


4. Michelangelo clearly started his drawing over. On the left of the image is his first attempt, which he was not satisfied with. He then began the drawing again.


6. a. Because the figure is nude, there is nothing to hide. The openness of the arms is inviting and not guarding or defensive. The movement of the body is toward the viewer, perhaps moving to be better positioned to another and to God.

b. God made each one of us in His image with a soul and a body. It is in and through our bodies in this earthly life that we experience and participate in everything. Those experiences are not complete. We are always in a state of becoming, of moving, of growing in relationship to reality and to God.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 2

UNIT 4, LESSON 2


ӹ CCC 200-202

ӹ CCC 218-221

ӹ CCC 234

ӹ CCC 237

ӹ CCC 253-260

ӹ CCC 298

ӹ CCC 355-373

ӹ CCC 990-991

ӹ CCC 1004

ӹ CCC 1605

ӹ CCC 2331-2335

ӹ CCC 2393

Vocabulary ӹ Imago Dei

ӹ Trinity

ӹ Masculinity

ӹ Femininity

ӹ Communio personarum

ӹ Anthropology

ӹ Sex

Learning Goals ӹ To understand what it means to be made

in the imago Dei, “the image of God,” we must know who God is and what He is like.

ӹ We believe in one God who is a communion of Persons, a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is love.

ӹ The greatest expression of love is the giving of oneself to another, which was modeled for us by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.

ӹ In God’s very being as Trinity, a communion of Persons, God is love, giving and receiving love eternally among the distinct Persons of the Trinity.

ӹ Human beings image God not only as individual persons, but most perfectly as male and female in a common union (communion) of love.

ӹ The union of both our body and soul is essential to who we are as human beings.

ӹ The image of God is made visible in and through the body.

Male and Female: The Imago Dei

Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

GENESIS 1 :26-27

For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

1 CORINTHIANS 6:20

Chastity Strand


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Materials ӹ Handout A: God Is…

ӹ Handout B: Masculinity and Femininity

ӹ Handout C: Image of Inscrutable Divine Communion

ӹ Handout D: Body Language

ӹ Handout E: The Body Reveals Man

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Lesson Plan

DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Project Genesis 1:26-27 on the board, and have a

student stand and read it aloud:

Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

B. Have your students, with a neighbor, brainstorm as many reasonable questions as they can come up with that we can ask about this passage from Genesis. Encourage students to limit their questions to only this passage, even if they are aware of answers from other passages. When students have had sufficient time to brainstorm, call on pairs to share some of their questions. Record key questions from the brainstorming on the board. Potential questions students may think of include: What does God mean when He says “Let US make human beings…”? To whom was God speaking? How did God speak? What does it mean to be made in God’s image and likeness? Do we look like God? Why did God make human beings, but not any other living creature, in His image? Why did God give dominion over all the animals to human beings? What does dominion over the animals mean? How did God create mankind? Why did God make us as male and female?

C. Then ask your students what the most important of all of these questions is. Explain that this question is in fact the entire point of this passage. Students may suggest various questions, but help them to recognize

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that the most important question in this passage is “What does it mean to be made in God’s image and likeness?”

D. Explain to your students that this question is one of the most important concepts in our Christian faith. The Church Fathers referred to this concept as the imago Dei, “the image of God.” The Bible is very clear here (and in other places) that humanity is made in the imago Dei. The answer to the question “What does it mean to be made in the imago Dei?” is essential to an authentic understanding of who we are as human beings. It is essential to understanding why we are the way we are (human nature), the meaning of life, the meaning of human sexuality, and anything else about our human existence.

E. Ask your students what it means to be an image of something. To be an image of something means to be a likeness or representation of some original thing.

F. Ask your students what is something in their own experience that has given them evidence that God is love. Answers will vary.

Activity A. Explain to your students that while God transcends or goes beyond anything that

we can fully know and understand, that does not mean that we cannot know and understand something about Him. In fact, the Bible is not silent on who God is and what He is like. It tells us a lot about who He is. Therefore, if we look at what the Bible tells us about who God is and what He is like, we can then discover who we are, made in the imago Dei.

B. Distribute Handout A: God Is… to each student. Arrange students in pairs or trios, and have them complete the activity on Handout A together. Students will look up the given Scripture passages, determine what each tells us about God, and record their answers. Remind your students that they should not divide up the work on the handout; rather, they should work on it together and discuss each answer. Also, have your students save the “I have experienced...” questions to complete later.

C. When they have finished, review and discuss the correct answers with your students. In doing so, help your students come to understand that God is a communion of Persons, He is Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and yet He is one God. Each Person of the Trinity is fully, 100 percent God but unique and distinct from the other Persons. This is the mystery of the Trinity. Why does this make sense? John tells us in his first letter that God is love — not that He loves but that He is love. That means at the very core of His being, in His very identity, He is love itself. Love, then, in its greatest, most perfect expression, is the giving of oneself to another. This was demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrifice

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on the Cross, in which He gave His life for all. Therefore, if God is love, and love is the giving of oneself to another, God, who is Trinity, contains within Himself the ability to be love — that is, the Persons of the Trinity eternally give and receive love among themselves. It is precisely this that we as human beings image. To be made in the imago Dei is to be made in the image of love.

Formative Assessment After reviewing and discussing the correct answers to Handout A, have your students return to Handout A and respond to the “I have experienced…” questions. Circulate the room and help your students think of ways that they have experienced God and love in their lives.

DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Review the main ideas from the previous lesson: Human beings are made in God’s image

and likeness. To know what it means to be made in the imago Dei, “the image of God,” we must know who God is and what He is like. We believe in one God, who is a communion of Persons, a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is love. The greatest expression of love is the giving of oneself to another. This was modeled for us by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. In God’s very being as Trinity, a communion of Persons, God is love, giving and receiving love eternally among the distinct Persons of the Trinity.

B. Write the words masculinity and femininity on the board. Ask your students what the words masculinity and femininity mean. Masculinity refers to the qualities of being a male, or manliness. Femininity refers to the qualities of being a female, or womanliness.

C. Distribute Handout B: Masculinity and Femininity to each student. Make markers, crayons, and/or colored pencils available to your students. Have your students draw in each box a visual representation of masculinity and femininity respectively. Tell your students that they cannot use any sort of recognizable signs or symbols (such as smiley faces, letters, numbers, or other recognizable forms beyond basic shapes) but must use purely gesture drawings, color, basic shapes, and lines, and so forth. Also, tell your student to be sure to keep their eyes on their own drawings and not look at what other students are drawing. (This is important for the activity to work properly.) Give your students two minutes to draw each picture. (This is to ensure that they are drawing their first impression and not overthinking the activity.)


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UNIT 4, LESSON 2

D. When students have completed their drawings, have them place their drawings on their desks face up. Then, allow a few minutes for students to circulate around the room to look at each other’s drawings. When students have had sufficient time to view each other’s drawings, have them return to their seats. Then ask the following questions:

ӹ What did you notice about the drawings you saw? More than likely, most of the drawings were similar to each other, even though they did not look at each other’s drawings while making them. This activity tends to produce the following results (with a few outliers, but even those tend to follow similar logic even if they look different): Masculinity drawings tend to include hard, thick, or jagged lines, squared shapes, and bold or dark colors. Femininity drawings tend to include soft, thin, delicate lines, rounded shapes, and soft, light, or pastel colors.

ӹ Why do you think there were so many similarities in your drawings? Accept reasoned answers. Help your students recognize that masculinity (manliness) and femininity (womanliness) are essential parts of our identities. We are, at our core, male or female, and this essential truth is reflected not only in our bodies, but in the way we think, the way we respond to the world around us, and so many different aspects of being human. We automatically recognize and understand the truth of maleness and femaleness because it is so essential to our human nature. In fact, as this activity shows, maleness and femaleness are not socialized concepts but are truths we inherently know.

ӹ Was it easy or hard to make your drawings? Why or why not? Accept reasoned answers.

Activity and Assessment A. Project Genesis 1:26-28 and 2:22-24 on the board, and have a student stand and read the

passages aloud:

Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.

The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.

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ӹ The first of these passages we’ve already looked at: God made human beings in His image. What have we said is God’s image? In other words, what is God? God is love.

ӹ According to the first passage, from Genesis 1, what did God create human beings to be, in His image? Male and female. This means that there is something essential about our being male and female and how we are in the imago Dei.

ӹ What is the first command that God gives to human beings, created as male and female? “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.”

ӹ According to the second passage, from Genesis 2, what did God create the woman from? A rib taken from the man.

ӹ Often this passage is misinterpreted: that since the woman was made from the man’s rib, she is somehow less than the man. This is incorrect, especially considering what Genesis 1 tells us, that both man and woman are made in God’s image. What else could it mean that the woman was made from a part of the man? Men and woman are equal to one another and are of “one flesh.” That woman is made from man’s rib is a sign of the complementary relationship between men and women. They are always a part of one another.

ӹ What does the man recognize about the woman when he first sees her? She is “bone of his bones” and “flesh of his flesh.” In other words, at last there is another like him, a person in the imago Dei.

ӹ What do you think the statement “a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” refers to? Marriage. In marriage, specifically the marital act, one man and one woman become one spiritual body united in marital love. (This reality will be explored in greater detail in later lessons.)

C. Explain to your students that it is clear from Scripture that the fact that we are male and female is essential to the way in which we image God. The fact that we are male and female is an absolute essential truth about our very existence. Think about it: each and every one of us is the product of the union of a man and a woman. We would not be here today if this were not true. And each of our parents is likewise the product of the union between a man and woman, and each of their parents, and each of their parents, and so on for as long as human beings have existed (with the notable exception of our original parents, the first man and the first woman — whom we call Adam and Eve).


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UNIT 4, LESSON 2

In fact, we image God not only as individual Persons, but most perfectly as male and female in a common union (communion) of love.

D. Distribute Handout C: Image of Inscrutable Divine Communion to each student. Have each student read the excerpt from Pope Saint John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (which will be more formally introduced in a later lesson) and respond to the focus and reflection questions on their own paper. Explain in advance that in this excerpt, the pope discusses the stories of the creation of human beings from Genesis 1 (referred to as the “first chapter”) and Genesis 2 (referred to as the “second chapter” or the “second narrative” or the “Yahwist narrative/text”).

Note: There are some challenging words in this reading. You may want to define the following with your students in advance:

Inscrutable — Not fully understood

Communio personarum — Latin for “Communion of persons”

Yahwist — Refers to the theorized author of the second chapter of the book of Genesis, the “Yahwist source”

Prototype — An original model on which something is patterned

Solitude —Aloneness

E. Review and discuss the correct answers to the focus and reflection questions from Handout C.

DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. Write the following on the board: “Human communication is 20 percent verbal and 80

percent nonverbal.”

B. Ask your students the following: If only 20 percent of human communication consists of what we speak, then what is the other 80 percent? Body language. In other words, our bodies communicate far more than what we speak.

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C. Distribute Handout D: Body Language to each student. Have your students, with a neighbor, read each phrase and decide whether it is something that is knowable from observing a person’s body. If the answer is yes, have them briefly record how they think it is knowable from observing a person’s body. Note: Every statement on the worksheet is knowable from observation of a person’s body. When students have completed the activity, review and discuss the answers.

D. Explain to your students that even though it may seem obvious, human beings are bodily creatures. We have bodies, and our bodies are an essential part of who we are. Our bodies say a lot about us. And we say a lot in and through our bodies. As human beings, we also possess a soul. In fact, it is untrue to say that our soul is more “us” than our bodies, or that our bodies are more “us” than our souls. The truth is that the union of our body and our soul is essential to who we are, and what happens in our souls is made visible in and through our bodies. Our bodies are so important to who we are, in fact, that we believe as Christians that we will be united with our resurrected glorified bodies at the end of time, and it is in this bodily form that we will live for eternity with God. We profess belief in this fact every time we say the Nicene Creed at Mass (“I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”) and when we say the Apostles’ Creed when we pray the Rosary (“I believe in…the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting”).

Activity and Assessment A. Project Genesis 2:18-24, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him. So the LORD God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each living creature was then its name. The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man. So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 2


ӹ Why did God want to make a “helper suited” to the man? Because He saw that it was not good for the man to be alone.

ӹ What did God create and bring to the man in order to find his partner? All the animals.

ӹ After viewing and naming all the animals, what did the man recognize? None of them was a suitable “helper.”

ӹ After God created the woman from the man’s rib, what were the man’s first words when he saw her? “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”

ӹ Often this passage is misinterpreted: that since the woman was made from the man’s rib, she is somehow less than the man. This is incorrect, especially considering what Genesis 1 tells us, that both man and woman are made in God’s image. What else could it mean that the woman was made from a part of the man? Men and woman are equal to one another and are of “one flesh.” That woman is made from man’s rib is a sign of the complementarity relationship between men and women. They are always a part of one another.

C. Explain to your students the man’s first words upon seeing the woman indicate that he instantly recognizes something about her because of her body. He understands that she is like him, a person made in God’s image. He did not recognize this fact in any of the other creatures that God made. It is only in the woman, whose body is like his, yet also unique as woman, that he finds another person made in the imago Dei. It is clear that the image of God, then, is made visible in and through the body.

D. Distribute Handout E: The Body Reveals Man to each student. Have each student read the excerpt from Pope Saint John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and respond to the focus and reflection questions on their own paper.

Note: There are some challenging words in this reading. You may want to define the following with your students in advance:

Anthropological (Anthropology) —The study of human beings that concerns their origin, nature, and destiny (anthropos = human, logos = study)

Corporality — The quality of having a body or a physical, material existence

Theological (Theology) —The study of God (Theos = God, logos = study)

Sex — It is important to note here with your students that the word sex first and foremost refers to masculinity and femininity (being male and being female), and,

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while it can and often is used to refer to sexual intercourse and procreation, even in that usage, it is derived from its root meaning, referring to the difference of male and female. Further, human sexuality not only includes our physical, psychological, and emotional characteristics as male and female, but also our attitudes, and our need for love and friendship.

E. Review and discuss the correct answers to the focus and reflection questions from Handout E.


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HANDOUT A

God Is...

Directions: Directions: Read the following passages. After reading each passage, complete each sentence. In other words, determine what each passage tells about God. (Hint: You are not necessarily to take your answers word for word from the Scripture text, although you might. Consider the meaning of what you read, rather than just looking for a word-for-word answer, because it’s not necessarily there.) Save the “I have experienced…” questions to complete after you review the correct answers.

1. Genesis 1:26-27

God is… (Hint: Think of the nature of God.)

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2. Matthew 28:19

God is… (Hint: Think of the nature of God.)

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I have experienced God in this way by...

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3. Genesis 1:1

God the Father is… (Hint: What did/does the Father do?)

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4. John 1:1-5, 14

God the Son is… (Hint: What did/does the Son do?)

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5. 1 John 4:14

God the Son is…(Hint: What did/doe the Son do?)

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6. John 14:26

God the Holy Spirit is… (Hint: What did/does the Holy Spirit do?)

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7. Ephesians 4:4-6

God is… (Hint: The Persons of the Trinity)

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8. Exodus 3:13-14

God is…

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9. 1 John 4:8

God is…

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10. John 15:13

Love is…

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I have experienced love in this way by...

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11. 1 John 3:16

We know love by…

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I have experienced Christ’s love by...

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HANDOUT B

Masculinity and Femininity

Directions: Draw in each box a visual representation of masculinity and femininity, respectively. Do not use any sort of recognizable signs or symbols (such as smiley faces, letters, numbers, or other recognizable forms beyond basic shapes), but use purely gesture drawings, color, basic shapes and lines, and so forth. Be sure to keep your eyes on your own drawings; do not look at what other students are drawing. (This is important for the activity to work properly.) You will have two minutes to draw each picture.

Masculinity Femininity

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HANDOUT C

Image of Inscrutable Divine Communion

Directions: Read the Theology of the Body excerpt below and answer the focus and reflection questions.

Theology of the Body 9:3 — Image of Inscrutable Divine CommunionIn the first chapter, the narrative of the creation of man affirms directly, right from the beginning, that man was created in the image of God as male and female. The narrative of the second chapter, on the other hand, does not speak of the “image of God.” But in its own way it reveals that the complete and definitive creation of “man” (subjected first to the experience of original solitude) is expressed in giving life to that communio personarum that man and woman form. In this way, the Yahwist narrative agrees with the content of the first narrative.

If, vice versa, we wish to draw also from the narrative of the Yahwist text the concept of “image of God,” we can then deduce that man became the “image and likeness” of God not only through his own humanity, but also through the communion of persons which man and woman form right from the beginning. The function of the image is to reflect the one who is the model, to

reproduce its own prototype. Man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion. Right “from the beginning,” he is not only an image in which the solitude of a person who rules the world is reflected, but also, and essentially, an image of an inscrutable divine communion of persons.

In this way, the second narrative could also be a preparation for understanding the Trinitarian concept of the “image of God,” even if the latter appears only in the first narrative. Obviously, that is not without significance for the theology of the body. Perhaps it even constitutes the deepest theological aspect of all that can be said about man. In the mystery of creation — on the basis of the original and constituent “solitude” of his being — man was endowed with a deep unity between what is, humanly and through the body, male in him and what is, equally humanly and through the body, female in him. On all this, right from the beginning, the blessing of fertility descended, linked with human procreation (cf. Gn 1:28).

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Focus and Reflection Questions 1. What does the first chapter of Genesis affirm about the nature of human beings?

2. According to the second chapter of Genesis, what is expressed in the communion of persons that man and woman form?

3. According the second chapter of Genesis, in what two ways do human beings become the image and likeness of God?

4. When was the communion of persons formed by man and woman created?

5. What is the function of an image?

6. What two images of God does man reflect right from the beginning?

7. What concept does the second chapter of Genesis prepare us for?

8. What unity was man “endowed” with in the mystery of creation?

9. What blessing descended upon man from the beginning?

Reflection Question: Think of and describe at least three ways in which the differences between men and woman are a blessing to human life.

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HANDOUT D

Body Language

Directions: Read each phrase and decide whether it is something that is knowable from observing a person’s body. If the answer is yes, briefly record how it is knowable from observing a person’s body.

1. If someone is happy Yes/No

If yes, how?

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2. If someone is sad Yes/No

If yes, how?

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3. If someone is angry Yes/No

If yes, how?

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4. If someone likes you Yes/No

If yes, how?

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5. If someone is tired Yes/No

If yes, how?

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6. If someone is lying Yes/No

If yes, how?

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7. If someone is an athlete Yes/No

If yes, how?

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8. If someone is nervous Yes/No

If yes, how?

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9. If someone is embarrassed Yes/No

If yes, how?

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10. If someone is hungry Yes/No

If yes, how?

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HANDOUT E

The Body Reveals Man

Directions: Read the Theology of the Body excerpt below and answer the focus and reflection questions.

Theology of the Body 9:4 — The Body Reveals ManIn this way, we find ourselves almost at the heart of the anthropological reality that has the name “body.” The words of Genesis 2:23 speak of it directly and for the first time in the following terms: “flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones.” The male-man uttered these words, as if it were only at the sight of the woman that he was able to identify and call by name what makes them visibly similar to each other, and at the same time what manifests humanity.

In the light of the preceding analysis of all the “bodies” which man has come into contact with and which he has defined, conceptually giving them their name (animalia), the expression “flesh of my flesh” takes on precisely this meaning: the body reveals man. This concise formula already contains everything that human science could ever say about the structure of the body as organism, about its vitality,

and its particular sexual physiology, etc. This first expression of the man, “flesh of my flesh,” also contains a reference to what makes that body truly human. Therefore it referred to what determines man as a person, that is, as a being who, even in all his corporality, is similar to God.

