“Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.138 "The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2352)
Pornography reduces sexuality to a secondhand experience of genital sex. It basically tries to substitute mental pictures, photographs, or movies for human love. At the same time it cheapens and dehumanizes sex. Pornography leaves the user empty of the real relationships that the sexual drive is meant to lead to. It offends chastity because it perverts the act. The Catholic Church believes that there should be no production of distribution of any of pornographic material. Pornography is also a form of deception and in the end, it’s degrading and misleading. “Prostitution is also a grave offense to the church and according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2355). This makes the person an instrument of sexual pleasure. Lastly, a very common crime and extreme distorted sexuality is rape. Rape is the violation of the sexual intimacy of another person and is a serious crime in society. It’s essentially violent, brutal, and dehumanizing. “It does serious injury to chastity, and wounds the respect, freedom, physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2356). A chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. St. Joseph shows a very good example of chastity in this Biblical quote, this integrity ensures the unity of the person and it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it.
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord Appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;... (Matthew 1:18-25)
Joseph is a very good example of an individual being chase, and we as society should follow his path in being a good person by practicing chastity.
Stewardship is a Christian way of living, it’s everything we are and everything we do. By living in this world that God created, we are a part of God’s creation and through this we are stewards. In the Bible, it talks about how God’s people are to do what God wants us to do, “Now concerning the contribution for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside to store it up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when I come.” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2) This section talks about what God wants us to do, and the responsibilities we are given, which is stewardship. This idea was even set in the beginning of scared scripture, in Genesis; it tells us that God created the universe, our planet home and everything that exists on it. “And God said, “Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26) Stewardship is very meaningful and important, therefore, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the dominant figure in our lives. His teachings help us understand the nature and purpose of God and have fellowship with him, nothing will be meaningful otherwise.
The Bible calls us to be stewards of all creation and as talked about in this encyclical about the Catholic Church and Stewardship of Creation, there are various responsibilities given to us to take of. This encyclical demonstrates a lot of much needed light upon the environmental issues that we as society are currently facing.
“Such stewardship must uphold the common good of humanity, while also respecting the end for which each creature was intended, and the means necessary to achieve that end. If man exercises dominion in a way that ultimately destroys nature’s creative potential or denies the human family the fruits of creation, such action constitutes an offense against God’s original plan for creation.” The Catholic Church and Stewardship of Creation (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty)
This encyclical summarizes the goodness and orders of Gods creation and the contents of what God wants from us as stewards of creation. It displays a very strong importance of taking care of our world and living up to what God expects us to do as true stewards.
To conclude, chastity and stewardship are two very important topics in the Catholic Church, it should be practiced by every Christian. It should be a prime example of how to continuously respect human dignity, and by practicing chastity it will not only refrain us from having sex, but it will allow us to see the other aspects of a relationship. By strengthening other aspects we can increase agape love. Further in stewardship, not only Christians but all of humanity should follow stewardship, because all of humanity has a responsibility for all of Gods creation.
