From the Pastor&

     --When two people love each other, they don't look at each other.  They look in the same direction.
        -- Dancer/Actress Ginger Rogers
     --How do we design a culture in which love is possible? -- David Orr
     --There are two ways to be fooled:  one is to believe what isn't so, and the other is to refuse to believe what is so.
        -- Soren Kierkegaard
     --Let virtue and integrity throughout your life the mentors be.
        -- From the Opera The Magic Flute
        by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

     Nebraska is not New York or California.  What might pass as acceptable behavior on the east or west coasts of our country might not be acceptable in Lincoln, Nebraska.  A University of Nebraska freshman, when asked if his church had any influence in his view of sexuality, responded:  "Are you kidding?  People in my church don't believe in sex!"
     What do our teenagers and young adults say about the church's views on sex?  Sex education needs to take place in the home.  When and how do good parents explain sex to their kids?  We live in a sex-saturated culture that doesn't always "buy" the Christian tradition, especially when it comes to sex.  The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal a few years ago made many good parents alter their children's sex eduation.  When it comes to sex education, is it all about pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.?  Where is the real beauty of the gift of sex in our culture?  Are children learning the right things... especially from their parents?
     When I was in eighth grade, our class wore out the National Geographic in our Catholic school library.  We weren't reading the articles, just looking at the pictures!  Then we had to go to confession because we knew sex was bad and dirty and nasty and awful, and you SHOULD SAVE IT FOR THE ONE YOU LOVE!  And you wonder why we are all crazy?  One wonders why we aren't crazier that we are!
     Am I a prude or old-fashioned when I see things on T.V. about "spring break" for some college students in Mexico or other pleasure resorts that make me blush?  Should the "wet t-shirt" look and contests tell us what sex is?  Can kids define "chastity" or "fidelity" as easily as they can define  _____________ ? (you can fill in the blank).
     Sex is everywhere these days.  So is rage, hate and bitterness.  If there is more violence against women, where is it coming from?  The porn industry makes women (and men) objects for play and pleasure and pain.
     Sex is a great gift from God.  And God created a whole range of sexual pleasures for us to enjoy, only some of which have anything to do with or lead up to sexual intercourse.  Affection doesn't always have to end up in sex.  In fact, in most cases it doesn't.  Tell your kids that!
     The soul is the major sex organ.  When we feel good about ourselves, we don't need money or power or sex to make us feel good.  Some people use sex to fix things, especially fix broken parts of their lives.  If I am feeling "broken" about myself, the culture tells me that sex is one way to fix myself.  Can we divorce good sex from marriage, commitment and even love?  How do we talk about inappropriate sexual conduct to kids?
     If we are honest, I suppose most of us made some mistakes listening to Johnny Mathis make-out music.  Thank God that grace is there for every failing/sin.  Some people still think sexual sins are the worst.  Just read the story of King David in the Scriptures - and see how much God and David loved each other!
     Good sex education can only happen where there is self-esteem, self-respect, self-love, and a good self-image.  Start early teaching your kids that they are great and wonderful... and then you have a healthy base to build on!
         
     Fr. Bill