We find ourselves, therefore, almost at the very core of the anthropological reality, the name of which is “body,” the human body. However, as can easily be seen, this core is not only anthropological, but also essentially theological. Right from the beginning, the theology of the body is bound up with the creation of man in the image of God. It becomes, in a way, also the theology of sex, or rather the theology of masculinity and femininity, which has its starting point here in Genesis.

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Focus and Reflection Questions 1. What does the author (Pope Saint John Paul II) suggest is the “anthropological

reality” that the man is speaking of when he says “flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones”?

2. What does the body make visible, and what does it manifest?

3. After he has defined and named all the animals, what meaning do the man’s words take on?

4. What does the pope suggest is the connection between the answer to question number 3 and science?

5. What does the man’s phrase “flesh of my flesh” say about man’s relationship to God?

6. What is at the very core of the study of man?

7. Why is the study of the human body not only the study of man but also the study of God?

8. Why does a study of the human body become a theology of sex?

Reflection Question

For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

1 CORINTHIANS 20

We have learned that the human body reveals something about God Himself to us. What are three ways in which we can honor and respect our bodies better, because they are a literal reflection of God?

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UNIT 4, LESSON 2

Answer Key Handout A: God Is…1. Genesis 1:26-27

God is…plural, somehow multiple as indicated by the phrase “Let US make man…” This is the first revelation of the Trinity, God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2. Matthew 28:19

God is…Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, fully revealed by the Son, Jesus Christ.

3. Genesis 1:1

God the Father is…Creator, the maker of all things (“In the beginning…God created the heavens and the earth…”).

4. John 1:1-5, 14

God the Son is…the Word of God who was in the beginning with God and is God, who gave life to the human race.

5. 1 John 4:14

God the Son is…the Savior of the world.

6. John 14:26

God the Holy Spirit is…our teacher, and He reminds us of holiness — He is our sanctifier.

7. Ephesians 4:4-6

God is…one/there is only one God. This is the mystery of the Trinity. We believe in one God who is three Persons. In Him He is a communion of Persons, a relationship, a family.

8. Exodus 3:13-14

God is…knowable. He has a name that He gives to us so that we can know Him and call upon Him.

9. 1 John 4:8

God is…love.

10. John 15:13

Love is…giving yourself completely to another.

11. 1 John 3:16

We know love by…Christ having given Himself completely on the Cross.

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Handout C: Image of Inscrutable Divine Communion1. Human beings were created in the image of God as male and female.

2. The complete and definitive creation of “man.”

3. In a person’s own humanity and through the communion of persons created by the union of male and female.

4. In the beginning.

5. To reflect the model or reproduce its own prototype.

6. A person who rules the world and a divine communion of Persons.

7. The Trinity.

8. That which is male and that which is female in humanity.

9. The blessing of fertility and human procreation.

Handout E: The Body Reveals Man1. The human body.

2. The body makes visible the similarity between man and woman, and it manifests humanity.

3. The body reveals man.

4. The phrase “the body reveals man” contains everything that human science could ever say about the body as an organism.

5. Man, even in bodily form, is a being who is similar to God.

6. The human body.

7. Because man is made in the image of God. Therefore, a better understanding of man will lead to a better understand of God.

8. Man is made male and female in the image and likeness of God. A study of God through this lens would be incomplete without considering what it means to be made male and female in God’s image.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 3

UNIT 4, LESSON 3


ӹ CCC 234

ӹ CCC 237

ӹ CCC 355-373

ӹ CCC 1605

ӹ CCC 1610

ӹ CCC 1614

ӹ CCC 1644

ӹ CCC 2331-2336

ӹ CCC 2364

ӹ CCC 2382

Vocabulary ӹ Origin,

Nature, and Destiny

ӹ Original Solitude

ӹ Original Unity

ӹ Original Nakedness

ӹ Person

ӹ Shame

Learning Goals ӹ Pope Saint John Paul II taught that,

“The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it.”

ӹ Jesus invited us to reflect on God’s original plan for sexuality and the dignity of the human person through His teaching about divorce and remarriage from Matthew 19, that “from the beginning it was not so.”

ӹ We can examine the original condition of human beings in three ways: Original Solitude, Original Unity, and Original Nakedness.

Sexuality and the Dignity of the Human Person

He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”

MATTHEW 19:8

“This one, at last, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.

GENESIS 2:23-25

Chastity Strand


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Materials ӹ Handout A: Origin, Nature,

and Destiny

ӹ Handout B: Original Solitude

ӹ Teacher Resource A: Original Solitude Teacher Copy

ӹ Handout C: Original Unity and Original Nakedness

ӹ Teacher Resource B: Original Unity and Original Nakedness Teacher Copy

My Notes______________________

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Lesson Plan

DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Project the following quote from Pope St. John Paul

II’s Theology of the Body, and have a student stand and read it aloud. Explain that this is John Paul II’s thesis, or main idea, for his teaching about the human nature and marital love:

“The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it” (Theology of the Body 19:4).


ӹ What does Pope St. John Paul II suggest is capable of making the invisible visible? The human body.

ӹ What does he mean by “invisible”? The spiritual and divine.

ӹ What does he mean by “visible reality”? The physical, material world around us that we can see and touch and use our senses to know.

ӹ What does the pope suggest the human body will make visible? The mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it. In other words, God Himself.

Activity and Assessment A. Explain to your students that in order to unlock

the mystery that is God, we must deepen our understanding of what we have already begun to study (in the last lesson): that God is love, which is

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UNIT 4, LESSON 3

manifested in His Trinitarian nature, and that He made us, male and female, united in marriage. Jesus pointed us in the direction to begin our exploration of the mystery of God when He was challenged by the Pharisees about divorce. Jesus’ teaching here is hard, but nonetheless true.

B. Project Matthew 19:3-8, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss [her]?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”

C. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ How does Jesus respond to the Pharisees’ first question about the lawfulness of divorce? He quotes the Scripture passages in Genesis that explain the creation of mankind as male and female and how God joined them to become one flesh in marriage. Therefore, what God has joined, no human being must separate. Man cannot and should not undo what God has made.

ӹ What is the reason Jesus gives for why Moses allowed divorce? It was because of the hardness of people’s hearts. Their own stubbornness and refusal to follow God’s divine law was what led to Moses’ allowance of divorce.

D. Explain to your students that the most important part of Jesus’ answer is the last line, “from the beginning it was not so.” Jesus wants to restore God’s plan for humanity and save us from our fallen state. In order to do so, He invites us to return to the beginning and consider God’s original plan for our lives and for marital love. Jesus proposes that, for us to understand who we are now (our nature), we must consider where we came from (our origin). This understanding will lead us to know about where we are going and how to get there (our destiny).

Note: this is a sensitive topic to discuss. Many students today come from different family situations that may include divorce and remarriage or single parents. It is important to be compassionate toward these situations and affirm the goodness and love that God still brings forth from them. However, this does not minimize God’s original plan for humanity and marital love, which Jesus seeks to restore in our hearts.

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E. Distribute to each student Handout A: Origin, Nature, and Destiny. Have students, working individually, respond to the given prompts in the space provided to consider their own origin, nature, and destiny.

DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Distribute Handout B: Original Solitude to each student. Project on the board the

image of The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo on Handout B. (Please note: This image contains nudity. You may want to preface the display of this image by discussing with your students the nature of artistic nudity and the appropriate way to respond to such images.) Ask your students, based on this image and the title “Original Solitude,” what they think the reading will be about. Student answers may include the creation of Adam or humanity, Adam’s aloneness before Eve was created, Adam’s being like God, and so forth. Accept reasoned answers.


ӹ Who are the figures in this painting? Adam is on the left, and God and His angels are on the right.

ӹ What is happening in this painting? God is reaching out to Adam to touch him.

ӹ What do the postures of Adam and God reveal about them? Adam is reclining, barely extending his arm and hand toward God, while God is practically leaping out of heaven toward Adam, enthusiastically stretching out his arm toward him.

ӹ What do you think we learn about the nature of human beings from Adam in this painting? Accept reasoned answers.

ӹ What do you think we learn about the nature of God from this painting? Accept reasoned answers.

ActivityA. Explain to your students that in the beginning, God created mankind in a state of

original innocence. We can study what this means in three ways: Original Solitude, Original Unity, and Original Nakedness. Today, we will read together about Original Solitude. Explain that solitude means aloneness.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 3

B. Ask your students first to skim the reading and look for any words whose meanings they don’t know. Ask for volunteers to share those words, and keep a list on the board. Direct your students to listen for definitions or explanations of those words as you read together.

C. Ask for a volunteer to begin reading aloud, or read aloud to your students yourself. You should follow along using Teacher Resource A: Original Solitude Teacher Copy. Pause the reading at the indicated points, and ask and discuss the given questions.

Formative Assessment Have your students choose one sentence from the reading that they think is the most important to the text. Have them write the sentence on their own paper and explain in a brief paragraph why they believe that it is the most important sentence.

DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. Distribute Handout C: Original Unity and Original Nakedness to each student. Then,

project on the board the image of The Kiss by Gustav Klimt on Handout C. Ask your students, based on this image and specifically the title “Original Unity,” what they think the reading will be about. Student answers may include marriage, the relationship between men and women, love, and so forth. Accept reasoned answers.


ӹ What do you notice about the clothing the man and woman in the painting are wearing? Their clothing is gold and seems to blend together, indicating the unity of these two individuals.

ӹ Recall the previous lesson in which we discussed the nature of masculinity and femininity by conceptually drawing each one. How did most of us depict masculinity? With hard, thick, or jagged lines, squared shapes, and bold or dark colors.

ӹ How did most of us depict femininity? With soft, thin, delicate lines, rounded shapes, and soft, light, or pastel colors.

ӹ How do you see these “universal” depictions of masculinity and femininity depicted in this painting? The man’s clothing is decorated with square shapes and with bold,

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dark colors. The woman’s clothing is decorated with circles and rounded lines and with lighter, pastel-like colors.

ӹ Notice that there are sections of the man’s clothing that have rounded shapes and sections of the woman’s clothing with square shapes. What do you think this might suggest about the nature of the relationship between man and woman, especially given the title of today’s reading? What other elements of the painting also contribute to this understanding? Man and woman are meant to come together and form a single union as they give love to one another and receive love from one another. Some other elements of the painting that contribute to this understanding are the embrace of the man and the woman, and the kiss they are sharing as an expression of love.

Activity A. Ask your students first to skim the reading and look for any words whose meanings

they don’t know. Ask for volunteers to share those words, and keep a list on the board. Direct your students to listen for definitions or explanations of those words as you read together.

B. Ask for a volunteer to begin reading aloud, or read aloud to your students yourself. You should follow along using Teacher Resource B: Original Unity and Original Nakedness Teacher Copy. Pause the reading at the indicated points, and ask and discuss the given questions.

AssessmentA. On their own paper, have student respond to the following prompts for Original Unity

and for Original Nakedness:

ӹ What made sense to me about (Original Unity/Original Nakedness) was…

ӹ The confusing thing about (Original Unity/Original Nakedness) was…

B. When students have finished, collect their responses for your own review. Consider beginning the next class by choosing a few of the writings about what confused students and addressing those topics with your students


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HANDOUT A

Origin, Nature, and Destiny

Directions: Respond to the given writing prompts in complete sentences.

Origin1. “Where did I come from?” (Origin)

Describe two key events or people in your life that have impacted who you are today.

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Describe how you saw God in these events or people.

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2. “What am I?” (Nature)

Describe who you are today and how you see yourself. What are your best qualities and your worst qualities? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

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Describe how God is or is not in your life today.

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3. “Where am I going?” (Destiny).

Describe who you want to be in 5 years; in 10 years. Where are you? What are you doing? How would you want to describe yourself then? What are your goals, and how do you intend to meet those goals?

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Describe how God fits into your future.

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HANDOUT B

Original Solitude

Solitude means aloneness, but Pope St. John Paul II meant something more

than just that Adam was alone. We read in Genesis that God made the first man, Adam, before He made the first woman, Eve. Adam represents all of humanity. In the original Hebrew, the word Adam, which means “man,” can also refer to “mankind,” both men and women together. The book of Genesis tells us that God formed Adam from the dirt of the ground. God then breathed His breath of life into Adam’s nostrils. Very soon after God created Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper suited to him” (Genesis 2:18). God then brought to Adam all of the animals for him to name. After this had been done, God declared that none of the animals were a suitable partner for Adam. This, of course, God knew from the beginning. What Adam discovers in this process is what is important. Adam learns

that he is not like any other creature that God created. He alone is made in God’s image and likeness, a son of God. Only in Adam did God breathe His breath of life, His very spirit. In his solitude, Adam discovers that he is a person and not just an animal. A person has an inner life of thoughts and understandings. A person also knows that he or she is a person. Most importantly, a person has freedom. We are free to choose what is good. But sometimes we choose what is bad or what we think is good, but really is not. Ultimately, to have freedom means that we can choose to love. Love requires the freedom to choose. Animals do not have any of these qualities. God invited Adam into a relationship of love with Him, to enter into covenant with Him as a son of the Father. In mankind’s original solitude, Adam discovers that he is a person made in God’s image and that he possesses an inner life and the freedom to love.

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HANDOUT D

Original Unity and Original Nakedness

Original Unity Unity means oneness. Adam, the first man, discovers that none of the animals are a suitable partner for him. So God cast a deep sleep upon Adam and took a rib from his side and to create the first woman, Eve. This tells us that God created man and woman to be equal to one another and close in heart. When Adam first sees Eve he bursts out into poetry, saying: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). Not only does Adam’s exclamation reveal that man is inspired by great beauty, but it reveals what Adam instantly sees in Eve. Finally, another person like him. Finally, another creature who has an inner life of thoughts and understanding. Finally, another creation of God who has the freedom to choose between right and wrong. And, most importantly, another person who is able to choose love. Adam recognized by Eve’s body that she was a person like him. Our personhood and freedom is expressed in and through our bodies. When a person is sad or happy, we know it because of how his body shows it. When a person chooses to do something, we know it because of how his body acts. Our bodies show our inner selves. In other words, the body is the sacrament of the person. The body signifies the interior reality of the person, just as the sacraments are signs of an interior grace. Genesis 2:24 tells us “That is why a man

leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” Adam and Eve come together in the first marriage. Together they form one body and are united as one family. This unity, however, does not destroy their unique individual personhood. Thus, united in marital love, man and woman become a sign of God Himself. God is a Trinity, three distinct and unrepeatable Persons in one God. Each Person of the Trinity is bound together in an eternal exchange of love. In the Trinity and in marriage, difference makes the unity more profound.

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Original Nakedness Nakedness typically refers to a lack of clothing. But the Sacred Author of Genesis meant something else when he said, “The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25). While Adam and Eve may very well not have worn any clothes, the point of this passage is that in their nakedness they felt no shame. Shame is a painful feeling of guilt or regret. In the beginning, Adam and Eve had no reason to feel this way even though they were naked. In most situations, if a person was naked around other people, he or she would naturally want to cover his or her

body and hide from those looking at him or her. Adam and Eve did not experience this feeling at first. In fact, Adam looked at his wife and saw only another person, another creation like him. And Eve looked at her husband and saw only another person, another creation like her. The nakedness of Genesis 2:25 means that Adam and Eve saw each other for who they were. They were free of defenses, barriers, and masks. They were completely vulnerable. They were able to be themselves freely and choose to love without any fear of harm or shame. They fully understood the goodness of God’s plan for them and were able to love one another as God loved them.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 3

TEACHER RESOURCE

Original Solitude Teacher Copy

Solitude means aloneness, but Pope St. John Paul II meant something more than just that Adam was alone. We read in Genesis that God made the first man, Adam, before He made the first woman, Eve. Adam represents all of humanity. In the original Hebrew, the word Adam, which means “man,” can also refer to “mankind,” both men and women together. The book of Genesis tells us that God formed Adam from the dirt of the ground. God then breathed His breath of life into Adam’s nostrils.

Focus Questions 1. What does solitude normally mean? Aloneness.

2. Aside from “man,” what can the Hebrew word Adam refer to? Mankind, both men and women together.

3. How did God create Adam? He created Adam from the dirt of the ground and breathed His breath of life into Adam’s nostrils.

4. Turn to a neighbor and talk about, at this point in the reading, what you think Original Solitude might refer to in regard to Adam. That Adam was alone in the beginning before Eve was created by God.

5. Turn to a different neighbor and share how you feel when you are alone. Answers may include scared, lonely, or nervous. Some students may enjoy being alone and find it fun and exciting because they can do what they want.

6. How do you think Adam might have felt being alone? Answers may include lonely or scared, excited to discover new things, or even peaceful.

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Focus Questions 7. Why do you think God felt that it was not good for the man to be alone? Answers

may include because Adam was lonely, because Adam needed a partner, or because it’s better to have someone else there to help with chores and responsibilities.

8. Why do you think God brought all the animals to Adam to find a partner if He knew that none of them was suitable? Answers may include because God wanted Adam to choose a partner, or because God wanted Adam to learn more about himself.

9. Have you ever felt as if you didn’t fit in with a group of people? What is that like? Students may answer that it is lonely or it makes them feel sad. They might feel that they are different from everyone else and that no one is like them.

Very soon after God created Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper suited to him” (Genesis 2:18). God then brought to Adam all of the animals for him to name. After this had been done, God declared that none of the animals were a suitable partner for Adam. This, of course, God knew from the beginning.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 3

Focus Questions 10. What does Adam learn about himself after naming all the animals? That he is not

like any creature that God created. He alone is made in God’s image and likeness and is a son of God.

11. What does it mean to be a person? A person has an inner life of thoughts and understanding, knows that he or she is a person, and has freedom.

12. Ask your students to think about their own inner life of thoughts and understanding. Explain: there are thoughts, ideas, feelings, and understandings that you have inside you that no one else will ever see or know but you. That makes you completely unique and unrepeatable. That makes you a person.

13. What are we free to choose? We are free to choose between what is good and what is bad, or sometimes we choose what we think is good but is actually bad. We also can choose to love.

14. What does love require? Freedom.

15. To what does God invite Adam? A relationship of love with Him, to enter into a covenant with Him as a son of the Father.

16. Ultimately, what does Adam discover in his original solitude? That he is a person made in God’s image and possesses an inner life and freedom to love.

What Adam discovers in this process is what is important. Adam learns that he is not like any other creature that God created. He alone is made in God’s image and likeness, a son of God. Only in Adam did God breathe His breath of life, His very spirit. In his solitude, Adam discovers that he is a person and not just an animal. A person has an inner life of thoughts and understandings. A person also knows that he or she is a person. Most importantly, a person has freedom. We are free to choose what is good. But sometimes we choose what is bad or what we think is good, but really is not. Ultimately, to have freedom means that we can choose to love. Love requires the freedom to choose. Animals do not have any of these qualities. God invited Adam into a relationship of love with Him, to enter into covenant with Him as a son of the Father. In mankind’s original solitude, Adam discovers that he is a person made in God’s image and that he possesses an inner life and the freedom to love.

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HANDOUT E

Original Unity and Original Nakedness Teacher Copy

Original UnityUnity means oneness. Adam, the first man, discovers that none of the animals are a suitable partner for him. So God cast a deep sleep upon Adam and took a rib from his side and to create the first woman, Eve. This tells us that God created man and woman to be equal to one another and close in heart.

Focus Questions 1. What does unity mean? Oneness.

2. Why does God create the first woman? Because none of the animals was a suitable partner for the man.

3. How does God create the first woman, Eve? He casts a deep sleep on Adam and takes a rib from his side to create Eve from it.

4. What does the way in which God created woman tell us about the relationship between man and woman? Man and woman are equal to each other and close in heart.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 3

When Adam first sees Eve he bursts out into poetry, saying: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). Not only does Adam’s exclamation reveal that man is inspired by great beauty, but it reveals what Adam instantly sees in Eve. Finally, another person like him. Finally, another creature who has an inner life of thoughts and understanding. Finally, another creation of God who has the freedom to choose between right and wrong. And, most importantly, another person who is able to choose love.

