“What could be appealing about virginity compared to the pleasure of sexual contact? How can virginity contend with that?” Fr. Terry Ehrman, CSC, asked rhetorically of a group of about 20 students in the Dillon Hall Chapel. Fr. Ehrman’s talk was one of several events hosted by the Gender Relations Center as part of its annual Body Image Week. The talk tied together Catholic perspectives on sexuality, purity, and chastity.
After reciting Psalm 24, Fr. Ehrman discussed the modern conception of chastity. He compared modern society’s perception of virgins to that of “recusants” of fifteenth and sixteenth century England: Catholics who were convicted for refusal to attend Anglican services.
While virgins are not prosecuted formally, Fr. Ehrman explained their similarity to “modern day recusants who are socially convicted by the world for not participating in the world’s sexual liturgy.” In this “sexual liturgy,” the media, scientists, so-called health professionals, the entertainment industry, and government officials promote a “way of life that celebrates sexual activity outside of marriage.”
“Isn’t virginity simply a repression of natural desires?” Fr. Ehrman asked, parroting the predominant view. He answered himself with a simple statement of confidence that the “truth of human sexuality and the human person” can contend with the modern-day “sexual liturgy.”
The truth of the human person, he explained, is grounded in man’s image and likeness of God. The call to embrace the image and likeness of God is realized “in and through the body.” Fr. Ehrman drew on C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce to illustrate the relationship between “reptilian lust and the blessedness of pure sexuality.”
Lewis depicted a man in Purgatory who had become slave to the reptilian master of his own lust. An angel informed the man that the lizard had to be killed in order for the man to be saved. After the lizard died, the man’s soul grew to be a “solid, immense man” while the dead lizard transformed into a beautiful, powerful stallion.
“Lust incapacitates the man for communion with another; bodies only meet bodies. Hearts do not meet hearts.” Sexuality can be understood as “the human capacity as whole persons to enter into love-giving, life-giving union in and through the body in ways that are appropriate.”
After laying down a solid theological and philosophical framework for the audience, Fr. Ehrman proceeded to discuss contemporary political issues. He addressed the status of marriage, explaining that the “very gesture itself of sexual love,” which is intrinsically and inseparably unitive and procreative, “speaks of the man and woman as husband and wife.”
“Marriage allows sexual love to be true,” he said. “Marriage is the grammar that [truly, coherently, and authentically] manifests the nuptial language of sexual expression.” He described the theological work of Richard of St. Victor, who concluded that love shared between at least three persons is “perfect love,” and therefore “Trinitarian.” In marriage, “conjugal love is directed toward the procreation of a third” whom the husband and wife can love together.
This sexual love, Fr. Ehrman said, is “an encounter in which husband and wife expose themselves and give themselves completely to one another; it is a total gift of self in which they yearn for the completion of shared love with a third.”
Lust is, however, constantly battling with love and diminishes spouses’ ability to give of themselves fully. “Perhaps the most evident aspect of lust is its elimination of the procreative dimension of conjugal love,” he said.
Fr. Ehrman spoke of the “natural asymmetry” between men and women as the consequences of sexual activity are much greater for women than for men. Simply put, “women get pregnant; men don’t.” Contraception, however, promotes greater irresponsibility in both sexes.
Fr. Ehrman concluded by suggesting Natural Family Planning as a morally sound, effective means of limiting births. Stating that it helps couples to grow closer in love, he also noted the method’s lack of negative physical and emotional side effects,.
Gabriel Griggs is a sophomore Manorite who enjoys losing games of Super Smash Brothers 64 and Settlers of Catan to friends of superior intellect and connivery. Contact him at ggriggs@nd.edu.
