Youth and Sex - Venerable Fulton Sheen

I might begin by telling you young people about the way bishops dress this is what is known as a choir dress it is used formally in churches then we have another dress which is really for social purposes the black cassock and a long a long scarlet purple red garment called a fairy Ola that reaches all the way to the knees I was once giving a lecture in Cleveland and I arrived just a short time before the lecture and I had nothing to eat so I asked the members of the committee if they would go with me to the dining room while I had a glass of milk and some graham crackers and I was dressed in this black cassock and long perry ola the waitress in the early flirt e's took the orders of the men that were with me and then she looked at me and she said well [ __ ] robin what will you have now this is not the [ __ ] robin dress but let me tell you about this this is called a ratchet ROC a Chiti ratchet it is you see linen down to the waist and then lace to the knees I was in the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Los Angeles a short time ago and I went up to my room at night and I found my pajamas on one bed and the ratchet on the other I know it takes a little time to get that but you do now a word to you young people it is very hard for you to realize that your parents lived in a day when no bicycle needed to be locked when doors were left unlocked at night when anyone could walk the streets of a large city without being mugged or attacked those were days of peace you have never seen it probably is hard for you to realize that that's the way America once was now how did this change come about why suddenly have we had so much dishonesty let me tell you this story about dishonesty I was in one of the big hotels of this country the manager told me that he found the cashier stealing money this woman had a very wide pocket in her skirt and she would reach in the door and take pills and stick them in and they saw her and one day they caught her in the act and discharged her the Union said to her you may not discharge her if you discharge her we will call a strike on the hotel and call everyone out of the hotel the litigation went on for about three months the Union won they had to take the girl back you know what their argument was they said to the hotel manager did you ever tell that girl it was wrong to steal note L said no we never told her was wrong mister well then how would she know see how much the world has changed now what made it change I think maybe we can pinpoint a date 8:15 in the morning the 6th of August 1945 can any of you recall what happened on that date is history before you were born many of you yes what was it rich or no it was the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima in Japan when we flew an American plane over this Japanese city and dropped the atomic bomb on it we blotted out boundaries there was no longer a boundary between the civilian and the military between the helper and the helped between the wounded and the nurse and the doctor between the living and the dead for even the living who escaped the bomb were already half dead so we broke down boundaries and limits and from that time on the world has said we want no one limiting me so the two people heard the song you sung it yourselves I got to be me I got to be free you want no restraint No Boundaries no limits have to do what I want to do now let's analyze that for a moment is that happiness I got to be me I've got to have my own identity are any of you on a basketball or football team can't be yourself you've got to live for a team the coach of the Oakland Raiders coach Madden told me he said what's happening to our Catholic schools he said I have boys from Catholic colleges coming to my football team and they say I got to do my thing how am I ever going to have a football team every of everybody has to do his a tee means doing the other person's thing but we want no limits no boundaries there was a French play it was written well in your lifetime by Sartre in which there are three men in hell and each of them talks about his pains his aches his protests his worries is a [ __ ] his identity and the others are not listening when the curtain goes down the last line of the play is my neighbor is hell why is the neighbor hell because he stands in my way up I can't do what I want to do God has held parents are held churches hell I because they limit me so now we're living in a world of just doing your thing without regard for law just suppose now to get very practical just suppose your parents near never gave you pot training think it out you got to do your thing two things would happen today you would hate your parents for never having trained you and secondly you would hate yourself so you are what you are today simply because your parents laid hold of you and said you're going to train you they didn't allow you to do your thing now if I made myself clear up to this point you're living in an age where freedom is described as licensed the right to do whatever you please but that's chaos if everyone did what he drove a car is he pleased would have disorder in the streets certainly you can do whatever you please you can stuff your aunt Maisie's mattress with old razor blades you can turn a machine gun on your neighbor's chickens then freedom becomes just a physical power than the one who was most free as the one was most strong so the world has changed we used to have laws we had obedience we