Focus Questions 5. What poetic line does Adam exclaim when he first sees Eve? “This one, at last, is

bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.”

6. What does Adam see in Eve that is revealed by his exclamation? At last, Adam has found another person like him with an inner life and the freedom to choose between right and wrong and to choose love.

7. Turn to a neighbor and share what it was like when you first met your best friend. Answers may include that they connected instantly and had a lot of fun talking, or that it was as if they could read each other’s minds and knew what the other was thinking before they even said it.

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Adam recognized by Eve’s body that she was a person like him. Our personhood and freedom is expressed in and through our bodies. When a person is sad or happy, we know it because of how his body shows it. When a person chooses to do something, we know it because of how his body acts. Our bodies show our inner selves. In other words, the body is the sacrament of the person. The body signifies the interior reality of the person, just as the sacraments are signs of an interior grace.

Focus Questions 8. How did Adam recognize that Eve was a person like him? By her body.

9. What is expressed through our bodies? Our personhood, freedom, and inner selves.

10. What does it mean to say that the body is the sacrament of the person? The body signifies the interior reality of the person, just as the sacraments are signs of an interior grace.

11. Turn to a neighbor and share about a time when you knew what another person was thinking or feeling because you saw it in the person’s face or could read his or her body language. Answers will vary.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 3

Focus Questions 12. What did Adam and Eve enter into? The first marriage.

13. What are Adam and Eve united together as? A family.

14. What is not destroyed by unity? The unique individual personhood of man and woman.

15. What does it mean that man and woman in marriage are a sign of God Himself? God is a Trinity of Persons, freely loving one another, just as man and woman in a family freely love each other.

Original Nakedness Nakedness typically refers to a lack of clothing. But the Sacred Author of Genesis meant something else when he said, “The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25). While Adam and Eve may very well not have worn any clothes, the point of this passage is that in their nakedness they felt no shame. Shame is a painful feeling of guilt or regret.

Focus Questions 1. What did Adam and Eve not feel in their nakedness? Shame.

2. What is shame? A painful feeling of guilt or regret.

3. Ask your students to think about a time they felt shameful or guilty or regretful. Without describing what happened, ask for a few volunteers to share how that felt.

Genesis 2:24 tells us “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” Adam and Eve come together in the first marriage. Together they form one body and are united as one family. This unity, however, does not destroy their unique individual personhood. Thus, united in marital love, man and woman become a sign of God Himself. God is a Trinity, three distinct and unrepeatable Persons in one God. Each Person of the Trinity is bound together in an eternal exchange of love. In the Trinity and in marriage, difference makes the unity more profound.

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In the beginning, Adam and Eve had no reason to feel this way even though they were naked. In most situations, if a person was naked around other people, he or she would naturally want to cover his or her body and hide from those looking at him or her. Adam and Eve did not experience this feeling at first. In fact, Adam looked at his wife and saw only another person, another creation like him. And Eve looked at her husband and saw only another person, another creation like her. The nakedness of Genesis 2:25 means that Adam and Eve saw each other for who they were. They were free of defenses, barriers, and masks. They were completely vulnerable. They were able to be themselves freely and choose to love without any fear of harm or shame. They fully understood the goodness of God’s plan for them and were able to love one another as God loved them.

Focus Questions4. How do we normally respond in a situation where we might be naked around

other people? We naturally want to cover our bodies and hide ourselves from those looking at us.

5. Adam and Eve did not experience this feeling in the beginning. Why not? Adam and Eve looked at each other and saw only another person like themselves.

6. What did the sacred author mean by nakedness in the book of Genesis? Adam and Eve saw each other for who they were, free of defenses, barriers, or masks. They were completely vulnerable with each other and able to love freely without fear or shame.

7. Ask your students to think of the person they feel the safest and most like their true self around. Have them turn to a neighbor and share about who that person is and how being around them makes them feel.

8. Ultimately, what is meant by the phrase “original nakedness”? Adam and Eve fully understood the goodness of God’s plan for them and were able to love one another as God loved them.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 4

UNIT 4, LESSON 4


ӹ CCC 238-267

ӹ CCC 364

ӹ CCC 369-373

ӹ CCC 1762-1775

ӹ CCC 2331-2345

ӹ CCC 2360-2361

ӹ CCC 2345

Vocabulary ӹ Spousal

Meaning of the Body

ӹ Trinity

ӹ Icon of the Trinity

ӹ Passions (Emotion)

ӹ Reason

ӹ Sexuality

ӹ Chastity

ӹ Self-Mastery

Learning Goals ӹ Jesus shows us the greatest expression

of love: giving oneself completely to another, body and soul, and He calls us to love as He loves.

ӹ The marital union of man and woman, the purpose of which is inscribed in our bodies, becomes an icon of the Trinity.

ӹ Passions or emotions are normal functions of life and are neither morally good nor morally bad.

ӹ It is only when a passion or emotion is directed by reason that it takes on a moral character.

ӹ Sexual feelings, like any other emotion, are normal and are neither morally good nor morally bad, until they are direct by reason.

ӹ We are called to practice chastity in order to govern our sexuality according to God’s plan.

The Proper Use of Human Sexuality

He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 PETER 2:24

“Blessed are the clean [pure] of heart, for they will see God.”

MATTHEW 5:8

Chastity Strand


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Materials ӹ Handout A: Spousal

Meaning of the Body and Icon of the Trinity

ӹ Handout B: Name That Emotion

ӹ Handout C: The Passions

ӹ Handout D: The Passions Fill in the Blanks

ӹ Handout E: Sexual Feelings

ӹ Handout F: Chastity

My Notes______________________

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Lesson Plan Please note: Given the nature and complexity of this lesson’s topic, this lesson is divided into four days rather than the usual three.

DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Project John 15:12-13, and have a student stand and

read it aloud:

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.


ӹ What did Jesus command us to do in this passage? Love one another as He loves us.

ӹ What do we need to know in order to love as Jesus loves? How Jesus loved.

ӹ What example does Jesus give of the greatest love? Laying down (giving) one’s life for one’s friends.

C. Project Luke 22:19, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”

D. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ What is happening in this passage? Jesus is instituting the Eucharist at the Last Supper.

ӹ What is Jesus giving to His disciples? His Body, under the appearance of bread.

ӹ What does Jesus say He will do with His Body? He will give or sacrifice it for His disciples.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 4

E. Then project 1 Peter 2:24 and 1 John 3:16, and have a student stand and read the passages aloud:

He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)

F. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ In what did Jesus bear our sins? In His body while on the Cross.

ӹ Why did he do so? To free us from sin so that we might live righteously and be healed. He literally gave His life for us so that we might live.

ӹ How do we know love? Because Jesus loved us and gave His life for us.

ӹ What should we do in response? Give of our own lives to others.

ActivityA. Explain to your students in a mini-lecture that love, the kind of love that is a total

gift of self, is expressed in and through our bodies. Notice how Jesus loved us by giving His body for us, and we receive Him, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. Love is more than an emotion or a spiritual experience; it is made known through the body. In fact, Jesus shows us the greatest expression of love: giving oneself completely to another, body and soul. And He calls us to love as He loves. From the very beginning, this call to love as God loves was written in our very bodies as male and female. It is a foundational truth of human sexuality. Pope St. John Paul II called this the “spousal meaning of the body.” The first man and the first woman came together in marital union as the first husband and the first wife. Scripture tells us that the man and woman became “one body,” in this marital union. In other words, as an expression of love, husband and wife gave themselves to each other in bodily and spiritual union, sexual intercourse. In marital union, then, the spousal meaning of the body becomes clear: through our bodies as male and female, in how they complement each other and logically and biologically “fit” with one another, we have the capacity to respond to the calling to love as God loves, to be a self-gift to another. This union of man and woman is far more than a uniting of bodies. Rather, it is a gift of self, a uniting of souls, expressed through the body. Further, in the normal course of things, the union of a husband and a wife is productive and results in new life: a child. Children are literally the product of the love shared and expressed in and through the bodies of a husband and wife. The marital union of man and women is an icon of the Trinity, a sign of God’s own life.

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B. Continue to explain to your students that marital love is not the only way to love as God loves. Marital love is, however, the original blueprint. In fact, the love shared between a husband and wife and procreation are direct responses to God’s first and only command to Adam and Eve: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). More than simply to procreate for the survival of the human species (like animals), God’s command is a call to human beings to love as God loves. While marital love is the original blueprint, we are capable of living as God loves in our friendships and in our families; we can love the poor, the sick, and the outcast. Some of us are not called by God to marriage, but are called to ordained and religious life as priests, sisters, brothers, and consecrated virgins. Regardless of the vocation to which we are called, we are called to love as God loves, to make a gift of self to others.

C. Distribute Handout A: Spousal Meaning of the Body and Icon of the Trinity. Have your students read the handout and complete the accompanying focus and reflection questions.

D. Then review and discuss the correct answers.

Formative Assessment A. On their own paper, have students write a response to the following prompt:

ӹ A key term about this topic is… because…

B. When students have finished, collect their responses for your own review.

DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Distribute Handout B: Name That Emotion to each student. Have your students,

working individually, read each given statement and decide with what emotion they would respond to each situation. When students have completed Handout B, ask for volunteers to share their responses.

B. Write the word passion on the board. Ask your students if they know what the word means. You will likely get responses such as “to feel very strongly about something” or “the experience of strong love or romantic desire.” Explain to your students that although the word has taken on these meanings in our modern world, it did not always mean that.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 4

C. Write the word emotion on the board. Explain to your students that a passion is an emotion. We experience all kinds of emotions, and sometimes those emotions are great experiences, sometimes they are painful experiences, and sometimes they are confusing experiences. Our emotions, however, are a natural experience of being human. In this lesson, we are going to learn about our passions (emotions) and how even though they are natural experiences of life, we are meant to control them using our intellect and free will.

ActivityA. Distribute Handout C: The Passions to each student. Have your students read the

handout quietly to themselves.

B. Then distribute Handout D: The Passions Fill in the Blanks to each student. Have them work individually to fill in the blanks with the correct terms from the reading.

Formative Assessment When your students have finished reading Handout C and completing the fill in the blank activity on Handout D, review and discuss the correct answers together as a class. Note: This may be a challenging abstract topic for your students to understand fully. Help your students come to the understanding that feelings (passions or emotions) are natural and are not sinful. What matters is how we respond to our feelings and how we use them. Then, and only then, can feelings become morally good or morally sinful.

DAY THREE

Warm-UpNote: Today’s activity covers a sensitive topic. Students may have many questions and misconceptions about sexuality and sexual identity. For this reason, this activity is meant to be discussion based and conversational. Allow students to ask questions where appropriate. Help students come to understand that sexual feelings are a normal part of human experience and are neither morally good nor morally bad. Properly understood, sexual feelings help us to direct ourselves to the goods of marriage and family.

A. Write the following list on the board: “anger, sadness, embarrassment, happiness, hope, and pleasure.” One by one, go through the list and ask your students if these emotions (passions, feelings) are good or bad. This should be a review of the previous lesson;

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help your students understand that each of these emotions is neither good nor bad. As learned in the previous lesson, emotions have no moral character; they are amoral.

B. Write the following on the board: “Sexual feelings.” Ask your students what they think sexual feelings are. Answers may include romantic feelings toward another, a desire to have sexual intercourse with another, a feeling of being aroused or “turned on”, a desire for companionship, a desire to be close to another, a curiosity about the opposite sex, and so forth. Help students understand that the term “sexual feeling” can refer to any number of emotions (passions) related to our sexual identity. Remind your students that our sexuality is about more than just sexual intercourse and is fundamentally rooted in our masculinity and femininity as human beings made in God’s image.

C. Ask your students if sexual feelings are good or bad. The answer is the same as with all other feelings: neither good nor bad. Sexual feelings, like any other emotion, are amoral. They are neither morally good nor morally bad. Also like any other emotion, it is what we do with the feelings, directed by our intellect and moved by our free will, that can cause them to take on a morally good or morally bad quality.

Activity A. Distribute Handout E: Sexual Feelings to each student. Have your students follow along

with the readings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church as you discuss them. After discussing each reference, have students write a summary sentence in their own words.

B. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2332, and read it aloud to your students:

Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity (emotion), the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude (ability) for forming bonds of communion with others.

C. Ask your students what aspects of the human person sexuality especially affects? Our emotions (affectivity), the capacity to love and to procreate, and the ability (aptitude) for forming bonds of communion with others.

D. Explain that we experience all sorts of emotions (feelings, passions) surrounding our sexuality. Particularly during adolescence, these can be confusing and sometimes difficult to process, sometimes even causing us to feel ashamed for having these feelings.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 4

E. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2333, and read it aloud to your students:

Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and of society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out.

F. Have your students reread the Catechism reference quietly to themselves. Then ask your students the following questions:

ӹ What do you think the relationship between sexual feelings and sexual identity as men and women is? Sexual feelings are a normal part of our sexual identity as male and female.

ӹ What does this Catechism reference tell us our sexual identities (and thus, sexual feelings) are directed (oriented) toward? The goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. In other words, sexual feelings remind us of the God-given potential of our sexuality: to serve as an icon of the Trinity, God’s very life, as a gift of self in marriage. The Catechism even goes so far as to suggest that the proper functioning of society depends on the proper understanding and use of our sexual identities and feelings.

G. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 2360 and 2361, and read it aloud to your students:

Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal (marital) love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion. Marriage bonds between baptized persons are sanctified by the sacrament.

“Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human person as such. It is realized in a truly human way only if it is an integral part of the love by which a man and woman commit themselves totally to one another until death.”

H. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ What do these Catechism paragraphs confirm sexuality is directed toward? Marital (conjugal) love between a man and a woman. In other words, human sexuality, including sexual feelings, points us toward and moves us in the direction of marriage between a man and a woman.

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ӹ What does the physical intimacy of spouses become a sign and pledge of? Spiritual communion.

ӹ The spiritual communion of spouses signified by the physical acts of marital love is more than simply biological. What does this communion concern, and how is it fully realized? The spiritual communion signified by the physical acts of marital love concerns the innermost being of the human person. It is fully realized only in the love shared in a committed marriage between a man and a woman.

I. Explain to your students that while sexual feelings may lead a person to desire physical intimacy with another person, anything short of engaging in physical intimacy in the context of marriage falls short of the purpose of sexuality. Ultimately, sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and woman disrespects the dignity of both persons who are made in God’s image. It is lacking the permanent commitment necessary to be a true expression of love and a full sign of God, who is love. Therefore, we are called to control our sexual feelings and reserve sexual acts for the context of marriage, in order to make our sexuality a true and full gift to our spouses.

AssessmentHave your students work individually to respond to the reflection questions at the bottom of Handout E.

DAY FOUR

Warm-Up A. Have your students, with a neighbor, create a list of five difficult things that are worth

doing despite the difficulty. Examples may include running a marathon, losing weight, studying for a test, practicing a musical instrument, and so forth.

B. When students have finished their lists, ask for volunteers to share some of their brainstorms with the class. Keep a list on the board. Then, for each item on the list, have each pair think about and record what about that item is difficult and why it is still worth doing.

C. When students have finished this task, return to the list on the board, choose some good examples, and ask for students to share with the class their ideas about what is difficult about each example and why it is still worth doing.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 4

D. Ask your students out of all of the examples they brainstormed, for any of them, is there a point they would reach where they would accomplish all that could be possibly be accomplished, or grow to a point where no more growth was possible, or acquire all the knowledge that is able to be known? No! One can always improve a marathon time, or become more fit and healthy, or learn more information, or become better at a musical instrument. As human beings, we are always in a state of becoming. That is, we are always growing, improving, moving toward an end point. We will never, in this earthly life, reach a moment where we will stop and say, “That’s it; I’m done! I am the ‘me’ that I am supposed to be.”

E. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2342, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life. The effort required can be more intense in certain periods, such as when the personality is being formed during childhood and adolescence.

F. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ What do you think the term “self-mastery” means? “Self-mastery” refers to the process of perfecting ourselves according to God’s plan.

ӹ What does this Catechism reference say about when the process of self-mastery will be complete? It is ongoing and challenging work that will never be fully accomplished in this life but will require effort at all stages of our lives, especially during childhood and adolescence.

ӹ Why do you think childhood and adolescence are specifically named as challenging times in the work of self-mastery? Childhood and especially adolescence are periods of great change in our lives (puberty, school, relationships, family, and so forth). During adolescence, we grow into who we will become as adults, beginning to shape major parts of our personalities. Our bodies change and grow, and we experience new and different emotions, some that are difficult and confusing. Our teenage years can be a difficult time in our lives as we navigate all the various challenges that come our way and learn how to be the persons God wants us to be.

ActivityA. Distribute Handout F: Chastity to each student. Have your students follow along with

the readings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church as you discuss them. After discussing each reference, have students write a summary sentence in their own words.

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B. Rhetorically ask your students: Since sexual feelings help direct us toward the God-given potential and goods of marriage and family, how then are we to deal with these feelings as adolescents?

C. Ask your students to recall the warm-up activity from this lesson in which they identified things that were difficult to do but in the end worth it. Explain that mastering sexual feelings is similar: it is difficult to do, but in the end, the goods of marriage and family life (or any vocation God is calling us to) are very much worth it.

D. Write the word chastity on the board. Then project Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2337, and read it aloud to your students:

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.

The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity (wholeness) of the person and the integrality (essential-ness) of the gift.

E. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ How does the Catechism define chastity? The successful integration (putting or coming together) of sexuality within the person and thus the unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being; in other words, managing our feelings and our bodies together in the way that God intended. Ask your students to recall that our emotions ( feelings, passions) are always capable of obeying reason (our intellect and will) even if it is difficult. Just as we don’t want to be controlled by emotions of anger or sadness, likewise, we should not be controlled by our sexual feelings.

ӹ When practicing chastity — that is, managing or controlling our sexual feelings — when does a person’s sexuality become “truly human”? When it becomes a mutual gift as part of a lifelong relationship of man and woman in marriage.

F. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 2338 and 2339, and read them aloud to your students:

The chaste person maintains the integrity (wholeness) of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it. It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 4

Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. “Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.”

G. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ Why must the chaste person avoid situations and behavior that would impair his or her chastity (i.e., temptations)? Some situations and behaviors will tempt a person to abandon his or her chastity and thus the person will no longer be maintaining the integrity (wholeness) of his or her person.

ӹ Why must a person practicing chastity and learn self-mastery, or training in human freedom? Man will either be dominated by his passions and will thus become unhappy or will govern them and find peace. Explain that a person who practices chastity, working to control his or her sexual feelings and not to be controlled by them, must inform himself or herself of God’s commandments and the moral law in order to avoid temptation. Just as it is easy for a person training for a marathon to give up and stop running, it is likewise easy to give in to sexual temptation. Chastity requires continued practice and effort, as does anything that is difficult but worth doing.

H. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 2338 and 2339, and read them aloud to your students:

Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis (discipline) adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer. “Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity.”

Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort. The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.

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I. Ask your students the following questions:

ӹ What is required in order to practice chastity and resist temptation faithfully? Gaining self-knowledge, practicing appropriate self-discipline (controlling our behaviors and emotions in the various situations we are confronted with), obeying God’s commandments, and exercising moral virtue and faithfulness in prayer.

ӹ While chastity is a moral virtue that we exercise and grow in perfection of, we do not do so without God’s help. What does it mean that chastity is also a gift of grace? It is a free gift from God by which the Holy Spirit leads us to imitate the purity of Christ. Explain that ultimately, in all we do, not only in matters of chastity and sexual identity, we seek to imitate Christ. In this, then, we are able to fulfill Christ’s beatitude in Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the clean (pure) of heart, for they will see God.”

