Nicole L. De Guzman

March 8, 2016

Tredfor EQ

Ms. Tessie Ponteras

The Theology of the Body seminar made me realize a lot of things about love, sex and marriage. Growing up in a conservative family sex was never an open topic, erotic topics and sexual jokes should be kept to oneself or in private. Sex often times is an uncomfortable topic but in our Catholic dominated culture it's considered as a taboo topic. People refuse to acknowledge it in fear of the disastrous and bad things that are correlated to sex due to its sensitivity, they consider it as sacred and holy. Time and sin had disrupted the importance of sex even in the lives of Christians. That should not be the case because our bodies are created by God in his image and we should not be ashamed of it. In the first part of the seminar the speaker asked a few volunteers to go up the stage, they shyly talked about their private parts and what they used to call it in front of a large audience. It was seen that the volunteers were embarrassed and uncomfortable and at the same time that the audience saw the topic as something green and were laughing about it. Fr. Maxwell then said that “ (erotic love) is not to be confused with Lust”.
Eros
One may come before or after another but they must not be mistaken as the same. Sin has disordered, disoriented and and distorted eros and our concept of sex. Eros is not just about sex, the real definition is that it “represents the interior force that drags man toward everything good, true and beautiful”. People are more focused in giving and promoting Agape rather than practicing desire and Eros, but that should not be the case. Eros and Agape kind of love should be both equally valued and practiced in our daily lives. For me a person should desire and get something first so that they would have something to give and share to their neighbors. Desire for God and the passion to be in the likeness of God would serve as the fuel for individuals to then be selfless and give unconditional love to others because we ourselves have experienced it.
In the past God created man and woman completely naked, there was nothing wrong and they did not feel ashamed. Nakedness before sin was normal, there was no

malicious thoughts for flesh of the opposite gender. Sin caused man and woman to think otherwise, it removed their innocence and caused them to feel guilt when looking at a naked body. This should not be the case because God created us in His image and likeness.
Fr. Maxwell then explained that marriage of man and wife to create a child is the manifestation of the Holy Trinity on earth. The husband represents the Father, the wife represents the Son and the child represents the Holy Spirit. Man and woman are created like two pieces of puzzle that fit together in perfect harmony. They were created that way so that they may bear the fruit of their love the way God gives unconditional love to us. The distorted perception of sex bothers us, it causes us to feel insecure and ashamed of our own bodies. I think that this results to us hiding our bodies not only from other people but it may also make uncomfortable showing our bodies to our husband/wife. This may hinder us from giving and receiving love unconditionally because we ourselves have of our insecurities, this may cause us to question if our partners really do loves us even with the imperfections we have.
On the next topic the,speaker then explained that Eros is not only practiced through marriage, Eros can also be practiced by single people through celibacy. He pointed out that celibates can direct their desire towards God and that they can be more like God. Instead of husband and wife, they get married to God and create a covenant with Him. They restrain sexual relations with another person, so that the celibates symbolizes in his or her body humanity’s ultimate desire for God.
In the end, sex is not something that should be frowned upon by people but it should also not be taken lightly. Sex is a sacred thing and should be done at the right time, with the right person and for the right reason. People nowadays have forgotten the real essence of dating, we don't take it seriously and us not being careful can lead to premarital sex. We should be proud of the body God gave us and be content with it.
Maybe if people become more open in talking about sex there would be less misunderstandings about it, maybe premarital sex and teen pregnancies could be avoided.