had discipline today No Boundaries no limits and you're not happy that way now there isn't a boy here because you are more interested in games than the girls are but when you play games and it's true of the girls in limited way you have boundaries you have limits you've got foul lines on the basketball court you play baseball you've got lines running into the outfield play football limits boundaries you couldn't have fun if someone for example was picked up the football and ran outside of the field you say no you can't do that we got limits why don't you respect it in other things if that's the way you want it in games why don't you matter that way in life then we're happy now what is the one thing in this free world thanks to the press and television that is the major interest of the young it's sex so let's talk about it today sex has become almost mental every advertisement has to use it so that you are inclined always to think about it what is it really well the reason you want to know about it is because it's a mystery what is a mystery well a mystery is a sacrament as a matter of fact the Greek word mysterion is the Latin word sacrament an English sacramental man the English word sacrament now what is the sacrament men will understand sex every sacrament or every mystery has two elements first physical secondly spiritual something that is visible something that is invisible take for example baptism what is the physical side of baptism water what is the invisible side of a prism the cleansing of the soul to make us children of God a word is a sacrament because there's something audible and then there's something invisible about it namely the meaning of the word take for example a pun I don't know whether I can think of one at the moment but oh yes here's one a little girl was once asked what are you going to do when you get as big as your mother and the little girl said diet now you see you laughed at that now why did you laugh at that if if for example a horse heard that joke the the horse wouldn't give a horse laugh why do you laugh because in addition to hearing the sound that a horse would also hear you got meaning out of it you got purpose Eucharist is the sacrum of the mystery something you see bread something invisible the presence of Christ sex is a mystery there is something physical about it everyone is either male or female it's that simple period not at all complicated what is the invisible side of sex what is the mystery it's a mystery of love and it stands for something spiritual first of all sex stands for God's creative power given to people so he gives the creative power to a husband and wife instead of directly creating us he says to a father and mother I will let you share my creative power and you will give life this is the spiritual side of marriage and of sex but it also stands for something else when you girls and boys get older someday you'll here come to the altar you'll be married and there will be a reading from st. Paul's letter to the Ephesians and this is what you will be told every bride stands for the church every groom stands for Christ think of it God intended that in marriage the husband stands for Christ the bride stands for the church does that mean that the that the man is the head of the woman in the sense of domination no the man is the head of the woman in the sense of sacrifice so as Christ gave himself up for his spouse his bride which is the church so the husband sacrifices himself for the wife now that's the spiritual side of marriage and of sex if therefore refers to love human love between husband and wife the love for God the love for the church one of the reasons why it is very difficult for parents ever to teach you the complete mystery of sex is this they find it very hard they can communicate the physical side that's nothing but to communicate to you the mystery the deep profound love that is involved that is something that is almost impossible to describe the points that would that I could utter the thoughts that arise in me when there was love in his heart and therefore there will always be a difficulty in the way of explaining to you the mystery now this is what it is is God's guilt his creative power and it's not to be used until God gives the power now for example where is my lieutenant Fitzgerald is around here someplace well now lieutenant Fitzgerald has been with me every day since I've been here suppose I took his uniform and put it on well first of all it wouldn't fit me but suppose it fit me fitted me well I would then go out on the street in his uniform and begin directing traffic I would have no authority to direct traffic even though I was wearing the uniform I have to be empowered by civil authority to wear that uniform in direct traffic and so you have to be empowered to use this mystery you cannot use the Govan by yourself we're in school see that's change in classes so I'll change my subject now and give you another idea to keep you interested the new idea to which we pass is the difference in which the difference of love in a young man and in a lovely young woman now I hope I can impress you boys and you girls with this difference it will say particularly you girls there's a world of difference in which a man loves a woman and a woman loves a man a world of difference a boy can love a part of a woman a woman can love only the whole man now that is why my dear girls that the boys will talk about your legs take another part of you they can love a dimple it but