AssessmentHave your students work individually to respond to the reflection questions at the bottom of Handout F.


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HANDOUT A

Spousal Meaning of the Body and Icon of the Trinity

As we have learned, God created mankind in His image and likeness, as

male and female. It is precisely as male and female, however, that we most image God’s true nature. God is a Trinity of Persons. That means that God is three Persons in One God. The three Persons of the Trinity are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Trinity is fully, 100% God and each is a unique, unrepeatable distinct Person.

The image above helps us to understand this great mystery of our Christian Faith.

The three Persons of the Trinity exist as an eternal exchange of love. The Father, the first Person of the Blessed Trinity, eternally pours out His love to generate the Son, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. The Son eternally returns His love to the Father. The love shared between them is so pure and perfect that it is productive and becomes personified in the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. This eternal exchange of love forms an unbreakable bond, a communion of Persons, each unique and unrepeatable, but each fully and completely God.

We have previously learned that God is love. This fact is true because God is a communion of Persons, giving and receiving love within Himself.

This essential mystery of our Christian faith is revealed to us in the spousal meaning of the body. Man and woman are united body and spirit in marriage in order to be a sign of God Himself. The two persons, male and female, become “one body,” and the love they share is expressed in a bodily way. A husband loves his wife and gives his entire self to her in marriage. She receives his love and returns it as a gift of her entire self to him. Their love, in the normal course of things, is productive. With the cooperation of God’s creative power, marital love produces life, children. Thus, the union of spouses was ordained by God from the beginning to be an icon of the Trinity, a sign of His very life itself. As such, the love between a husband and wife in marriage resembles the love that is God Himself, the love that He calls us to participate in and make a reality here on earth as men and woman made in His image.

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Focus Questions 1. What does it meant that God is a “Trinity of Persons”?

2. Who are the three Persons of the Trinity?

3. What is each Person of the Trinity fully, 100% and still a unique, unrepeatable, distinct Person?

4. What is shared between the Father and the Son? Who proceeds from them and how?

5. What does it mean that God is a communion of Persons?

6. What is the spousal meaning of the body?

7. What is shared between a husband and a wife? In God’s design, what is produced from their love?

8. What is an icon of the Trinity? How is the love of a husband and wife an icon of the Trinity?

Reflection Question What are some ways our current culture seeks to deny the spousal meaning of the body? How would our understanding of God be different if we no longer understood marital love to be an icon of the Trinity?

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HANDOUT B

Name That Emotion

Directions: Read each statement and decide with which emotion you would respond to the following situations.

1. Your mom makes your favorite food for dinner tonight.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. You stub your toe getting out of bed in the morning.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

3. You find a popular movie or video game for sale at the store.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

4. You finish a challenging homework assignment.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Your parents tell you that your family is going on a luxurious vacation to a tropical island.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

6. You find a giant spider in your bed.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

7. You are the last one to be chosen for the team at recess or in gym class.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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8. You receive from a good friend a gift that you have wanted for a long time.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Your teacher assigns you a difficult ten-page research paper due in two weeks.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Your parents tell you that you cannot go out with your friends tonight.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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HANDOUT C

The Passions

A passion is an emotion. Famous theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas

have long understood the word passion to mean “emotion.” The word passion is derived from the Latin word passio, which means “to undergo” or “to suffer.” You have likely heard of the suffering Christ endured before and during His Crucifixion referred to as the Passion and maybe wondered why that word was used. Simply put, it refers to the suffering Christ underwent or endured on Good Friday. A passion, or an emotion, then, is a change that a body and soul undergo as a response to something. For example, a person might experience a feeling of sadness when his dog dies. The death of his dog triggered the emotion of sadness, which the person underwent. That emotion was a response to an experience he encountered.

Maybe you have heard the saying “the eyes are a window to the soul.” The same is true of our bodies. Emotions, which we feel deep in our souls, are typically made known through our bodies. When we’re sad, for example, it can be seen in our eyes, in our expression, or in our posture. Maybe we even cry. There is a physiological (bodily) change as a result of the emotion. Sometimes, however, we try very hard (and sometimes succeed) to hide the emotion so that it is not visible to others. Usually, it takes a conscious effort to do so. Even then, we often don’t fool those who know us best.

The passions are neither morally good nor morally evil. That means that emotions are amoral, or do not have moral characteristics. They are merely responses a person has to some experience. In fact, emotions are responses to an experience of our senses. That means when we see something or touch something, or experience anything through any of our senses, we have some sort of emotional response to it. In most cases, we either desire to have or to avoid that which our senses experience. For example, if a person smells peanut butter cookies baking in the oven, he either desires to eat those cookies or, if he doesn’t like peanut butter cookies, he desires to avoid eating the cookies. If a person who likes peanut butter cookies then gets to eat a cookie, he experiences the joy of having what he desired. If a person is not allowed to eat one of the cookies, he might feel sorrow because he was unable to have what he desired. Or, if a person does not like peanut butter cookies, and, despite trying to avoid eating one, is forced to do so, he may feel sadness. He was unable to avoid what he disliked.

Emotions also function in this way in relation to more difficult desires. For example, a person may hear on the news about a war or some political unrest somewhere in the world. As a result, he may then desire peace in that place. The person may be hopeful that a solution to the war and unrest is possible. This may be difficult

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to achieve, however. If the situation gets worse, the person may experience fear or anger.

It is important to note that animals also experience basic emotions. Animals, who possess senses, also respond to an experience of their senses with emotion. In fact, that is the only way they are able to respond. They are creatures of instinct, moved by their senses and emotions. What sets human beings apart from animals is our ability to harness our emotions. We can choose how to act on our feelings, or not act at all. When an emotion is commanded by the intellect and freely accepted or rejected by our free will, it can take on a moral character. When an emotion is directed toward an objectively good or evil act, then it becomes morally good or morally evil. The goal of the Christian life, then, is not to distance ourselves from our emotions, but to harness them for the sake of objective moral good. For example, a person might become angry (that’s right: anger is an emotion, which means it is neither morally good nor morally evil) over the destruction of the rainforests. That person might choose to be moved by his anger to begin a fundraiser at school to raise money for an organization that acts to

protect the rainforests. In this situation, the person has understood (using his intellect) that his anger is righteous, and he has chosen (using his freewill) to do something positive that does not conflict with what is objectively moral. His action, freely chosen, has become morally good.

The human power of reason always has the capability of ruling over our emotions. Emotions can resist, however. For example, if someone says something mean or insulting to us, we might become angry. If we are not careful, we may respond in anger and do or say something hurtful back, which we would later regret. If we do not properly form our intellect (by informing ourselves about what is objectively good, true, and beautiful) and strengthen our will (through prayer, acts of virtue and self-denial), our actions are more likely to be controlled by our emotions. When we act purely out of emotion, there is little difference between us and the animals. Reason can always have the final say, however. Our passions will always obey reason, even if it is difficult to do so. In fact, when our passions are directed by reason, they find their fulfillment; then our intellect, will, and emotions are working together as God intended.

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HANDOUT D

The Passions Fill in the Blanks

Directions: Read Handout C: The Passions. Then fill in the blanks with the correct terms from the reading.

1. A passion is _______________________________________.

2. The word passion is derived from the Latin word _______________________________________,

which means _______________________________________.

3. The Passion refers to Christ’s __________________________ ____________________________________.

4. A passion is a change that the _______________________________________ and

_______________________________________ undergo as a response to something.

5. We feel emotions deep in our _______________________________________, but they are

typically made known through our _______________________________________.

6. There is a _______________________________________ change as a result of an

_______________________________________.

7. The passions are _______________________________________, which means they are neither

morally _______________________________________ nor morally

_______________________________________.

8. Emotions are responses to experiences of our _______________________________________.

9. In most situations, we either desire to _______________________________________ or to

_______________________________________ that which our senses experience.

10. When a person gets something that his senses desire, he may experience

_______________________________________.

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11. When a person does not get something that his senses desire, he may experience

_______________________________________.

12. If a person is forced to have something he does not want to, he may experience

_______________________________________.

13. _______________________________________ also experience basic emotions. They are

creatures of _______________________________________, moved by their

_______________________________________ and _______________________________________.

14. The human ability to _______________________________________ our emotions sets us apart

from animals.

15. When an emotion is commanded by the _______________________________________ and freely

accepted or rejected by _______________________________________, it can take on a

_______________________________________ character.

16. The goal of the Christian life is to harness our emotions for the sake of objective

____________________________________________________.

17. _______________________________________ always has the capability of ruling our emotions.

18. We must properly form our intellects by informing ourselves about what is objectively

_______________________________________, _______________________________________, and

_______________________________________.

19. We must strengthen our will through _______________________________________,

_______________________________________, and _______________________________________.

20. When our passions are directed by _______________________________________, they find their

_______________________________________, working as God intended.

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HANDOUT E

Sexual Feelings

Directions: Follow along with the readings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. After discussing each reference, write a summary sentence in your own words.

CCC 2332 Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others.

Summary:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

CCC 2333 Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and of society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out.

Summary:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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CCC 2360 and 2361 Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal (marital) love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion. Marriage bonds between baptized persons are sanctified by the sacrament.

“Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human person as such. It is realized in a truly human way only if it is an integral part of the love by which a man and woman commit themselves totally to one another until death.”

Summary:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reflection Questions 1. In what ways does our culture promote an attitude toward sexuality that falls short of

God’s intentions for human sexuality? Give at least two specific examples and discuss.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. Considering what you have learned in this lesson, what is one thing that you want people who are struggling with sexual immorality to know?

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HANDOUT F

Chastity

Directions: Follow along with the readings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. After discussing each reference, write a summary sentence in your own words.

CCC 2337

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.

The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.

Summary:

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CCC 2338The chaste person maintains the integrity (wholeness) of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it. It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech.

Summary:

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CCC 2339Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. “Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.”

Summary:

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CCC 2340 Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer. “Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity.”

Summary:

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CCC 2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort. The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.

Summary:

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Reflection Question 1. Chastity education in America is often misunderstood as being simply a “don’t do it” (in

regard to sex before marriage) message. Given what you have learned in this lesson (and in other lessons), how would you explain what a true education in chastity means?

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Answer KeyHandout A: Spousal Meaning of the Body and Icon of the Trinity1. God is three Persons in one God.

2. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

3. Each Person is fully, 100% God.

4. The Father and the Son share an eternal love. The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and Son as the product of their eternal exchange of love.

5. The Persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, form a communion of love together as They eternally give and receive love.

6. The uniting of man and woman, body and spirit, in marriage is to be a sign of God Himself.

7. A husband and wife share love between themselves. Their love produces children in the normal course of things.

8. An icon of the Trinity is a sign of God’s very life itself. The love between a husband and wife in marriage resembles the love that is God Himself, the love that He calls us to participate in and make a reality here on earth as men and woman made in His image.

Reflection question: Answers will vary.

Handout D: The Passions Fill in the Blanks1. An emotion.

2. Passio/“to undergo”

3. Suffering on Good Friday

4. Body/soul

5. Soul/bodies

6. Physiological (bodily)/emotion

7. Amoral/good/evil

8. Senses

9. Have/avoid

10. Joy

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UNIT 4, LESSON 4

11. Sorrow

12. Sadness

13. Animals/instinct/senses/emotions

14. Harness

15. Intellect/free will/moral

16. Moral good

17. Reason

18. Good/true/beautiful

19. Prayer/acts of virtue/acts of self-denial

20. Reason/fulfillment

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UNIT 4, LESSON 5

UNIT 4, LESSON 5


ӹ CCC 1601-1617

ӹ CCC 1640

ӹ CCC 1643-1655

Vocabulary ӹ The Sacrament of Holy

Matrimony (Marriage)

ӹ Covenant

ӹ The Purposes of Marriage

ӹ The Goods of Marriage

Learning Goals ӹ Marriage is the primordial sacrament

in which the union of one man and one woman in a free, faithful, fruitful, and indissoluble union reveals an integral part of human nature that has been inscribed in the complementarity of the male and female bodies and the human soul from our origins.

ӹ The unitive and procreative purposes of marriage are essential for a marriage to be a marriage. Anything that prevents or diminishes these purposes is contrary to God’s plan for marriage.

ӹ God’s love for us has four components: it is free, total and self-giving, faithful, and fruitful.

ӹ The love shared between spouses in marriage, or marital love, is a reflection of how God loves.

Holy Matrimony

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment.” (The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”

REVELATION 19:7-9

“Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

JOHN 2:10-11

Chastity Strand


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Materials ӹ Handout A: Marriage in

Salvation History

ӹ Handout B: Marriage Pre-Assessment

ӹ Handout C: The Purposes of Marriage

ӹ Handout D: Marriage Post-Assessment

ӹ Handout E: God’s Love and the Goods of Marriage

ӹ Drawing or construction paper

My Notes______________________

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Lesson Plan

DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Ask your students, by a show of hands, who has

been to a wedding. Then have your students, with a neighbor, brainstorm as many important parts of a wedding as they can think of and keep a list on a piece of paper. After a few minutes, ask for volunteers from each pair to share their answers. Keep a list on the board. Answers might include a white dress, a veil, flowers, a priest, the Wedding March or other wedding music such as Canon in D, tuxedos, the best man and maid of honor, and so forth.

B. Then, ask your students why they think we place such importance on weddings and celebrate them in such a spectacular way. Answers will vary. Help students begin to understand that there is something essential about marriage to human nature and, whether we understand it or not, we somehow automatically recognize this fundamental truth in our celebrations of marriage. We celebrate the coming together of a man and woman to cooperate with God’s grace and begin a new family as a sign for His love for us. Explain to your students that marriage is the primordial sacrament, or the first and fundamental sacrament. In other words, as we have been learning, the union of one man and one woman in a free, faithful, fruitful, and indissoluble union is an integral part of human nature that has been inscribed in the complementarity of the male and female bodies and the human soul from our origins.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 5

ActivityDistribute Handout A: Marriage in Salvation History to each student. Have student read the handout and work individually to complete the accompanying focus and reflection questions.

Formative Assessment When students have finished Handout A, review and discuss the correct answers.

DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Distribute Handout B: Marriage Pre-Assessment to each student. Have them mark

each statement as true or false. Collect completed handouts for comparison at the end of the lesson.

B. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1660, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament.


ӹ Marriage is described as a covenant. What is a covenant? An unbreakable bond of family relationship.

ӹ Who forms the marriage covenant? A man and a woman by an intimate communion of life and of love.

ӹ Who founded the marriage covenant and gave to it its own special laws? God, the Creator.

ӹ What are the two purposes of marriage? The good of the couple and the generation and education of children.

ӹ What did Christ do with marriage between a baptized man and woman? He raised it to the dignity of a sacrament, an efficacious sign of God’s grace.

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D. Distribute Handout C: The Purposes of Marriage to each student. Then write on the board: “Two Purposes of Marriage.” Underneath that heading, write “1. Unitive” and “2. Procreative.” Ask your students to define each purpose using the Catechism no. 1660. Write their answers on the board, and have students write the correct definitions on Handout C. Unitive Purpose — The good of the couple; Procreative Purpose — The generation (procreation) and education of children.

E. Explain to your students that the two purposes of marriage are essential for a marriage to be a marriage. In fact, anything that prevents or diminishes these purposes is contrary to God’s plan for marriage.

ActivityA. Show the Sophia Sketchpad video on the Sacrament of Marriage, found at

SophiaSketchpad.org. While your students view the video, have them take note of at least three pieces of supporting evidence for each purpose of marriage, unitive and procreative, using the space provided on Handout C.

B. After viewing the video and completing Handout C, have students, on their own paper, respond to the following prompts in writing, citing specific things they have learned from the discussion and the video:

ӹ I would explain the unitive purpose of marriage as…

ӹ I would explain the procreative purpose of marriage as…

Formative Assessment Distribute Handout D: Marriage Post-Assessment to each student. Have them mark each statement as true or false. Collect completed handouts for comparison with Handout B: Marriage Pre-Assessment.

DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. Project and pray together with your students the following prayer in defense of

marriage, taken from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website, USCCB.org:


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UNIT 4, LESSON 5

God our Father, we give you thanks for the gift of marriage: the bond of life and love, and the font of the family.

The love of husband and wife enriches your Church with children, fills the world with a multitude of spiritual fruitfulness and service, and is the sign of the love of your Son, Jesus Christ, for his Church.

The grace of Jesus flowed forth at Cana at the request of the Blessed Mother. May your Son, through the intercession of Mary, pour out upon us a new measure of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as we join with all people of good will to promote and protect the unique beauty of marriage.

May your Holy Spirit enlighten our society to treasure the heroic love of husband and wife, and guide our leaders to sustain and protect the singular place of mothers and fathers in the lives of their children.

Father, we ask that our prayers be joined to those of the Virgin Mary, that your Word may transform our service so as to safeguard the incomparable splendor of marriage. We ask all these things through Christ our Lord,

Amen.Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

B. Explain to your students that God’s love for us has four components, or parts: it is free, total and self-giving, faithful, and fruitful. Human love, particularly the love shared between spouses in marriage, or marital love, is a reflection of how God loves. There is no love apart from God. 1 John 4:8 tells us “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.” The opposite of this statement is true as well: “Whoever knows love knows God, for God is love.” In today’s lesson, we will compare the characteristics of God’s love with those of marital love. The characteristics of marital love are also known as the “Goods of Marriage.”

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Side 1

Free

God’s Love

Marital Love

Side 2

Faithful

God’s Love

Marital Love

Activity and Assessment A. Distribute to each student two pieces of drawing or construction paper. Have students

fold each piece in half horizontally. At the top of one piece, have students label the front “Free” and the back “Faithful.” At the top of the other piece, have students label the front “Fruitful” and the back “Total Self-Giving.” Then, on each piece of paper, front and back, have students label the bottom of the left side “God’s Love” and the bottom of the right side “Marital Love.” See the diagrams below for a visual aid.


Side 1

Total Self-Giving

God’s Love

Marital Love

Side 2

Fruitful

God’s Love

Marital Love

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UNIT 4, LESSON 5

B. Arrange your students in eight groups of approximately equal numbers. Assign each group one of the “Goods of Marriage” (free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful). There should be two groups assigned to each “Good.”

C. Distribute Handout E: God’s Love and the Goods of Marriage to each student. Explain to your students that in their current groups they must read about their assigned “Good of Marriage” and become “experts” on it. They will later be required to teach a different group of students about the “Good” on which they are “experts.” For the first part of class, have students work together in their groups to determine the three most important characteristics that someone should know about their assigned “Good” as it pertains to both God’s love and marital love. Students should then list the three most important characteristics of God’s love on the side of the paper labeled “God’s Love”, and the three most important characteristics of marital love on the side of the paper labeled “Marital Love.” Then each student should draw a symbol that represents that “Good” as it pertains to God’s love and a symbol that represents that “Good” as it pertains to marital love.

D. For the last part of class, arrange students in new groups of four students each. Each group should consist of a student “expert” on each of the “Goods of Marriage.” (Note: It may not be possible to distribute your students evenly. It is okay for there to be more than one student “expert” on a “Good” in a group.) Have students take turns using their folded paper to teach the other members of their group about the “Good of Marriage” on which they are an “expert.” The other students should then record the new information on their papers in the appropriate places.

E. Circulate around the room and observe students as they teach each other. Assist as needed.

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HANDOUT A

Marriage in Salvation History

The Church understands (and has always understood) that there is a

certain complementarity between man and woman — that is, the differences between male and female complete or make perfect the other. Man and women were created in the image and likeness of God. As you have learned, to be made in God’s image, in part, means that the union of man and woman in marriage makes visible to us God’s very life as Trinity.

