Dear EDGE Parents,

I think it appropriate to mention beforehand that this Sunday at Edge (Dec. 8), we will be teaching the sixth commandment. Under this, falls the tougher topics of adultery and chastity and integrity. We will start the night off with dinner and our usual gather game in large group, then have the proclaim (Catholic teaching on 6th Commandment), break it down in our usual small group disussions, and then finish out with praise and worship and adoration with all of the Life Teen high schoolers in the church for about 15-20 minutes. We will conclude in this way to encourage the youth, if they didn't get the chance to discuss what they wanted or if they have other deeper questions, to bring bring it all to Our Lord Jesus in prayer before The Blessed Sacrament. Some content elements of the night and family reflection questions are included below.

P.S. I highly recommend Life Teen's Parent Life website at ltparentlife.com for more resources on how to guide your teen in a faith-filled way through modern day culture and these tougher topics. Just type what you're looking for into the search bar. Lots of articles and good stuff regarding Catholic teaching on chastity and sexuality and any other faith-life topic under the sun. 

All my love in this Advent Season,

Peyton

Main Ideas:

• God created humanity male and female. Our sexual identity is a part of our biological makeup and immortal souls.

• In marriage, a man and a woman give of themselves completely to one another, and their sexuality becomes a gift to the other.

• The sixth commandment--"You shall not commit adultery"--is plain and simple yet also reveals the deeper importance of our sexuality. It calls us to live lives of chastity and to be people of integrity as we uphold the dignity of one another.

Catechism Reference:

“Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others.” (CCC 2332)

Scripture Reference:

“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10:6-9)

Family Reflection Questions:

• How is our sexuality a part of both our bodies and our souls?

• What do you think the word integrity means?

• What does it mean to be a gift of self to someone else in the Sacrament of Matrimony (marriage)?

• What is one way you can use your gifts and talents--all that God has given you--to be a gift to others in general in this Kingdom of God here on earth?