then they have to marry a woman do you ever talk about boys legs never you never mention boys legs why certainly because you're not built that way boys different that's the reason you got to watch the boys don't think they love you simply because they love a part of you but you girls you're slow to love and the boys will say oh you're cold you're not cold you're wise that's it what it is you can't love until you give yourself totally and completely so you wait therefore do not rush into marriage take your time wait and see whether the man is capable of sacrifice or not and then the man - if he spoiled you in any way will not have the same love afterwards as before there's an interesting story in the scripture and that is always the place to go for wisdom in understanding human actions Amnon was in love with a young woman in David's Palace Tamar and Amnon one day pretended he was sick and he asked Amnon to bring him some cakes and non brought the cakes and I mean Tamar brought the cakes then Amnon assaulted Tamar and then he said to her now get out and he called the servants locked the door send her away and scripture says the hate with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her in other words he knew he was guilty he had spoiled something he had plucked a young blossom and he projected the guilt to her as if she herself were guilty a young girl told me once that a boy had ruined her and on the way back he gave her a lecture on you you got to watch out for boys they're not good they'll pretend they love you he was trying to escape his guilt so now we have learned that there's a world of difference between how a man loves and how a woman loves and wait until you're wise and you're mature and incidentally we have a very long maturity did you know it in the United States I think we have the longest juvenility in the world if the Jews for example had about the age of 13 today you are a man yesterday you were a boy now you're growing but we have people going back and forth from juvenility to maturity and crossing and recrossing the line so wait until you mature in judgment and finally you will often hear among yourselves boys and girls talking and say I don't believe any more I'm an atheist or I I I just can't believe in God the light do not argue with them I will give you a rule that will help you very much in life never pay very much attention to what people say pay attention to why they say it what are they covering up I was instructing the stewardess on an international airline and I got up to the subject of confession and she said now I'll never go to confession after hearing this instruction I refused to become a Catholic well I said take one more lesson and then at the end of that instruction you may discontinue well at the end of the next instruction she was in a veritable Crees she shrieked screamed let me out of here now I'll never be a Catholic I said My dear girl there's no proportion whatever between what you have heard and the way you're acting have you had an abortion she said yes she finished instructions that later witnessed the marriage baptize the baby do not pay attention to what people say why do they say it why was she attacking confession it was her way of escaping or in her guilt blaming it onto the sacrament and when you hear young people say I'm atheist and so forth do not argue about their faith look into their morals how are they living that's the important thing and hence our Blessed Lord said blessed are the clean of heart the pure of heart for they shall see God purity gives us vision if the window is dirty the light cannot come in if our morals are bad then the faith in the light of God cannot come into us so keep yourselves clean now you're wonderful young people and I trust that the Holy Spirit will inspire to recall some of the things that I've talked to you about today I've been very frank and I assume your goodness and it will always be good and for you girls may I say that there is such a thing as the apostolate of beauty the apostolate of beauty do not be ashamed to think of that you're young attractive but the mere fact that you're young you're vivacious do you realize that when beauty is virtuous it's far more appealing than anything else you recognize that I have power the good Lord has given me the power of word but he's given to you this other power and it's more powerful really because as a wise old Greek said everyone loves beauty so practice the apostolate of beauty and that's where you young men life is hard it's a struggle but the Lord will not be failing in this goodness student and now with that I conclude because I don't want to keep you any longer and I will finish with the story about a priest who was talking on the twelve minor prophets there are twelve minor prophets in the Old Testament and he had talked for an hour and forty-five minutes and had finished only three he saw the audience was getting a bit tired and so he introduced the next one with some degree of histrionics he said then now and now where shall I place have a [ __ ] someone got up in the back of the hall said he can take my seat you're free now the Lord love you and bless you and keep you good because you're going to make the church in the next 30 years and we depend on you thank you and God look

Channel: CatholicClips

Views: 249,416

Rating: 4.9026766 out of 5

Keywords: Fulton J. Sheen (Author), Sex (Quotation Subject)

Id: coM_ZIc-N4M

Length: 29min 18sec (1758 seconds)

Published: Mon May 20 2013