Thus, to begin to communicate such a fundamental truth, the Bible, the story of salvation, begins with the marriage of the first man and first woman:

Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28)

The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him. …So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs

and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. (Genesis 2:18, 21-24)

Since the story of salvation begins with a wedding, it is fitting that the story of our salvation ends with a wedding feast! After most wedding ceremonies, the newly married couple will celebrate with their family and friends with a wedding reception. Today, as in times past, these typically involve good food, drinks, music, dancing, and fellowship. In the book of Revelation, St. John the Evangelist describes such a feast in his vision of heaven:

Then I heard something like the sound of a great multitude or the sound of rushing water or mighty peals of thunder, as they said: “Alleluia! The Lord has established his reign, [our] God, the almighty. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment.” (The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who

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have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.” (Revelation 19:6-9)

St. John the Evangelist’s vision of heaven shows us that heaven is the wedding celebration of the Lamb, Jesus, who is united for all eternity with His Bride, the Church. We are truly blessed as Christians to be invited to partake of the wedding feast of the Lamb every time we receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Not only does the Bible begin with a wedding and end with a wedding feast, Jesus begins His public ministry with a miracle at a wedding. This is no coincidence! Jesus is first revealed to the public as the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior, in the midst of a wedding.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with

water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. (John 2:1-11)

Not only does Jesus’ presence at the Wedding at Cana affirm the goodness of God’s plan for marriage, it also proclaims that marriage is an effective sign of Christ’s presence in the world. In the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, the love of husband and wife shine forth the love of Christ for His Church. It is for this reason that the Church places such a great importance on the Sacrament of Marriage and defends the union of one man and one woman so vigorously. Our existence and our salvation, seen in the light of God’s plan for marriage, are revealed to have a nuptial orientation. That is, a proper understanding of marriage unlocks the mystery of God, human nature, and our redemption from sin.

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Focus and Reflection Questions 1. What has the Church always understood about men and women?

2. How does the union of man and woman in marriage help us to understand what it means to be made in God’s image?

3. What does the Bible begin with in order to communicate the fundamental truths of the creation of human beings in God’s image?

4. With what does the story of our salvation end?

5. What does St. John’s vision of heaven tell us about heaven?

6. When are we invited to partake of the wedding feast of the Lamb?

7. How does Jesus begin His public ministry?

8. What is affirmed by Jesus’ presence at the wedding at Cana?

9. What does Jesus’ presence at the wedding at Cana proclaim?

10. Why does the Church place such great importance on the sacrament of marriage?

11. What does it mean that the story of our very existence and our salvation have a “nuptial” orientation?

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HANDOUT B

Marriage Pre-Assessment

Directions: Write “T” if the statement is true and “F” if the statement is false

True or False?

____________________1. A family with a father and a mother is the model chosen by

God as the ideal environment to raise a child.

____________________ 2. Man and woman are made by God different and unequal.

____________________3. The union between man and woman is breakable only if both

spouses are unhappy in the marriage.

____________________4. Love is not simply an emotion. It is an act of free will, a

choice.

____________________5. The sacrament of marriage grants spouses special graces to

resist sin and temptation.

____________________6. Most people are called to a vocation to single life, priesthood,

or religious life.

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HANDOUT C

The Purposes of Marriage

The Purposes of Marriage

Unitive Procreative

Definition: Definition:

List at least three pieces of supporting evidence from the video:

List at least three pieces of supporting evidence from the video:

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HANDOUT D

Marriage Post-Assessment

Directions: Write “T” if the statement is true and “F” if the statement is false

True or False?

____________________1. A family with a father and a mother is the model chosen by

God as the ideal environment to raise a child.

____________________ 2. Man and woman are made by God different and unequal.

____________________3. The union between man and woman is breakable only if both

spouses are unhappy in the marriage.

____________________4. Love is not simply an emotion. It is an act of free will, a

choice.

____________________5. The sacrament of marriage grants spouses special graces to

resist sin and temptation.

____________________6. Most people are called to a vocation to single life, priesthood,

or religious life.

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HANDOUT E

God’s Love and the Goods of Marriage

Love Freely GivenGod’s love is a free gift to us. We do nothing to earn His love, and there is nothing we can do to lose His love.

These Scripture passages attest to God’s free gift of love:

Romans 6:23 — For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 4:19 — We love because he first loved us.

Marital love must be freely given. The consent of the spouses is the fundamental requirement for marriage. In fact, in sacramental marriage, the ministers of the sacrament are the spouses who give their consent to one another and exchange vows of lifelong commitment before God and His Church. The priest or deacon serves as the official witness of this exchange and offers the blessing of the Church on the marital union.

Faithful LoveGod’s love is faithful. God does not withdraw His love from us at any time for any reason. Even though we are less than faithful to Him when we sin, He remains near to us and showers us with His grace.

These Scripture passages attest to God’s faithful love:

Romans 8:37-39 — No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through

him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Deuteronomy 7:9 — Know, then, that the LORD, your God, is God: the faithful God who keeps covenant mercy to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments.

Married love is faithful, constant, dependable, and trustworthy. Marriage is a total gift of self, body and soul, to another of the opposite, complementary sex. It cannot be a total gift of self if something is held back or reserved for another. Love’s fidelity or faithfulness is expressed in the fact that marriage can be between only one man and one woman. Moreover, this relationship doesn’t start and then stop. It is a relationship “until death do us part.”

Total Self-Giving LoveGod’s love is total and self-giving. God gives all of Himself to us. He holds nothing back. He loved us so much that He became man in the person of Jesus Christ and gave all that He had, His very life, for us on the Cross.

These Scripture passages attest to God’s total self-giving love:

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Philippians 2:7-8 — Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

John 3:16 — For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

Marital love is also total and self-giving. The bond of love given and received in marriage cannot be broken. The Blessed Trinity reveals that love means to give oneself to others. But we also know that sin has harmed our ability to love. So, to love truly in this fallen world will involve sacrifice. It will involve working against our tendency to be selfish and unfaithful. Because of our sinfulness, loving will also mean forgiving and asking for forgiveness when we do wrong. It involves both spouses sharing every aspect of their lives with each other. Because it is a total gift of self, the bond of marriage is therefore indissoluble and permanent. As Jesus explains, “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Everything that God creates is good, including the union of man and woman in marriage.

Fruitful LoveGod’s love is fruitful. God is the Creator of all things, and He holds all things in continued existence solely because He loves us. He is love itself, and the eternal love shared between the Father and the Son eternally produces a third Person, the Holy Spirit.

These Scripture passages attest to God’s fruitful love:

John 1:3-5 — All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Genesis 1:31 — God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.

Marital love must also be fruitful. The sexual union of male and female, in cooperation with God’s divine plan, results in the procreation of children. This is the natural result of the love shared between spouses. A husband and wife create a special world, in imitation of the Blessed Trinity. In the home, in their arms and under their loving, watchful eyes, husband and wife create the first world their children will ever know. The Catechism puts it this way: “And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation...” (CCC 1604). Father and mother watch over, support, provide for, and shepherd their children to prepare them for adult life and an eternity in heaven. Therefore, anything that intentionally interrupts or prevents this natural fruit of marriage is contrary to God’s design and is seriously sinful. Some spouses are unable to have children, but this does not mean that their marriage cannot be fruitful. They are called to bear fruit in their union in other ways, such as through adoption, or devoting their lives to serving others.

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Answer KeyHandout A: Marriage in Salvation History 1. There is a complementarity between men and women. In other words, the differences

between men and women complete or make more perfect the other.

2. The union of man and woman in marriage makes visible to us God’s very life as Trinity.

3. The first marriage.

4. A wedding feast — the wedding feast of the Lamb.

5. Heaven is the wedding feast of the Lamb, Jesus, who is united to His bride, the Church for all eternity.

6. Every time we receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus.

7. With a miracle at the wedding at Cana.

8. The goodness of God’s plan for marriage.

9. That marriage is an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence to the world.

10. Because the love of husband and wife shine forth the love of Christ for His Church.

11. A proper understanding of marriage unlocks the mystery of God, human nature, and our redemption from sin.

Handouts B and D: Marriage Pre- and Post-Assessments1. True

2. False

3. False

4. True

5. True

6. False

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UNIT 4, LESSON 6

UNIT 4, LESSON 6


ӹ CCC 1643-1654

ӹ CCC 2332

ӹ CCC 2337

ӹ CCC 2352-2353

ӹ CCC 2380-2381

Vocabulary ӹ Chastity

ӹ Purposes of Marriage

ӹ Goods of Marriage

ӹ Adultery

ӹ Fornication

ӹ Masturbation

ӹ Homosexuality

Learning Goals ӹ While each person is called to

cultivate chastity according to his or her state of life, there are clear offenses against chastity and married love that are true for everyone.

ӹ The Church’s teachings on sexual sin logically and faithfully follow the truths of human sexuality.

ӹ The sins of adultery, fornication, masturbation, and homosexual activity offend the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage and diminish the goods of marital love.

Offenses against Chastity and Marital Love, Part 1

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20

“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” [His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

MATTHEW 19:9-12

Chastity Strand


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Materials ӹ Handout A: Offenses

against Chastity and Married Love — Extramarital Sexual Activity

ӹ Handout B: Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Homosexual Activity

ӹ Teacher Resource A: Essential Truths of Human Sexuality Cards

ӹ Teacher Resource B: Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Transgenderism

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______________________ DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Ask your students to define chastity. The successful

integration of sexuality within us that requires us to manage our feelings and our bodies together in the way that God intended. In other words, self-control of our bodies and our sexual feelings.

B. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 2348 and 2349, and read them aloud to your students:

2348: All the baptized are called to chastity. The Christian has “put on Christ,” the model for all chastity. All Christ’s faithful are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states of life. At the moment of his Baptism, the Christian is pledged to lead his affective life in chastity.

2349: “People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law, whether they are married or single.” Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practice chastity in continence (withholding one’s bodily functions).


ӹ Who is called to chastity? Everyone! All of the baptized.

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ӹ Clarify by asking: Does that mean married people are called to chastity, just like single people? Yes! No matter your state in life, you are called to be chaste.

ӹ Who is the model for all chastity? Jesus. At our Baptism, we “put on Christ,” and we strive to lead a chaste life.

ӹ Is chastity for someone who is married different from chastity for someone who is single? Yes. We are called to cultivate chastity in the way that is suited to our individual states of life.

D. Explain to your students that while each is called to cultivate chastity according to his or her state of life, there are clear offenses against chastity and married love that are true for everyone. We have thus far explored the meaning of human sexuality and its ideal. In the next five lessons we are going to examine specific offenses against chastity and married love that diminish the meaning of human sexuality and disrespect the dignity of both men and women. First, let’s review where we’ve been and be sure that we have built a firm foundation from which to move forward.

ActivityA. In advance, copy and cut out the cards from Teacher Resource A: Essential Truths of

Human Sexuality Cards, enough for one set per group of three or four students.

B. Arrange your students in groups of three or four. Distribute a set of Essential Truths of Human Sexuality cards to each group. Have each group work together to read each card and then rewrite each “essential truth” in the space provided in their own words. Then have each group record two or three things that they learned about each essential truth. Circulate around the room to observe discussions and assist as needed.

Formative Assessment When students have finished, call on groups to share with the class their rewrites and what they learned about the essential truths.

Special note: Explain to your students that over the next few days, we will be discussing some sensitive topics related to human sexuality. In no way are these lessons meant to hurt or condemn anyone. Rather, they are meant to educate and inform, and bring into the light of God’s grace certain sexual sins that are prevalent in our culture and that are especially tempting. Ultimately, the Church’s teachings on human sexuality that we will be discussing are what logically and faithfully follow from these six essential truths that we accept.

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DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Ask your students the following questions. Write the correct answers on the board as

they respond:

ӹ What are the two purposes of marriage? The unitive purpose and the procreative purpose.

ӹ How do we define each of the purposes of marriage? The unitive purpose — the good of the couple; the procreative purpose — the generation (procreation) and education of children.

ӹ What are the four “goods of marriage” by which the spouses reflect the love of God? Love freely given, faithful love, total self-giving love, and fruitful love.

B. Have your students, with a neighbor, briefly respond to the following prompts. Then call on a few students to share each answer:

ӹ What does free mean? Give an example from the Trinity, Christ’s life, or another attribute of God . Answers will vary.

ӹ What does faithful mean? Give an example from the Trinity, Christ’s life, or another attribute of God. Answers will vary.

ӹ What does fruitful mean? Give an example from the Trinity, Christ’s life, or another attribute of God. Answers will vary.

ӹ What does total self-giving mean? Give an example from the Trinity, Christ’s life, or another attribute of God. Answers will vary.

C. Ask your students which of the purposes of marriage each of the goods of marriage corresponds to. The unitive purpose: Free, faithful, total self-giving love. Explain that the love shared between spouses unites them as “one body” when the marriage union is freely entered into, is faithful, and is a total gift of self. The procreative purpose: Fruitful love. Explain that marital love is meant to be fruitful, to be life-giving and open to procreation.

D. Explain to your students that as they begin to consider different offenses against chastity and married love, it is important to keep in mind the two purposes of marriage and the goods of marriage. These truths will provide the framework from which to understand why these offenses against chastity and married love are disordered.


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ActivityA. Distribute to each student Handout A: Offenses against Chastity and Married

Love — Extramarital Sexual Activity. Have your students read each description and then describe in the space provided how each is an offense against chastity and married love. Students should use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage as the starting point of their argument. For example, students should describe how adultery offends the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage. Encourage students to consider the goods of marriage (free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful love) as they formulate their descriptions.

B. When students have finished, call on students to share their answers. Discuss the correct answers with your class and allow students the opportunity to ask questions. Encourage an atmosphere of openness and trust so that students feel comfortable voicing their questions.

C. Alternate activity option: Rather than have students work individually, due to the subject matter of the lesson, you may choose to read the descriptions from Handout A together as a class and discuss together how each is an offense against chastity and married love. This option would also allow for students to ask questions throughout the activity.

Formative Assessment A. Have students, on their own paper, without putting their names on it, respond to the

following prompts:

ӹ Something that made sense to me from today’s lesson was…

ӹ One thing that confused me about today’s lesson was…

B. Collect the written responses for your review.

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DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. Create a prayerful atmosphere in your classroom. Project the following lyrics from the

chorus of the song “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher:

Lord, I need you Oh, I need you. Every hour I need you You’re my one defense My righteousness Oh God, how I need you.

B. Explain to your students that practicing chastity and resisting sexual temptation and sin can be difficult. In fact, without God, overcoming all temptation and sin is impossible. But, in God’s infinite mercy, He will always forgive us when we fall and, by His grace, especially the grace received in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist, we can seek purity and resist temptation.

C. Together with your class, recite aloud the lyrics to chorus of “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher. Invite your students to make this a prayer, recognizing that we need God in our lives to be holy.

D. Play the song “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher, found at the following link: YouTube.com/watch?v=LuvfMDhTyMA. Encourage your students to reflect on the words of the song as they listen and sing along with the song at the chorus.

ActivityA. Choose a few of the “One thing that confused me…” responses from the previous

lesson’s assessment to read aloud anonymously and address/clarify them with the entire class.

B. Distribute to each student Handout B: Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Homosexual Activity. Have your students read each description and then describe in the space provided how each is an offense against chastity and married love. Students should use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage as the starting point of their argument. For example, students should describe how homosexuality offends the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage. Encourage students to


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consider the goods of marriage (free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful love) as they formulate their descriptions.

C. When students have finished, call on students to share their answers. Discuss the correct answers with your class and allow students the opportunity to ask questions. Encourage an atmosphere of openness and trust so that students feel comfortable voicing their questions.

D. Alternate activity option: Rather than have students work individually, due to the subject matter of the lesson, you may choose to read the descriptions from Handout C together as a class and discuss together how each is an offense against chastity and married love. This option would also allow for students to ask questions throughout the activity.

Note: Included at the end of this lesson is Teacher Resource B: Offenses Against Chastity and Married Love — Transgenderism. This topic is increasingly relevant in our current culture, however, it is not directly addressed in the Archdiocesan standards nor in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This handout is included for you to use with your students at your own discretion.

AssessmentA. Have students, on their own paper, without putting their names on it, respond to the

following prompts:




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HANDOUT A

Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Extramarital Sexual Activity

Directions: Read the following descriptions of offenses against chastity and married love. Then describe in your own words how each is an offense against chastity and married love. Use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage (and their corresponding goods of married love) as the starting point of your argument.

Extramarital Sexual ActivityExtramarital sexual activity refers to any sexual activity that takes place outside of the context of marriage, such as adultery, premarital sex (fornication), and masturbation. All are gravely sinful. They are offenses against the dignity of the human person, both men and women, and disrespect the marital union of one man and one woman.

Adultery is the unfaithfulness of at least one spouse in a marriage. Adultery occurs whenever two partners, of whom at least one is married to another person, have sexual relations. Jesus directly condemns adultery in Scripture. A person who commits adultery fails in his commitment to his spouse and withholds something of his love and gift of self from his spouse for another person. Adultery also typically is opposed to the generation of children and upsets the family setting, on which the welfare of children depends.

Unitive (Free, Faithful, Total Self-Giving Love):

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Procreative (Fruitful Love):

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Premarital sex, or fornication, is sexual relations between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. Premarital sex speaks the “language” of married love without the commitment of marriage. Therefore, fornication falls short of the intended purpose of marital love and harms human dignity. Regardless of how much the partners might profess their love for one another, premarital sex is always selfish and self-serving because of the lack of the commitment to total self-giving, including one’s fertility. Thus, those engaging in premarital sex typically do not desire children, and so premarital sex is closed to the fruitfulness of sexual love.


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Masturbation is the deliberate stimulation of one’s own genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. Masturbation is gravely disordered because it removes the sexual act from the context of a relationship with another person. Therefore, it is fundamentally self-serving and solely pursues one’s own selfish pleasure. Masturbation is entirely removed from the purposes and goods of marital love to be a gift of self to another and for the procreation of children. It is important to note that masturbation is highly addictive. This fact, combined with other psychological and maturity-related factors, may reduce one’s moral responsibility for the action.


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HANDOUT B

Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Homosexual Activity

Directions: Read the following description of the offense against chastity and married love. Then, after the offense, describe in your own words it is an offense against chastity and married love. Use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage (and their corresponding goods of married love) as the starting point of your argument.

Homosexual ActivityGod made each of us male or female in His image and likeness. Scripture tells us that everything God makes is good, including our bodies. Christians have believed this essential truth from the very beginning. Throughout the centuries, and even today, there are some who have believed that our mind and spirit, thoughts and feelings were more important than our bodies. They concluded that if we think or feel a certain way, we should be able to force our bodies to match our desire. This point of view is contrary to God’s design of the human person.

Homosexual activity refers to sexual relations between two persons of the same sex. For many of the same reasons extramarital sexual activity is an offense against chastity and married love, homosexual activity is also gravely disordered. Sexual relations between two persons of the same sex are always closed to the possibility of generation of children. Further, homosexual acts do not originate from the complementarity of the male and female bodies and sexuality. Therefore, homosexual acts can never be full expressions of the total self-giving love found in marriage.

A proper understanding of homosexuality is particularly challenging to accept in our current cultural climate. Popular opinion fueled by emotion rather than reason, general misunderstanding, and recent legal decisions have all led to a certain acceptance of homosexuality as a new norm. Persons who experience homosexual attraction are called to chastity just as those who experience heterosexual attraction are. And just as heterosexual attractions can pose certain challenges at various stages in life, homosexual attraction can present a burden to those who experience it. This does not, however, change the truths about sexual love and the call to chastity of every person. Those who experience homosexual attraction must be lovingly accepted as persons created in God’s image with the same dignity as any other person. Through prayer, friendship, and sacramental grace, those who experience homosexual attraction are called to uphold the same standard of love and chastity in their particular state in life as all Christians are.

