My great-uncle Pete used to say, "There's no market for good girls any more!" His statement usually sounded humorous, but sadly, somewhat true. Society's view of morality has changed drastically in recent years. When my great-uncle was a young man, even when his children were young adults, most people knew that physical intimacy before marriage was wrong. Most people wanted to preserve their virginity until marriage and they wanted to marry a virgin.

The best reason for postponing physical love until marriage has always been that God wills chastity. Chastity requires that unmarried people abstain from all physical intimacies including passionate embracing. Within the sacred vocation of marriage, chastity invites husband and wife to enjoy with each other bodily expressions of their love which must be open to the possibility of a new life. God created man male and female so that husband and wife could come together in marriage in an act that is holy, love-giving and life-giving.

Physical intimacy outside of marriage, marital infidelity, the use of artificial birth control, and impure acts committed alone are sins against chastity, serious sins that spiritually kill our souls and can rob us of eternal life. Our Lady of Fatima said, "The sins which cause most souls to go to Hell are the sins of the flesh."

Chastity is a virtue, a way of life and the will of God for all unmarried as well as married people. Love for God is the best reason for chastity.

CONSIDER YOUR FUTURE!  In my great-uncle's time, until recently, people usually considered what consequences their actions might have upon their future. Today, it seems that many people live for the pleasure of each moment, forgetting that they may later regret their actions or pay for them with serious repercussions. There are many good reasons for chastity.
Consider...

• Suppose you and your spouse had other partners before marriage? Do you want your spouse to think about them? Do you want to be compared to someone else? Such memories and jealousies can complicate marriage. Most people who lose their virginity before marriage later regret it. They realize that premarital sex is wrong and harmful to marriage. Memories of past exploits can serve as unwelcome temptations to those who enter religious life. You can avoid these memories and regrets!
• You want the best for your children, don't you? The best for children is to be born to a mother and father committed for life in marriage to staying with each other and raising their children.
• Physical relations that exclude openness to new human life often lead to abortion. Abortion painfully kills a baby. Abortion in not medically safe. It injures and kills many women. Many parents of aborted babies suffer the burden of guilt for years. How would your future spouse or children feel about your aborted baby? How would they feel about you?
• No one plans to catch STDs or AIDS. Despite what you've heard, nothing prevents STDs and sexually transmitted AIDS except chastity. AIDS is always deadly. Many STDs cause fertility problems, especially in women, which often permanently prevent childbearing.
• The gravest, most serious consequence of mortal sin is eternal damnation. Sins of the flesh are serious offenses against God. Don't act upon a romantic moment or a passionate impulse. Think about your future, about eternal life, and how you need to be pure now!!

Consider, for instance, your favorite holiday meal. After the blessing, friends and family heap their plates high with succulent meats, rich sauces, tender vegetables and steamy rolls. The food is rich, delicious and wonderful. Then, just after the first few bites, one of the guests accidently drops her full plate of food all over herself and the carpet. Her beautiful party dress is horribly dirty! The carpet is filthy!

The essence of the food doesn't change whether it is on a plate or on a floor. Food is just as nutritious and would even taste the same on a plate as on a floor. In its place -- on a plate -- the food's nourishing purpose and potential can be fulfilled. Out of place the food's purpose is lost. On the floor -- out of place -- the very same delicious, nourishing food is considered dirty and filthy.

God created physical intimacy as a holy means for husband and wife to share their mutual love and to bring children into the world. God commands that physical love be expressed only in marriage. When expressed in marriage according to God's plan, bodily intimacy is holy.

But, like the meal spilled on the floor, physical intimacy outside of marriage is out of place. Out of marriage -- out of place -- corporal relations frustrate and profane God's plan for intimacy. Out of marriage, God's holy plan for physical intimacy is defiled in circumstances that make the participants dirty and filthy. Mortal sin stains their souls! Physical intimacies outside of marriage are mortal sins. Jesus died so you could be with Him in Heaven. Don't let any sin, keep you from Heaven. Obey God in all things!

Maria Goretti's family lived on a farm in Le Ferriere, Italy. They shared a dwelling with another farm hand and his 19 year old son, Alessandro Serenelli. Maria (1890-1902) tended to the smaller children and to the household chores. She was a simple soul, deeply devoted to Our Lord and to Our Blessed Mother. She prayed and attended Mass frequently. Because of her great love for Our Lord she walked miles to catechism classes, oftentimes in harsh weather. "She wanted but one thing: fidelity to Christ at any price, even at the cost of her life. Never for anything in the world would she violate the Divine Law" (Pope Pius XII).

Alessandro was a wanton young man with evil desires. He badgered the eleven year old Maria with lustful approaches. Beautiful Maria always rebuked him, reminding him that what he desired was a terrible sin! One day Alessandro had Maria cornered. Again he demanded that Maria give in to him. He would not be refused! But Maria did refuse him. In a fit of violent rage, Alessandro took a sharpened file and brutally stabbed the young Maria 14 times. Maria survived the assault only to endure more pain and two hours of excruciating surgery without anesthetic. Before dying from her wounds, Maria forgave Alessandro. The young saint wanted Alessandro to be with her in Heaven.

In prison eight years later, Alessandro had a dream of Maria forgiving him, which motivated him to reform and to give his life completely to Christ. Alessandro spent 27 year in prison. Saint Maria's remains rest in a church in Nettuno, Italy. In 1950 she was canonized, the Church's youngest saint.

• "LOVE IS PATIENT" Be patient. Wait for marriage.
• "LOVE IS KIND" Be kind to yourself, your future spouse and children. Chastity safeguards against AIDS, STDs, abortion and regrets.
• "LOVE DOES NOT PUT ON AIRS" Chastity and virginity are things to be proud of. Don't let peer pressure convince you otherwise.
• "LOVE IS NOT SELF-SEEKING" No one with self- respect will submit to sin for any reason or for any other person. (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)