Body and Soul and Sexuality

one

Body and Soul

When God made the human person, He made a “microcosm”, a kind of mini-universe. Everything God has made finds some representation in the human being. We are made body and soul. Our bodies are composed of the same basic materials as the planets, the stars, the rocks, the trees and the beasts. Our souls feel the simple pains and pleasures of the lower animals but our souls also include minds, like the angelic minds, that can grasp timeless, supreme truths, and wills, that are capable of loving one another, and of loving God Himself.

Because we human beings are the fusion of body and soul, we are the convergence point, the ultimate melting pot, of all that God has made. But that requires a delicate balance, in which we appreciate the connection between our bodies and souls, and live according to that balance

And nowhere is it more difficult to preserve the balance of body and soul than in the beautiful but delicate dimension of human sexuality

two

Body and Soul in Identity

The first point to recognize is that we do not just identify our bodies with our souls. We identify our bodies with ourselves.

We are not just a self with a body, our body is part of our self.

At the dinner table we don’t say, “Would somebody pass my body the salad, please? I think my body would like another helping.” We say, “Would somebody pass me the salad, please? I would like another helping.”

People sometimes think they can do what they want with their bodies, as though their body is some external accessory that doesn’t affect who they are.

It doesn’t work like that. The way you treat another person’s body is the way you treat that person. And the sexual acts you perform with your body will have deep – crucial – implications for who you become as a person.

That’s why the Church takes sexual activity very seriously. Because the Church takes you very seriously. And what you do with your body will play a major part in who you become.

three

Body and Soul in Relationship

As human beings we are designed to communicate with each other, and to express love, through the body. We use mouths and ears to speak, we shake hands and embrace, we write and read, all with our bodies.

We don’t have ESP – we can’t mind-meld – the body is our only interface system to connect with other persons: which means if we misuse the body, if we turn the body back in on itself, if we use it selfishly, or in a way that’s oblivious to other persons, then we will turn the body into something that prevents relationships instead of facilitating them. And this is above all true with human sexuality.

Sexuality is the means to forming the most intimate relationships human life has to offer. It’s at the heart of spousal love. And it’s where every family comes from. If you get sexuality wrong, you are throwing a monkey wrench into the gears of all the most important relationships God has planned for you. So there’s a lot at stake.

four

The Separation of Body and Soul in contemporary Sexuality

We have forgotten that we are built body and soul. We have immortal souls. We are not mere physical objects with sensors for pleasure or pain. We cannot simply do whatever we want with our bodies without corrupting our souls.

Our bodies are tied to our self, our identity. And our bodies are tied to our ability to form and sustain relationships.

Identity and relationship. This is what is at stake

If we violate the structure of our bodies, if we live our sexuality badly, guess what you can expect to see: A crisis in a sense of identity and a crisis in a sense of relationship. Sound familiar?

five

Christ’s Redemption of Humanity – redemption of our sexuality – redemption of the cosmos

Sin ruins everything, including the balance between our bodies and souls in the way we live our sexuality. But Christ has come to redeem everything human and by redeeming humanity, He has in a way come to sanctify all of the universe represented in men and women. When He redeemed the human person, He redeemed our sexuality.

Through the vocations of marriage and celibacy, He has given us a way to live our sexuality so as to discover our true identities, so as to integrate our bodies and our souls, so as to lead us to Him.

Until we return to the Lord, we will be a broken universe, instead of the place where all creation comes together to glorify God.

May God heal the union of our bodies and souls, may He heal our wounded sexuality, and may He sanctify us so that we can fulfill our mission in God’s providential plan.