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TEACHER RESOURCE A

Essential Truths of Human Sexuality Cards

Directions: Copy and cut out the cards below, enough to give one set to each group of three or four students in your class.

1.

Human beings are made in the image of God, the Blessed

Trinity, who is love.

Rewrite in your own words:

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Two or three things you learned:

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2.

God calls us to love as He loves. Through our

bodies as male and female, we have the

capacity to respond to this calling, to be a self-gift to another, and to make the God of love visible to the world.


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3.

Human sexuality, including sexual feelings, have the

purpose of moving us in the direction of

marriage between one man and one woman. Sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman

disrespects the dignity of both persons, who are

made in God’s image.


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4.

Chastity is the successful integration of sexuality within us that requires us to manage our feelings and our

bodies together in the way that God intended.


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5.

Marriage is the Sacrament in which one

man and one woman are united in a free, faithful, fruitful, and

total self-giving union.


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6.

The unitive and procreative purposes of marriage are essential for a marriage to be a

marriage. Anything that prevents or diminishes

these purposes is contrary to God’s plan for marriage.


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TEACHER RESOURCE B

Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Transgenderism

Directions: Read the following description of the offense against chastity and married love. Then, after the offense, describe in your own words it is an offense against chastity and married love. Use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage (and their corresponding goods of married love) as the starting point of your argument.

Transgenderism is a broad way of describing persons who struggle with a confused sense of sexual identity. Although a tiny minority of people are born with chromosomal abnormalities, we are all either male or female in our DNA. This includes those born male or female who, for some unknown physiological or psychological reason, believe they are experiencing their identity as a person of the opposite sex. This belief can result in severe psychological confusion and pain for the person, as well as for the person’s family and friends.

Recall that sexuality refers not only to our physical, psychological, and emotional characteristics as male and female, but also our attitudes and our need for love and friendship. And our bodies are not just empty shells that house our souls, as some believe, but are God-given temples of the Holy Spirit that are an essential part of human nature. Because of this, it is impossible to redefine sexual identity and gender as we see fit. To attempt do so is to disregard entirely the order of love that God calls us to image. There can be no complementarity of the sexes or self-giving love made visible through our bodies if there is no true masculinity or femininity.

Those who experience confusion about their gender identity are no less made in God’s image and no less deserving of being treated with the same dignity of person as anyone else. As Christians, we must pray for peace in their unique struggles and support them with Christian charity, all the while upholding the truth of God’s plan for life and love.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 7

UNIT 4, LESSON 7


ӹ CCC 2270-2275

ӹ CCC 2354-2356

ӹ CCC 2366-2372

Vocabulary ӹ Pornography

ӹ Prostitution

ӹ Rape

ӹ Contraception

ӹ Abortion

Learning Goals ӹ While each person is called to cultivate

chastity according to his or her state of life, there are clear offenses against chastity and married love that are true for everyone.

ӹ The Church’s teachings on sexual sin logically and faithfully follow the truths of human sexuality.

ӹ The sins of pornography, prostitution, rape, the use of contraception, and abortion offend the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage and diminish the goods of marital love.

Offenses against Chastity and Marital Love, Part 2

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

LUKE 1 :38

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

LUKE 1 :41-42


Chastity Strand

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Materials ӹ Handout A: Offenses

against Chastity and Married Love — Pornography, Prostitution, and Rape

ӹ Handout B: The Annunciation

ӹ Handout C: Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Contraception

ӹ Handout D: Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Abortion

ӹ Handout E: A Rosary for Life: The Joyful Mysteries

My Notes______________________

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Lesson Plan

DAY ONE

Warm-UpHave your students, with a partner, create a list of reasons why it is difficult to live out God’s plan for human sexuality in our lives today. When they have had enough time to create a sufficient list, call on student to share and explain some of their reasons. Answers may include what they see on TV or on the Internet, the example of friends or family members, not knowing the true teachings of the Church, peer pressure, and so forth. Accept reasoned answers.

ActivityA. Distribute to each student Handout A: Offenses

against Chastity and Married Love — Pornography, Prostitution, and Rape. Have your students read each description and then describe in the space provided how each is an offense against chastity and married love. Students should use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage as the starting point of their argument. For example, students should describe how pornography offends the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage. Encourage students to consider the goods of marriage (free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful love) as they formulate their descriptions.

B. When they have finished, call on students to share their answers. Discuss the correct answers with your class, and allow students the opportunity to ask questions. Encourage an atmosphere of openness and trust so that students feel comfortable voicing their questions.

C. Alternate activity option: Rather than have students work individually, due to the subject matter of the

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UNIT 4, LESSON 7

lesson, you may choose to read the descriptions from Handout A together as a class and discuss together how each is an offense against chastity and married love. This option would also allow for students to ask questions throughout the activity.

Formative Assessment A. Have students, on their own paper, without putting their names on it, respond to the

following prompts:




DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Project an image of the photograph on Handout B: The Annunciation by Botticelli. Give

students several minutes to quietly view the art before you say or ask anything. Allow them to come up and stand closer to the image to examine details.

B. Once several minutes have passed, ask students:

ӹ What do you first notice about this work of art?

ӹ What do you like about this work of art?

ӹ How does this work of art make you feel?

ӹ Where is your eye drawn?

ӹ What is happening in this picture? The angel Gabriel is announcing to Mary that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, she will conceive the Son of God within her womb.

C. Project Luke 1:26-38, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

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and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.


ӹ What do you think the ray of light in the middle of the painting represents? The Holy Spirit. It is moving toward Mary and is almost touching her. This would appear to be the moment before the conception of Jesus.

ӹ What does Mary’s posture indicate about her? She appears to be bowing in obedience or submission to the Father’s will. Perhaps she is even speaking the words, “May it be done to me according to your word.”

ActivityA. Choose a few of the “One thing that confused me…” responses from the previous


B. Distribute to each student Handout C: Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Contraception. Have your students read the description and then describe in the space provided how contraception is an offense against chastity and married love. Students should use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage as the starting point of their argument. Encourage students to consider the goods of marriage (free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful love) as they formulate their description.

C. When they have finished, call on students to share their answers. Discuss the correct answers with your class and allow students the opportunity to ask questions. Encourage an atmosphere of openness and trust so that students feel comfortable voicing their questions.

D. Alternate activity option: Rather than have students work individually, due to the subject matter of the lesson, you may choose to read the description from Handout C together as a class and discuss together how contraception is an offense against


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UNIT 4, LESSON 7

chastity and married love. This option would also allow for students to ask questions throughout the activity.

Formative Assessment A. Project again the image of The Annunciation by Botticelli from Handout B. Ask your

students what Mary’s example can show us about accepting the gift of children as the fruit of married love. Mary submits herself to the will of the Father without doing anything that would prevent His will from occurring.

B. Have students, on their own paper, without putting their names on it, respond to the following prompts:



C. Collect the written responses for your review.

DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. Project Luke 1:39-45, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”


ӹ Where did Mary travel to, and whom did she visit? Mary traveled to a town of Judah to visit Elizabeth and Zechariah.

ӹ What happened when Mary greeted Elizabeth? Elizabeth’s unborn infant, John, leaped in her womb.

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ӹ How does Elizabeth greet Mary? What common Catholic prayer have these words become part of? “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” These words are part of the Hail Mary.

ӹ What do Elizabeth’s words to Mary indicate that she believed about the child in Mary’s womb? Elizabeth’s words indicate that she believed that Mary’s child was the Son of God, the Messiah.

ӹ Was this a joyful meeting between Mary and Elizabeth? Why do you think so? This seemed like a joyful meeting. The fact that Elizabeth’s unborn child leaped in her womb and the tone of her greeting to Mary support this.

ӹ What do you think this Gospel story tells us about the gift of children? Answers will vary. Explain to your students that earlier in this chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we are told that Elizabeth was barren, meaning she could not have children, and was now too old. Her faith, and the faith and prayers of her husband resulted in a miraculous pregnancy. Her child would be John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus. This Gospel tells us that the gift of children should bring joy to our lives. New life should be celebrated and valued, as we see Mary journey to share Elizabeth’s joy over her pregnancy and to share her own good news of becoming pregnant with the Son of God. We can understand that each new pregnancy is, in a way, a miracle of God. It is a cooperation with His grace and love on the part of spouses, through the love they share and in submission to God’s will for us.

Activity A. Choose a few of the “One thing that confused me…” responses from the previous


B. Distribute to each student Handout D: Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Abortion. Have your students read the description and then describe in the space provided how abortion is an offense against chastity and married love. Students should use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage as the starting point of their argument. Encourage students to consider the goods of marriage (free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful love) as they formulate their description.

C. When they have finished, call on students to share their answers. Discuss the correct answers with your class and allow students the opportunity to ask questions. Encourage an atmosphere of openness and trust so that students feel comfortable voicing their questions.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 7

D. Alternate activity option: Rather than have students work individually, due to the subject matter of the lesson, you may choose to read the description from Handout D together as a class and discuss together how abortion is an offense against chastity and married love. This option would also allow for students to ask questions throughout the activity.

AssessmentA. Distribute to your students copies of Handout E: A Rosary for Life: The Joyful

Mysteries, taken from USCCB.org.

B. Select five student readers (to read the Scripture passages before each mystery) and five leaders (to lead the Rosary prayers). Then pray the Rosary for Life: The Joyful Mysteries together with your students. Explain before entering into this time of prayer that Mary is not only Jesus’ Mother, but also our Mother. She cares for each of us, born and unborn, in the same way that any mother cares for her children. Therefore, it is fitting and appropriate that we bring the cause of the defense of the unborn to her in prayer so that she might intercede for us, for all of the unborn, and for all new parents.

C. Alternative assessment: If time is a factor, pray only one mystery of the Rosary for Life: The Joyful Mysteries. Or, pray one mystery a day for a week to complete the Rosary.

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HANDOUT A

Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Pornography, Prostitution, and Rape

Directions: Read the following descriptions of offenses against chastity and married love. Then describe in your own words how each is an offense against chastity and married love. Use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage (and their corresponding goods of married love) as the starting point of your argument.

Pornography, Prostitution, and RapeSome offenses against chastity and the goods of marital love are particularly violent toward the dignity of the human person. In the cases of pornography and prostitution, the person is reduced to a mere object of sexual pleasure. In the case of rape, unjust sexual violence is committed that gravely injures the respect, freedom, and physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right. In all of these offenses, Christians must uphold the moral teaching of the Church and reject all that mocks and degrades women and men and exploits sex for pleasure, profit, or power.

Pornography refers to any material (print, video, or written) that portrays sexual acts for third parties for the purpose of sexual arousal. Pornography removes the sexual act from the intimacy of a personal relationship and perverts it. Therefore, pornography is an offense against chastity and marital love because it removes any opportunity for self-giving love and replaces it with the selfish pursuit of pleasure. All involved in pornography — the actors, distributors, and the public — are reduced to objects of pleasure and profit. The actors in pornographic material are no longer seen as human persons and are made into objects of pleasure. Pope St. John Paul II explained, “There is no dignity when the human dimension is eliminated from the person. In short, the problem with pornography is not that it shows too much of the person, but that it shows far too little.” This objectification gravely harms the dignity of those persons. Often the actors are subjected to physical and sexual violence. Those who create, distribute, and sell pornography are guilty of profiting from the objectification of others and of encouraging others to sin. Those who purchase or view pornography create a false fantasy world that distorts the goods of sexuality and marital love and reduces sex to a mere instrument of sexual pleasure. Further, viewing pornography often leads to other sexual sins, such as masturbation, and can become addictive. All aspects of pornography are gravely sinful.

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Prostitution occurs when a person buys or sells sex. This is a grave perversion of sexuality that harms the dignity of those who engage in it. Prostitution, like pornography, reduces the human person to an object of sexual pleasure. The person who pays violates his own chastity and degrades the dignity of the other person. Prostitution leads to a cycle of sin in which the person selling his or her body is often subjected to other physical and sexual violence. The buying or selling of sex removes the sexual act from a loving relationship, and can never be a self-giving act. Thus, prostitution reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a thing that is bought and sold. It is always sinful.


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Rape is a form of sexual violence. It is always gravely sinful because it is the forced sexual violation of one person by another. It unjustly removes the sexual act from a free, giving, loving relationship and violently harms the dignity and respect of the human person. Victims of rape are in no way morally responsible for the violence committed against them and are often deeply affected for life. Rape is an offense against freedom and degrades all that is good and beautiful about sexuality.


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HANDOUT B

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland.


The AnnunciationBY BOTTICELLI (C. 1490)

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HANDOUT C

Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Contraception

Directions: Read the following description. Then describe in your own words how contraception is an offense against chastity and married love. Use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage (and their corresponding goods of married love) as the starting point of your argument.

ContraceptionContraception refers to any action that “whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible” (CCC 2370) — in other words, any action taken by a man and woman engaging in sexual relations that actively and intentionally is contrary to conception, or prevents the conception of a child. This includes the use of condoms, artificial birth control (pills, implants, shots, and patches), interrupting the sexual act, or any other action or device that closes the sexual relationship to the gift of life. Contraceptive acts are intrinsically evil even if chosen for reasons that seem good.

Openness to the gift of life is one of the two fundamental purposes of marital love. Thus, anything that intentionally separates the sexual act from this purpose falls short of the self-giving love that God calls men and women to image in marriage. Recall that the love shared between a husband and wife is an icon of the Trinity. That is, it is a sign of the self-giving love given and received between the Father and Son that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from. The love that is God is productive. Thus, the love of husband and wife is meant to be re-productive, to be open to the generation of children.

There are many forces in our culture that seek to promote the use of contraception as normal and healthy in sexual relationships. They incorrectly reason that if a sexual relationship can satisfy one’s personal feelings and desire for pleasure outside of the commitment of marriage, then one should practice “safe sex” by using contraceptives to avoid pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. The problem with this reasoning is that the sexual relationship has been completely removed from its God-given purpose; it is no longer self-giving, but rather self-serving. It is a lie to think that two people who believe they are in love should be able to have sex as an expression of their love without getting married or having children. This expression of “love” is not really love at all. Rather than being a total, free gift of self, it communicates to the other person, “I feel like I love you, but I am unwilling to commit to you,” and “I feel like I love you, but I am withholding my fertility

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from you.” The use of contraceptives encourages this damaging attitude toward sexuality. It has even led some to use abortion — killing an unborn baby in his or her mother’s womb — as a form of “birth control.”

There may be good and serious reasons for a married couple to want to space the births of their children. Spouses, however, have the responsibility of ensuring that these are not selfish reasons. There are natural and responsible forms of regulating fertility that are available to married couples that do not close off the potential for procreation and that respect the natural fertility rhythms of the human body. This is called natural family planning.


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HANDOUT D

Offenses against Chastity and Married Love — Abortion

Directions: Read the following descriptions. Then describe in your own words how abortion is an offense against chastity and married love. Use the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage (and their corresponding goods of married love) as the starting point of your argument.

AbortionAbortion is the direct and intentional termination of a pregnancy. This termination results in the death of an innocent unborn child. There are different reasons a woman might want to have an abortion. For example, she might be worried that the father doesn’t want her to have the baby. Her baby might have a birth defect or another prenatal diagnosis. The pregnancy might be the result of rape or incest. Being pregnant might present a danger to her health. Or she just might not want to have the baby.

Life is the most fundamental right of a human being. From the moment of conception, the right to life must be recognized and protected by all of society. Babies in the womb have the same dignity and right to life as all human persons. But unlike grown people, babies in the womb cannot defend themselves. They have no voice and are completely vulnerable. Therefore, we must give the unborn special protection in order to guarantee their right to life.

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, the Catholic Church has always believed that abortion is always gravely contrary to the moral law. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. The most serious offense of abortion is a violation of the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” Abortion is the murder of an innocent human life. Those who formally cooperate in an abortion automatically excommunicate themselves from the Church. This means that such persons are excluded from membership in the Church and are unable to take part in the sacraments. This consequence is not meant to reduce the power of God’s mercy. Rather, it is meant to show us how serious a sin abortion is. God’s mercy is infinite. Those who cooperate in abortion can be welcomed back into the Church — their sin can be forgiven and the excommunication removed — if they truly repent of their sins and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

In addition to a violation of the Fifth Commandment, abortion is a serious offense against the goods of marital love. Marital love is fruitful — that is, open to the gift of new life. An abortion destroys the new life that results from the sexual act and is a complete rejection

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of the life-giving goodness of marital love. Anyone who cooperates in an abortion rejects not only God’s plan for marital love but also the fundamental dignity of the human person, who is made in God’s image. For such a person, love has become a selfish choice, and human life has become a disposable means to an end.

In 1973, the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade legalized abortion across the United States. Since then, nearly sixty million unborn children have been killed. Sadly, vulnerable populations, such as poor and minority women, are much more likely than other women to obtain an abortion. Abortion providers target these populations in order to profit from their vulnerability by locating 80 percent of their clinics in poor and minority neighborhoods. Women who are considering abortion need our support, compassion, and prayers to help them see why abortion is wrong and that they have other options. We have a responsibility as Christians to work and pray for a just society that respects the life of all people, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.


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HANDOUT E

A Rosary for Life: The Joyful Mysteries

The First Joyful MysteryTHE ANNUNCIATION OF OUR LORD

Reader 1: The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to

her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-33, 38)

Leader: As an angel proclaimed the conception of Christ in Mary’s virginal womb, so do mothers and fathers learn every day of the conception of their child. Let us pray to the Mother of all the Living that every child be treasured and protected from the first moment of conception as an inestimable and wondrous gift of God.

All: Our Father...

Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: inspire the hearts of all newly pregnant women with the joy of which you sang at the Annunciation...

All: Hail Mary, full of grace...

Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: deliver all parents from fear, and implant in their hearts a joyful hope...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: pray that joy may embrace the lives of all expectant parents...


The following meditations on the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary were taken from USCCB.org.

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Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: pray for grandparents, that the witness of their joy might be a source of strength to their expectant children...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: be with all new parents, that the miracle of new life silently growing in the womb will awaken in them a commitment to cherish and protect their child...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: pray that all might be inspired by the wonder of new life and embrace God’s overwhelming gift...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: watch over all new parents with your maternal care, from the first moments of new life...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: rejoice with the mother who first feels the stirring of the child in her womb...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: intercede for all parents who long to carry a child in their arms...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Bless adoptive parents and rejoice with them in the beauty of their child...


All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

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The Second Joyful MysteryTHE VISITATION

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your

womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:39-45)

Leader: As the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy when the Blessed Virgin, pregnant with the Son of God, came to meet her, so may our hearts leap with joy at the wonders of new life promised in every expectant mother.

All: Our Father...

Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Inspire us to rejoice with all expectant parents and to support them with our prayers...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Comfort expectant fathers when they are afraid...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Share your courage with all women who fear the coming birth of their child...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Be close to all expectant mothers, as they bear the child of their womb...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Give us the joy of Saint Elizabeth and her son whenever we meet the miracle of new life...

All: Hail Mary, full of grace ...

Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Pray that all our laws may protect and defend the innocent life which lives within each mother’s womb...


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Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Give courage by your example to those who greet the news of their pregnancy with fear...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Teach us to support all expectant parents and to increase their joy in the miracle of God’s work within them...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Ask that God gives us the wisdom to support those tempted to abort their child’s life...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Inspire even those who perform abortions with the truth of him whom you bore in your womb...



The Third Joyful MysteryTHE NATIVITY OF JESUS

While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory

of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2: 6-12)

Leader: In the birth of every child we see the birth of Christ Jesus in the Bethlehem stable. Let us commend all new mothers and fathers and every newborn child to the protection and intercession of the Mother of God and Mother of all Christians.

All: Our Father...

Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Come swiftly to the aid of all who labor in distress...

