Let’s change gears here and talk about something sexy. Like, sex for example. As a Catholic, most of the drama I get from people who need a reason to attack the Church is Her stance on sex, marriage, and all the fun that that entails. Since Greg and I will be raising Elise and prayerfully more babies in an entirely sex-saturated culture; we want to really make sure we know the reasoning why the Church teaches what She does. And of course, for apologetics; but our family comes first.
Robert Fastiggi is a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. At first, I thought this book was going to be boring, thick, dense. I was really surprised that it was pretty slim (about 150 pages). My next thought was “great, it’s watered down”. It’s not. Fastiggi discusses an aspect of Catholic sexual morality relevant to the world today, such as pre-marital sex, contraception, co-habitation, homosexuality, pornography, and masturbation, just to name a few. He gently, but firmly explains the Church’s position on each issue as well as WHY She teaches it and WHY it’s important to follow it. As an ex-boyfriend of mine once said about the Catholic Church: “the ‘rules’ are there to protect you. When you break them, expect to be hurt.” And he wasn’t even Catholic! Fastiggi expounds on what the consequences of things like pre-marital sex and co-habitation. He uses Scripture, Tradition, and papal documents as his sources, which the post University “cite EVERYTHING” uber-nerd in me loves.
One of the things that surprised me was that Fastiggi included a section about marital chastity and Natural Family Planning (NOT the “rhythm method”, as anti-Catholics would have you believe), as well as celibacy in priests and religious. Most people think that sexual morality is left at the altar or the bedroom door; but we are all called to chastity, regardless of our station in life. Some people, like priests and nuns, are called to a much different aspect of chastity than say, Greg and I are.
This book appears to be targeted for some teenagers through young adults. Some topics in the book get very adult, and may not be appropriate for all audiences. But if you’re squicky about anything in this book, then that’s a very good indication that you’re probably going to get extremely squicked out by sex. If you wanted to delve deep into Catholic sexual morality, it would be much, much longer; but I think Fastiggi does an excellent job on explaining the reasons behind what the Church teaches, without coming off condescending, prudish, or anything like that.
Would I give this book to Elise when she’s old enough? Absolutely. I think it’s a great introduction to Christopher West’s “The Good News About Sex and Marriage” or John Paul II’s collection of lectures of the Theology of the Body.
This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on What the Church Teaches About Sex.
