Charisse Tierney has got it exactly right in this terrific post about teaching kids about the Catholic vision of love and sex. Too many parents are afraid of this topic. We should relish the opportunity to help our kids understand God’s plan for love and relationships. My book with my wife, Lisa, Beyond the Birds and the Bees (2nd ed.) can help parents with the nuts and bolts of raising moral, healthy, kids who are not only knowledgeable about the Catholic vision of love and sex but capable to being living, breathing examples of that Catholic vision in their everyday lives and choices.
But Charisse’s post is a must-read to motivate moms and dads who feel squeamish about the subject. Check it out! (Here’s a sample)
I can’t wait to talk to my kids about sex. Yes, you read that correctly. I CAN’T WAIT! I can’t wait to teach my kids how to make this world a better place by holding a reverence for the sacred and by understanding that the Original Plan for sex was never Plan B. That God’s plan never included unchastity, infidelity, heartache, and despair. Sex is everything we are and everything we were created to be. In the proper context of marriage between a man and a woman, sex becomes something that gives us a taste of the bliss of heaven and a glimpse of the magnitude of God’s love for us. We become co-creators in God’s great plan for life in this world, and we have the ability to be a beacon of hope to all who are lost on their journey to true love.
I want my children to be able to recognize the corruption and distortion of the beauty of sex in this world as it stands in stark contrast to the heavenly purity within the sacrament of marriage.
As parents, we are called to lead our children on a path of purity and holiness. This is no small task, as the very core of their beings — their sexuality — is bombarded with all of the wrong messages from the time they are born. But God has blessed us with the tools we need to combat lust with love and perversion with dignity. The Theology of the Body gives us everything we need to….(READ MORE)