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Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Give your own courage to mothers who are alone or abandoned...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Implant within the hearts of all grandparents the wonder known by the shepherds at the birth of your Son...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: pray for those who assist with the labor which brings new life: for skill and compassion...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Help us to welcome the gift of new life, as you welcomed the birth of your Son...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Strengthen the joy of all men and women who behold the wonder of new life...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Let the face of the newborn child proclaim the Gospel of Life...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Guide the hands and hearts of obstetricians in their holy work...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: help us to proclaim the Gospel of Life in our care for each newborn child...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: be present at the moment of birth to share in our joy...



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The Fourth Joyful MysteryTHE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus

to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-32)

Leader: As Christ was consecrated to God at his presentation in the temple, so many we consecrate all children to that holiness, purity, and innocence by which they lead us to God. “A little child shall lead them.”

All: Our Father...

Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: watch over every child and keep them safe and close to your Son...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Inspire all mothers to care for their children, as you cared for the child Jesus...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Be with all fathers of newborn babies that they might glory in the wonder of new life...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Gently guide new parents as they lead their little ones to your Son...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Pray for the toddler who, like your Son, reaches out in hope to a brand new world...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Hold close to your immaculate heart the innocence and joy of each little child...


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Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Be a model of maternal love for those who need you the most...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Bless with your presence the room of each little child...

All: Hail Mary, full of grace ...

Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Welcome home to heaven the soul of the miscarried child...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Rejoice with us, as you did with Saint Joseph, at the first steps and first words of every child...



The Fifth Joyful MysteryTHE FINDING IN THE TEMPLE

Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives

and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. (Luke 2:41-50)

Leader: As the Christ Child was found in the temple by the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, so we pray for all children, especially those lost and forgotten. May the Gospel of Life impel us to find them when they are most in need and to lead them home to a place where they are treasured, protected, and loved.

All: Our Father...

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Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Bring joy to the lives of children who are abused in body or mind...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Deliver the abusive adult from the evil of their actions...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Guide those who work to find children who are lost...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Pray for all children unwanted or abandoned, and lead them home...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Be with parents unable to care for their children: teach them patience and holiness...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Teach young parents to treasure their child as you loved the Child Jesus...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Pray for doctors who have abandoned the practice of the faith: lead them home to your Son...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Intercede with your son for all who perform abortions that they may be freed from a blindness to the evil of their actions...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Inspire all legislators by your love for us, that they might work for the protection of life...


Leader: Holy Mary, Mother of Joy: Guide, by your holy example, all who seek to lead us and lead them to a love for the Gospel of Life...



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UNIT 4, LESSON 8

UNIT 4, LESSON 8


ӹ CCC 609

ӹ CCC 1878-1879

ӹ CCC 2347

ӹ CCC 2351

Vocabulary ӹ Friendship

ӹ Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship

ӹ Lust

Learning Goals ӹ Friendship is a relationship between

two or more people brought together for a common reason or purpose.

ӹ The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship and shows us how to follow and imitate Christ.

ӹ Aristotle described three types of friendship that can help deepen our understanding of friendship and love: friendship of utility, friendship of pleasure, and friendship of the good.

ӹ Lust is the disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.

Growing in Sexual Maturity: Friendship and Protecting against Lust

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

JOHN 15:11-13

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

MATTHEW 5:27-28


Chastity Strand

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Materials ӹ Handout A: My Best

Friend

ӹ Handout B: Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship

ӹ Handout C: Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship Matching

ӹ Handout D: Relationship Rules

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Lesson Plan

DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Write the word friendship on the board. Ask your

students to define what friendship is. Accept reasoned answers. Ultimately, help your students understand that friendship is a relationship between two or more people brought together for a common reason or purpose.

B. Explain to your students that although we have up to now been discussing marital relationships and sexuality, marriage and dating relationships are fundamentally friendships. It is in friendships that we first learn to love and respect others and to receive love and respect from others. This is particularly true of adolescents. In fact, it is appropriate for adolescents to foster the love expressed in friendship as good preparation for the intimate sharing of life and love in marriage. As we’ve learned, sexual activity is morally wrong outside of the context of marriage. Thus, sexual activity is inappropriate for adolescents. True love requires us to respect this fact. Saying no to sexual intercourse before marriage will not lessen genuine love, but will help that love blossom into the commitment of marriage. Adolescents should focus on developing good, holy friendships with both boys and girls. In this lesson, we are going to consider the true meaning of friendship and how friendship can help us grow and mature in our understanding of chastity and true love.

C. Project Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2347, and read it aloud to your students:

The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate him

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UNIT 4, LESSON 8

who has chosen us as his friends, who has given himself totally to us and allows us to participate in his divine estate. Chastity is a promise of immortality.

Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one’s neighbor. Whether it develops between persons of the same or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all. It leads to spiritual communion.


ӹ What does the virtue of chastity show a disciple of Christ? How to follow and imitate Him (who has chosen us as His friends, given Himself totally to us, and allows us to participate in His divine life).

ӹ What, then, is chastity really a promise of? Immortality.

ӹ What does friendship with one’s neighbor represent? What does it lead to? A great good for all that leads to spiritual communion.

ActivityA. Distribute Handout A: My Best Friend to each student. Have your students, working

individually, respond to questions 1 through 4 in the space provided.

B. When they have finished, have students share their answers with a neighbor. After they have finished sharing, have each pair create a list of 5 to 10 characteristics of a good friendship and 5 to 10 characteristics of an unhealthy friendship. Then create a T-chart on the board. Label one side “Good Friendships” and the other side” Unhealthy Friendships.” Call on pairs to share and explain some of the characteristics from their lists. Keep a master list for each category on the board. Encourage your students as they share to engage in a discussion about what makes a good, healthy friendship.

C. Explain to your students that it is clear from what we have been studying that human beings were created to be social beings. God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” So, where there was one human being, God made two, and everything that God makes is good. Thus, the social nature of man is inherently good. We are made to be in relationship with each other and called to love as God loves. We have primarily been exploring what this social nature of man and the call to love as God loves looks like within the context of sexuality and married love. While that may be the blueprint for love, it is most definitely not the only way to love as God loves. We respond to God’s call to love first in friendships.

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Formative Assessment A. Return to the list of characteristics of good and unhealthy friendships. Ask your

students which characteristics on the list are self-giving, and circle them.

B. On their own paper, have students respond in writing to the following prompt:

ӹ How can you support the idea that a good friendship is a self-giving friendship?

DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Project John 15:11-13, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”


ӹ For what reason is Jesus teaching His Apostles about love? So that His joy may be in them and their joy may be complete.

ӹ What is Jesus’ commandment? To love one another as He loves us.

ӹ What does the greatest form of love look like? To lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

C. Explain to your students that Jesus doesn’t just suggest that we love as He loves. He commands it. In fact, anytime we give of ourselves to another, lay our lives down for a friend, so to speak, we are responding to God’s call to love! In this lesson, we are going to examine three types of friendship, according to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, that ultimately come to the same conclusion as Christ about the greatest form of love and friendship.

ActivityA. Distribute to each student Handout B: Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship. Have

students work individually to read the essay and complete the focus questions at the end.

B. When students have finished, briefly review and discuss the correct answers to the focus questions.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 8

Formative Assessment A. Distribute Handout C: Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship Matching to each student.

Have them read each statement and determine which of Aristotle’s three types of friendship are being described. Then have them write the type of friendship on the line. Do the first few together as an example.

B. When students have finished, review and discuss the correct answers. Help students recognize that while we have all different types of friendships and it is not necessarily a bad thing to derive usefulness or pleasure from a friendship (as long as that usefulness and pleasure is in line with what is true and morally good), we should always strive to love and respect others for who they are as persons made in God’s image and likeness and not simply because of what they can do for us.

DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. Explain to your students that as adolescents, when we foster different friendships,

sometimes those friendships with members of the opposite sex bring about romantic feelings. We find ourselves “liking” the other person in a romantic way, or in a way that is different from other friendships. Sometimes we find ourselves experiencing sexual feelings as well. Recall from previous discussions that romantic and sexual feelings are just that, feelings (emotions, passions) and as such are neither morally good nor morally bad. In fact, they serve to remind us of the goodness of marital love and to direct us toward married life and the generation of children. This is the fundamental truth about human sexuality that is written into our very bodies as male and female. Also recall that while feelings themselves are amoral, what we do with our feelings can give them a morally good or morally evil quality.

B. Write the word lust on the board. Ask your students to define what lust is. Accept reasoned answers. Ultimately, lust is the disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes. In other words, lust is what happens when we allow sexual feelings to control us and we completely separate the goods of marital love from the natural pleasure of sexuality in the context of marriage.

C. Ask your students how lust is different from love. Accept reasoned answers. Help your students understand that love is self-giving. It seeks the good of the other person without

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condition. Lust, on the other hand, is self-taking. It seeks sexual pleasure from the other person. The other person becomes a means to an end, an object of pleasure.

D. Project Matthew 5:27-28, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

E. Ask your students the following questions. (Note that while Jesus specifically refers to a man looking at a woman with lust, the same is equally true for a woman who looks at a man with lust.)

ӹ Which of the Ten Commandments does Jesus specifically refer to? The Sixth Commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.”

ӹ According to Jesus, how is looking at another with lust a violation of this commandment? While it is not physically acting upon one’s lustful thoughts, one is committing adultery in his or her heart.

F. Explain to your students that we must protect ourselves against the dangers of lust in our friendships, in our dating relationships, and in marriage. We must guard our hearts and our eyes against allowing lustful thoughts to control us.

Activity Arrange students in groups of three or four. Distribute Handout D: Relationship Rules to each student. On the side labeled “Friendship,” have each group discuss, create, and record a definition of a good and holy friendship. Then have each group discuss, create, and record five to seven “rules” for how to be a good friend. On the side labeled “Love,” have students discuss, create, and record definitions of love and lust. Then have each group discuss, create, and record five to seven “rules” for a loving friendship with a person of the opposite sex and how to protect against lust. Make markers and/or colored pencils available and allow students to color their rule sheets.

AssessmentCall upon groups to share and discuss their rules for how to be a good friend and how to have a loving friendship with a person of the opposite sex and how to protect against lust.


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HANDOUT A

My Best Friend

Directions: Think of your best friend or a really good friend, and then respond to the following questions in the space provided.

1. How did you and your best friend meet?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the three best characteristics of your best friend?

a.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

b.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

c.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. What are two ways that you know your best friend loves you?

a.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

b.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What are two ways that you show your best friend that you love him or her?

a.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

b.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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5. What are 5 to 10 characteristics of a good friendship?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What are 5 to 10 characteristics of an unhealthy friendship?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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HANDOUT B

Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship

Directions: Read the following essay and answer the focus questions at the end.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was one of the most influential

thinkers in human history. He created the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy, that is, a formal way of pursuing and attaining wisdom about virtually every subject one can think of. Amazingly, although Aristotle lived nearly four centuries before the birth of Christ and in a completely different culture, his teachings about friendship, and many other things, are rooted in the same fundamental truths as Christianity. We can learn a lot from Aristotle and come to understand our own Christian faith in a deeper way through many of his teachings.

Aristotle devoted a major portion of his important work, The Nicomachean Ethics, to friendship, which he described as “a virtue,” that is “most necessary with a view to living. For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” In other words, Aristotle affirmed the goodness of friendship and described it as an inherent element of human existence. No can live without friends. He described three types of friendship: friendship of utility, friendship of pleasure, and friendship of the good. We all enter into various friendships of each type, but only friendship of the good is the “perfect” friendship that expresses the ideals of what true friendship can be.

First, let’s look at friendship of utility. This type of friendship is one in which both persons gain some sort of benefit from each other. A friend of utility is one who is useful to you in some way. Aristotle wrote, “Now those who love each other for their utility do not love each other for themselves but in virtue of some good which they get from each other. …Therefore those who love for the sake of utility love for the sake of what is good for themselves.” In other words, friends of utility use one another, for good or bad, to gain something for themselves. Another way to think of this is: “I am friends with So-and-So because he or she does something for me.”

Secondly, a friendship of pleasure, is one in which both persons are drawn together because of some pleasure or enjoyment they receive from each other. Aristotle wrote, “Those who love for the sake of pleasure do so for the sake of what is pleasant to themselves, and not insofar as the other is the person loved but insofar as he is useful or pleasant.” In other words, similar to a friendship of utility, a friendship of pleasure is based on getting something from the friendship, in this case enjoyment or pleasure. Another way to think of this is: “I am friends with So-and-So because he or she makes me happy or because I enjoy him or her.”

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Interestingly, of friendships of utility and friendships of pleasure, Aristotle wrote, “These friendships are only incidental” because they provide “some good or pleasure.” This means that such friendships typically occur by chance and are usually not very meaningful beyond what a person gets out of them. He continued, “Such friendships, then, are easily dissolved, if the parties do not remain like themselves; for if the one party is no longer pleasant or useful, the other ceases to love him.” In other words, these types of friendships often do not last. When the “friend’s” usefulness ends, or the relationship is no longer pleasurable, the friendship ends.

The third type of friendship, friendship of the good, is rarer. This type of friendship is one where both friends admire the goodness of each other and help each other strive for goodness. This friendship is rooted in virtue and a shared understanding of what is true, and good, and beautiful. Aristotle wrote that friendship of the good is the “perfect friendship.” He said it is “the friendship of men who are good, and alike in virtue.” These friends wish each other well for the sake of goodness itself and for each other’s well-being, without condition. He continued to explain, “Therefore, their friendship lasts as long as they are good — and goodness is an enduring thing…and

such a friendship is as might be expected permanent, since there meet in it all the qualities that friends should have.” In other words, friendships of the good are based on seeking the goodness and well-being of the other. They often last a lifetime because true goodness is lasting. Further, friendships of the good are purposeful and bring about genuine pleasure, although such friends do not expressly seek to use the other for some purpose or only to gain pleasure. Another way to think of this is: “I am friends with So-and-So because I respect and admire this person for who he or she is and genuinely want the best for him or her.”

As we grow and mature, we experience each of these type of friendships in different ways. When we are adolescents, our relationships, both friendships and dating relationships (which are a kind of friendship) are often ones of utility or pleasure. We are naturally attracted to things that feel good or meet a particular need. This is equally true of the relationships we have with other people. As we mature and learn the true meaning of love, we must strive to respect and love others, not because of what they can do for us, but because of their dignity as human beings made in God’s image.

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Focus Questions 1. Who was Aristotle?

2. What is meant by “comprehensive system of Western philosophy”?

3. How did Aristotle describe friendship in the Nicomachean Ethics?

4. What are the three types of friendship Aristotle describes?

5. Define friendship of utility.

6. What is another way to think of a friendship of utility?

7. Define friendship of pleasure.

8. What is another way to think of a friendship of utility?

9. Why do friendships of utility and friendships of pleasure often not last?

10. Define friendship of the good.

11. What is another way to think of a friendship of the good?

12. Why are our relationships, especially as adolescents, ones of utility or pleasure?

13. As we grow and mature, what must we learn to do? What does this mean for us as Christians?

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HANDOUT C

Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship Matching Worksheet

Directions: Read each statement and determine which of Aristotle’s three types of friendship is being described. Then, write the type of friendship on the line.

Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship

Friendship of Utility Friendship of Pleasure Friendship of the Good

______________________________ 1. You are friends with the members of your soccer team because you enjoy playing soccer together and are good at it.

______________________________ 2. You are friends with someone you’ve known since kindergarten and you have supported each other through some difficult situations.

______________________________ 3. You are friends with someone because they make you laugh.

______________________________ 4. You are friends with a classmate because he or she helps you with your homework.

______________________________ 5. You are friends with someone because he or she has the newest video-game system that you want to play and a nice TV.

______________________________ 6. You are dating a person because he or she makes you want to be a better person and is leading you to holiness, and in turn, you are doing the same for that person.

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______________________________ 7. You are friends with a neighbor because you go on long, fun bike rides together.

______________________________ 8. You are friends with someone with whom you have created a plan to open a food pantry/soup kitchen together to serve the poor and homeless in your city.

______________________________ 9. You are dating someone because he or she is popular and being with that person makes you more popular.

______________________________ 10. You are friends with someone whose talent has inspired you to join the basketball team.

______________________________ 11. You are dating someone because you feel good holding hands with him or her and being around that person.

______________________________ 12. You are friends with someone because you enjoy watching movies together.

______________________________ 13. You are friends with someone because he or she gives you their dessert at lunch.

______________________________ 14. You are friends with someone whom you talk to on the phone when that person is sad or upset, even when you don’t want to.

______________________________ 15. You are friends with a neighbor because he or she goes to your school and you carpool together.

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HANDOUT D

Relationship Rules

FriendshipDefinition of friendship:

Rules for a good friendship:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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LoveDefinition of love:

Rules for a loving friendship with a person of the opposite sex and how to protect against lust:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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Answer Key Handout B: Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship1. An ancient Greek philosopher who lived almost four centuries before the birth of Jesus.

2. A formal way of pursuing and attaining wisdom about virtually every subject one can think of.

3. “A virtue,” that is “most necessary with a view to living. For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.”

4. Friendship of utility, friendship of pleasure, and friendship of the good.

5. A friendship in which both persons gain some sort of benefit from each other. A friend of utility is one who is useful to you in some way.

6. “I am friends with this person because he or she does something for me.”

7. A friendship of pleasure is one in which both persons are drawn together because of some pleasure or enjoyment they receive from each other.

8. “I am friends with this person because he or she makes me happy or because I enjoy the person.”

9. Because they are based upon the usefulness or pleasure the “friend” brings, when that usefulness ends, or the relationship is no longer pleasurable, the friendship ends.

10. Friendship of the good is one in which both friends admire the goodness of each other and help each other strive for goodness. This friendship is rooted in virtue and a shared understanding of what is true, and good, and beautiful.

11. I am friends with this person because I respect and admire the person for who he or she is and genuinely want the best for him or her.

12. We are naturally attracted to what is pleasurable or meets a specific need.

13. Manage our feelings and desires in accordance with what is good and true. As Christians, then, we must strive to respect and love others, not because of what they can do for us, but because of their dignity as human beings made in God’s image.

Handout C: Aristotle’s Three Types of Friendship Matching Worksheet1. Friendship of pleasure

2. Friendship of the good

3. Friendship of pleasure

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4. Friendship of utility












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UNIT 4, LESSON 9

UNIT 4, LESSON 9


ӹ CCC 369

ӹ CCC 384

ӹ CCC 1784

ӹ CCC 1802-1829

ӹ CCC 2013

ӹ CCC 2221-2224

ӹ CCC 2207

ӹ CCC 2331-2345

ӹ CCC 2558-2561

ӹ CCC 2848-2849

ӹ CCC 2863

Vocabulary ӹ Prayer

ӹ virtue

ӹ Self-denial (ascesis)

Learning Goals ӹ Three specific spiritual

practices will strengthen our ability to resist temptation and pursue holiness: prayer and the Sacraments, acts of virtue, and self-denial.

ӹ When we do good things only for our own personal gain or for other selfish reasons rather than for love of God and neighbor, we are not pursuing holiness.

ӹ “How far is too far?” is the wrong question to ask in a dating relationship. Rather, we should ask, “What will lead us to holiness?”

Growing in Sexual Maturity: Resisting Temptation and Relying on God and His Grace

This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:3-7

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.

MATTHEW 5:8


Chastity Strand

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Materials ӹ Handout A: Overcoming

Temptation

ӹ Handout B: How Far Is Too Far?

ӹ Handout C: Letter to My Future Spouse

ӹ Empty envelopes, one for each student

ӹ Handout D: A Prayer Service for Chastity and Love

My Notes______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

Lesson Plan

DAY ONE

Warm-UpA. Arrange your students in the following manner, but

not until all instructions are given: If they play a sport, have them move to one corner of the room. If they play a musical instrument, have them move to a different corner of the room. If they consider themselves to be a good student, have them move to a third corner of the room. If they consider themselves to be artistic, have them move to a fourth corner of the room.

ӹ Point out to your students that they may identify as more than one of these things, but for the sake of this activity, have them choose the one they feel most strongly about.

B. Have each group select a recorder and a reporter. Then have each group discuss the following prompts:

ӹ Other than the God-given gift of natural talent, how do you become the best athlete, musician, student, or artist that you can be?

ӹ What are some obstacles you face along the way of becoming the best athlete, musician, student, or artist?

ӹ Create a list of at least five to seven specific things you can do to achieve this goal.

C. When students have had enough to time discuss the prompts, have the reporter from each group describe the discussion from their group and provide their group’s response to the prompts. Then discuss with your class why it is important to strive to be the best we can be.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 9

D. Explain to your students that God has gifted us from the very beginning with the capacity to love — to love our friends and to love our spouses. He calls us to love as He loves — to give of ourselves for the well-being of others, following Christ’s example, who gave His life on the Cross for all of us. In God’s plan, our sexuality — that is, our identities as male and female and the gift of our body and soul to our spouse in martial love — is intended to bring us joy and fullness of life. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be present in each of us to guide, strengthen, comfort, and challenge us and to help each of us become the fully mature person God has called us to be.

ActivityDistribute Handout A: Overcoming Temptation to each student. Have your students work individually to read the handout and complete the focus questions.

Formative Assessment A. When students have finished reading Handout A and responding to the focus questions,

discuss the correct answers together as a class.

B. Project the following prayer for purity, and pray it together with your students:

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Help me guard my ears to what I hear And my eyes to what I see. Help me guide my words and actions By love and purity, That I might keep my heart for heaven And happiness with Thee.

AMEN.

DAY TWO

Warm-UpA. Distribute to each student Handout B: The Right Thing to Do. Give your students a few

minutes to answer the questions. Then, review and discuss the correct answers to each question and have a brief discussion about why each answer is the correct one.

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B. Explain to your students that sometimes we do things for the wrong reasons, even when what we’re doing might be a good thing in itself. Serving others, giving to the poor, following the Ten Commandments might all be good things in themselves, and to be sure, God will bring about good through those actions, but when we do these for our own personal gain or for selfish reasons rather than for love of God and neighbor, we are not pursuing holiness.

C. Ask your students what the purpose of dating is. To find a spouse.

D. Then rhetorically pose the question: If you’re not ready to get married, what is the purpose of dating?

E. Explain that while dating is not a bad thing in and of itself, and in fact, it can be a very good thing, sometimes people date for the wrong reasons, for personal gain or for selfish reasons. In this lesson, we are going to consider some of the motivations teenagers have for dating and how, in a dating relationship, to respond authentically to God’s call to love as He loves.

ActivityA. Distribute to each student Handout C: How Far Is Too Far? As you conduct the

following mini-lecture, have your students follow along on Handout C. You may choose to pause and respond to the questions together, allow students to answer the questions throughout the mini-lecture, or give your students time at the end of the lecture to respond to the questions.

B. Project 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, and have a student stand and read it aloud:

This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.

Note: Explain to your students that while St. Paul’s terminology here, “acquire a wife for himself,” may sound outdated by some standards, his basic message is clear and applies equally to men and women: St. Paul is talking about God’s will for us as we seek our spouse (i.e., enter into dating relationships).


ӹ According to St. Paul, what is God’s will for us? Holiness.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 9

ӹ What is St. Paul’s instruction for achieving holiness in our dating relationships? Not to give in to lustful passion and not to take advantage of or exploit another person.

ӹ How are lust and taking advantage of or exploiting another person related to each other? We should never use another person or take advantage of them for our own sexual pleasure.

D. Explain to your students in a mini-lecture that the question of “how far is too far” in a dating relationship is one that almost everyone has wondered at some point. Although it is a difficult question to answer in black-and-white terms, some people try to draw the line at a specific activity and suggest everything up to that point is healthy and good, while anything beyond it is “too far.” In truth, while there are some very clear boundaries (such as not having sexual intercourse before marriage), other things are less clear (what about deep kissing?). Many teenagers want to know if there is a line and, if so, where that line is. Many, however, want to know the answer not so much to be able to do the right thing, but to know how much they can get away with without sinning or getting into trouble. St. Paul’s teaching here should make us consider that “How far is too far?” might be the wrong question to be asking. Maybe we should be asking a nobler question: “What will lead us to holiness?”

E. Explain to your students that while St. Paul does not give us a bright glowing line to not cross in matters of intimacy, he does provide us with some direction. Since holiness is what God’s will is for us, “too far” is anything that prevents us from being holy. This might be different for different people. Again, there are clear boundaries that can never lead to holiness (e.g., sexual intercourse before marriage or sexually touching the genitals or private areas of another’s body when not married). For example, for some people, kissing deeply might lead to impure thoughts or inappropriate sexual arousal. For them, kissing in this way would be “too far” because it is preventing holiness and, in fact, leading away from holiness.

We also have to consider the other person in a dating relationship. Perhaps, for one person, holding hands does not lead to impure thoughts or feelings but does so for the other. If so, this act is “too far” because it is not leading the couple to holiness. Both people in the dating relationship have a responsibility to lead the other to holiness. St. Paul, in talking about Jewish food guidelines, said “Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause my brother to sin” (1 Corinthians 8:13). If he was willing to give up meat so that another person might not sin, how much more important is it to remain chaste in matters of physical intimacy!

This teaching may seem vague and difficult. It is if we are asking only “How far is too far?” so that we can go as far as we possibly can up to that “line.” As noted at the

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beginning of this lesson, perhaps “How far is too far?” is the wrong question to ask. We should ask, “What will lead us to holiness?” This might be easier to understand in a different context. Would we ever ask of our best friend, “How many insults can I fling at her until I’ve hurt her too much?” No! We would never ask that question. Rather, we would (and should) ask, “How can I better honor and love my best friend?” The same is true in dating relationships, and in marriage, too. Rather than asking how far you can go until you’ve hurt your significant other and yourself too much, ask how can you honor and love that person and lead him or her to holiness? The answer to these questions seem much more black and white. Are you praying together? Are you receiving the Sacraments? Are you observing the moral teachings of the Church? Are you respecting each other’s dignity as a child of God?

Another way to look at things is to think of your future spouse, if it is God’s plan for you to participate in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. What is he or she like? What do you want for him or her? How do you want others to treat him or her? Most likely, you would want the best for your future spouse. You would want to protect him or her from harm and make sure that no one else disrespects or takes advantage of him or her. This also applies to the way you treat the person you are dating. He or she may be someone else’s spouse in the future. Just as you would want the person your future spouse is dating to respect and treat him or her with dignity, so too would the future spouse of the person you are dating. Put that way, each of us has a certain responsibility toward the person we are dating to care for, respect, and treat him or her with dignity, and to lead that person to holiness. Also, you would likely want to take care of yourself, to respect yourself and your own dignity, and pursue holiness, because, you, if it’s in God’s plan, may be someone else’s future spouse.

Formative Assessment A. Distribute to each student Handout D: Letter to My Future Spouse and an empty

envelop. Then explain to your students that they are going to have the opportunity to write a letter to their future spouse. In this letter, they will have the opportunity to tell their future spouse four things: what they want their future spouse to know about them at this moment in time, what they hope for their future spouse now and in the future, what they are sorrowful for now, and what their prayer is for their future spouse.

B. When your students have finished writing the letters, they should place them in the empty envelopes, seal them, and address them “To My Future Spouse.” Then tell your students that they can save this letter to give to their future spouse someday.


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UNIT 4, LESSON 9

DAY THREE

Warm-UpA. In advance, set a prayerful atmosphere in your classroom. This may include dimming

the lights, displaying sacred art, and/or lighting a candle. If possible, you could also arrange to hold class in the church or chapel.

B. Explain to your students that today, to bring this unit on human sexuality to a close, you will have a class prayer service. The Scripture readings for this prayer service are all taken from the suggested readings from the Catholic Rite of Marriage. You can see throughout these readings God’s plan for life and love revealed to us in His Word.

C. For this prayer service, you will need to choose student readers as follows:

ӹ Four readers (First Reading, Responsorial Psalm, Second Reading, and the Gospel)

ӹ Ten prayer leaders (Prayer after the First Reading, Second Reading, and the Gospel, and the seven Prayers of the Faithful)

D. You may choose to distribute to each student a copy of Handout E: A Prayer Service for Chastity and Love or use only one copy at the front of the class that the readers and prayer leaders will read from.

Activity and Wrap-UpPray together the Prayer Service for Chastity and Love from Handout E.

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HANDOUT A

Overcoming Temptation

Directions: Read the handout, then respond to the focus questions that follow.

Overcoming TemptationWe will always be faced with temptation. One of the most difficult temptations to overcome is the temptation to use the gift of our sexuality inappropriately. Learning to resist temptation is a necessary part of Christian living. Setting limits — that is, determining what we will do and what we will avoid doing — can help us to resist some of these temptations. Avoiding situations that we know may lead us to sin, and seeking advice from positive role models such as parents, teachers, priests, and religious, among others, can also be of great assistance in resisting temptation. Further, finding good and healthy ways to use our energy, such as participating in sports and games, developing our talents, hobbies and interests, and volunteering to help others in our community, will help us avoid temptation. There are three specific spiritual practices that will strengthen our ability to resist temptation and pursue holiness: prayer and the Sacraments, acts of virtue, and self-denial. These three spiritual practices, as well as the other ideas we’ve just considered, will help us become the best person God made us to be.

Prayer and the SacramentsThe most important way for us to resist temptation is to pray and to receive the Sacraments frequently, especially the

Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2558 describes prayer as a “personal relationship with the living and true God.” Above all else, whether traditional formal prayers (the Lord’s Prayer or the Glory Be, for example), personal prayer in your own words, or silent contemplation, prayer is a relationship with God, who seeks nothing more than to love us. Later, the Catechism no. 2560 says, “Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for Him.” It is God who first comes to us and invites us into relationship with Him. Prayer, then, is more than just words. It is the meeting of our desire for happiness with that which will make us happy, God Himself. It is within this real, ongoing relationship with God that He calls us to perfection and helps us as a friend and our Father to resist temptation and choose the good. In fact, the best aid when we are faced with a particular temptation is to pray and ask for God’s grace.

Not only do we encounter God in prayer, but we meet Christ Himself in the Sacraments, through which we receive His grace, a free gift of His divine life. The Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion in particular give us the grace to resist sin and avoid temptation. Further,

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when we fail to resist temptation and sin, our sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and our relationship with God and His Church is restored. By frequently receiving the Sacraments, we strengthen our relationship with God, lived out in a life of prayer, and fortify ourselves for the challenges we face.

Practicing VirtueRecall that a virtue is “a firm and habitual disposition to do the good.” A disposition is a tendency to think or act a certain way. We possess a virtue when we’ve developed an instinctual habit of doing the right thing. There are two kinds of virtues: cardinal or moral virtues, and theological virtues. The cardinal virtues are spiritual habits that we can develop or strengthen on our own as human beings, like flexing a muscle. They are temperance, prudence, justice, and fortitude. The theological virtues are gifts from God that strengthen our own abilities. They are faith, hope, and love (charity). The theological virtues also allow us to receive the grace of God in our lives.

Practicing virtue is like tending the soil of a garden. A gardener will first prepare the soil she will later plant in to make sure that it is fertile. Only when it is ready will she plant her seeds. If the soil has been prepared properly, the seeds will grow into strong and healthy plants that will bear good fruit. The virtues are similar. The cardinal virtues are like the soil. We have a lot of control over how we prepare them to make sure they are the best they can be. The theological virtues are like the seeds. God

places them within us. If we have prepared ourselves well by growing in virtue, they will produce great things in our lives and lead us to holiness and to become more like God. The more we practice the virtues in our daily lives, the more we become like Christ, and the more we become like Christ, the better we are able to overcome temptation.

Self-DenialIn Mark 8:34-36, Jesus told His disciples that in order for a person to follow Him, he must “deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” By “taking up his cross,” Jesus meant accepting one’s burdens, struggles, and sufferings, in much the same way that He would accept His own literal Cross. Jesus is encouraging us to embrace the obstacles we face in life as opportunities to demonstrate virtue and holiness and to remain close to God. This involves obedience to the Father’s will, and it involves at times denying ourselves, or sacrificing our own will to the Father’s.

Self-denial, also called ascesis, is a powerful way of resisting temptation. This means to make sacrifices intentionally in our daily lives in order to strengthen our will. When we intentionally say no to something pleasurable, such as having a desert at dinner, we strengthen the “muscle” of our will. The more we do this, the stronger our will becomes, so when we are faced with a difficult temptation, we will, we hope, have the willpower to say no to what is tempting us.

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Focus Questions 1. What is one of the most difficult temptations to overcome?

2. What are three ways the reading suggests that can help us resist temptation?

3. What are three specific spiritual practices that will strengthen our ability to resist temptation and pursue holiness?

4. How does the Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2558 describe prayer?

5. What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2560 say that prayer is an encounter with? What does that mean?

6. Whom do we meet in the Sacraments, and what do we receive from them?

7. How does the Sacrament of Reconciliation help us when we sin?

8. What happens when we frequently receive the Sacraments?

9. What are the two kinds of virtues, and how are they different?

10. What happens if we practice virtue in our daily lives?

11. What did Jesus mean by “take up [your] cross”?

12. What happens when we practice self-denial?

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HANDOUT B

The Right Thing to Do

Directions: Circle the correct or best answer to each question.

1. You help out at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter because:

a. You want to be able to put your volunteer service on a resume or college application.

b. Your friends and family will notice and praise you for how good you are.

c. There are people in need whom you can help.

2. You stop swearing because:

a. Your parents will wash your mouth out with soap if they hear you swear again.

b. You want to respect God and others with your language.

c. One of the Ten Commandments says not to swear, and you’re afraid of God’s punishment.

3. It’s Friday night, and you’re out with your friends. Your curfew is 10 p.m. You…

a. Come home by 10 p.m. in order to respect your family’s rules.

b. Come home whenever you feel like it, even if it’s long after 10 p.m.

c. Come home exactly at 10 p.m. because you know your parents will ground you if you don’t.

4. You’re at Mass on Sunday with your family, and the collection basket is being passed around. When it gets to you, you…

a. Take $10 out of the basket for yourself because no one will even know it was there in the first place.

b. Take $10 out of the basket to give to a homeless person you saw on your way to church.

c. Take $10 out of the basket for yourself because you need the money more than the church does.

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HANDOUT C

How Far Is Too Far?

1. Summarize in your own words the meaning of St. Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7.

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2. How do some people try to answer the question of “How far is too far?”

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3. What is one example of a clear boundary in a dating relationship? Can you think of another?

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4. Other than to be able to do the right thing, why do some teenagers want to know the answer to the question “How far is too far?”

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5. After considering St. Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 what is “too far”?

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6. Why might kissing deeply be “too far” for some people?

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7. What responsibility do we have toward the other person in a dating relationship?

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8. What is the alternative question to ask rather than “How far is too far?” How is the answer to this question more black and white?

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9. How can thinking of your future spouse help you determine how far is too far?

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10. What responsibility do we have toward the person we are dating? Toward ourselves?

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HANDOUT D

Letter to My Future Spouse

Dear future spouse,

I want you to know about me now...

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I hope that you are…

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I’m sorry for…

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My prayer for you is…

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Until we meet,

Love,

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HANDOUT E

A Prayer Service for Chastity and Love

First Reading Reader #1: A reading from the Book of Genesis (Genesis 1:26-28, 31a)

Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.” God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.” God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.

The word of the Lord.

Prayer Leader #1: Lord, we know that you have made each of us in your own image and likeness and called each of us to love as you love. Help us to love and respect each other as persons made with dignity. Help us to see and understand the gifts of life, love, and human sexuality as you made them. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace…

Glory be…

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145:8-9, 10 and 15, 17-18

Reader #2: The response is: The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.

R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.

Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. The eyes of all look hopefully to you and you give them their food in due season.

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The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.


Second ReadingReader #3: A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1

Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20)

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Prayer Leader #2: Lord, thank you for loving us as a Father loves his children, even when we turn away from you. Help us to learn to love others as you love us and to welcome your love for us every day of our lives.


Glory be…

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Gospel ReadingReader #4 A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 5:1-12)

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Prayer Leader #3: Lord, you want us to be eternally happy and to be with you forever in heaven. Help us to love as you love and to follow your commands. Give us the strength and courage to seek purity in our relationships so that we can see your face.


Glory be…

Prayers of the FaithfulPrayer Leader #4: For the Holy Catholic Church, for Francis our pope,

_____________________ our bishop, and for all bishops, priests, deacons, and laymen and women, we pray to the Lord:

Lord hear our prayer.

Prayer Leader #5: For the leaders of the nations, that they would defend all life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, we pray to the Lord:


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Prayer Leader #6: For our local community and its needs: that we would act as witnesses to the love and mercy of Christ as we love our neighbors as ourselves, we pray to the Lord:


Prayer Leader #7: For our school community and its needs: that we would open ourselves to the transforming message of the gospel and heed the call of Christ to serve him and one another, we pray to the Lord:


Prayer Leader #8: For all married couples: that they may love each other in response to God’s call to love as He loves and that they may be open to the joy of the gift of children, we pray to the Lord:


Prayer Leader #9: For those who struggle with chastity and living out God’s plan for love in their lives: that they may be strengthened by our prayers, we pray to the Lord:


Prayer Leader #10: For our own needs and intentions, that we now recall in our hearts [6 second pause], we pray to the Lord:

Lord Hear Our Prayer

Let us pray together the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven…

We pray all of this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

AMEN.

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Answer Key Handout A: Overcoming Temptation1. The temptation to use the gift of our sexuality inappropriately.

2. Setting limits, avoiding situations that can lead us to sin, seeking advice from positive role models, and finding good and healthful ways to use our energy.

3. Prayer and the Sacraments, acts of virtue, and self-denial.

4. As a personal relationship with the living and true God.

5. God’s thirst with ours. That means that God first comes to us and invites us into relationship with Him. Our desire for happiness meets that which will make us truly happy, God.

6. We meet Christ Himself in the Sacraments and receive grace from receiving them.

7. Our sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and our relationship with God and His Church are restored.

8. Our relationship with God, which we live out in a life of prayer, is strengthened, and we are fortified against future challenges we face.

9. The cardinal virtues are spiritual habits that we develop and strengthen in our lives, with the help of God. The theological virtues are gifts from God that strengthen our abilities.

10. We become more like Christ, and the more we become like Christ, the better we are able to overcome temptation.

11. Jesus meant accepting one’s own burdens, struggles, and sufferings, in much the same way that He would accept His own literal Cross. This involves obedience to the Father’s will, and it involves at times denying ourselves or sacrificing our will to the Father’s.

12. Our will becomes stronger, so that when we are faced with a difficult temptation, we will, we hope, have the willpower to say no to what is tempting us.

Handout B: The Right Thing to Do1. The correct answer is C. Helping at the local soup kitchen may be a good thing that

serves other people who are in need, but when it’s done for the wrong reasons or for selfish personal gain or glory, it doesn’t lead one to holiness.

2. The correct answer is B. Not swearing is always a good thing, but when done out of fear of punishment or other repercussions, it is not being done to pursue holiness.

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UNIT 4, LESSON 9

3. The correct answer is A. Rather than pushing the limits of family rules, or ignoring them completely, meeting curfew is respectful of one’s family rules and parents.

4. This is trick question. There is no correct answer! Some might think B would be acceptable, but in reality, stealing is morally wrong. In this situation, the ends do not justify the means. Follow up by asking your students what would be a good course of action if they wanted to help a homeless person they saw on their way to church.

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Human Sexuality - Sophia Institute for Teachers

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