“O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth! For your love is better than wine.” "For I am sick with love. O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me!”

What is this? Many people unfamiliar with the Bible would be surprised to learn that these lines are from Holy Scripture and refer to the relationship between the human soul and God (The Song of Solomon). Even those who know the bible may be embarrassed by the romantic nature of the text. They may see romance and sexuality as human traits that should not be spoken of, especially in the context of spiritual matters. It is a perception that spiritual things are holy, but things pertaining to sexuality and the body are not. This is a very prevalent and dangerous heresy.

The body and spirit are joined together as one in human beings. It is a perversion to attempt to split the body from the spirit, sexuality from spirituality. Our sexuality is in fact a sign of profound holiness – a reflection of our relationship with God.

Such signs are necessary for us. The Catechism reads, “Man expresses and perceives spiritual realities through physical signs and symbols. Man needs signs and symbols to communicate with others …. The same holds true for his relationship with God.” (ccc1146)

Our bodies and our sexuality are a sign of God’s desire to be one with us. Seen in the proper light, they direct us to God. This is why the devil attacks this sign in particular, defacing and perverting it, hoping to direct us away from God.

Of course there is an infinite difference between the sign and the spiritual reality to which it points. Our relationship with God is not sexual. But our human sexuality, as a sign, does reflect sublime truths of God. And while God the Father, as pure spirit, is not male or female, we still refer to Him as He. This is not gender bias from a male dominated society as is proposed by some who would remove all male pronouns referring to God in the bible. The fact that we were created male and female is significant. It signifies something. With regard to procreation, the male gives and the female receives. This basic complimentary difference is a reflection of God giving to us, and our receiving from him. Hence we speak of God as He, a soul as she, and the Church as she. Just as the Holy Spirit is not a bird or a flame, God is not a man. But the relationship between a man and a woman in marriage does reflect the relationship between God and the human soul; it signifies God’s gift of infinite love to us, and our calling to receive Him in divine intimacy.

Fallen Human Nature
Some may wonder how our sexuality could be such a holy sign when all the animals on a farm are male and female too. The fact that this sign is also present in animals does not make it any less profound. Everything in creation signifies something spiritual. But mankind is the pinnacle of creation and unlike all other animals, functions not by instinct but by reason. With this reason we can uncover the meaning of the sign, and with our free will, we can then choose to act in accordance with the sign, to recognize and follow the will of God.

If sexuality is a holy sign, does this mean the lack of modesty and the open flaunting of sex that floods our televisions and magazines is good? No. The sign has been perverted and defaced by our fallen human natures and the allurements of the devil. What we see in the media is a counterfeit or “anti-sign” – a defilement of the true sign that completely obscures its inherent holiness. Despite this, the body and sexuality remain inherently good; it is like a church that has been defaced with graffiti. The tabernacle may be torn down and covered with debris and blasphemous writings may be spray painted on the walls, but the holiness of the tabernacle remains. God Himself still dwells within it.

This disfigurement of the holy sign of sexuality is at the root of many of the moral evils of the day. But before original sin, it was not so. In the beginning, “the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” Genesis 2 24. When Adam and Eve looked at each other they saw nothing but beauty and goodness. They saw the sign in its true form, directing them to union with God. Their love for each other was selfless, desiring only to give to the other. Their wills were completely aligned with God’s will.

Then they turned from obedience to God. They listened to the temptation to selfishness – to choose for themselves what was good and evil, aspiring to be, as Satan had promised, like God. This pride and self-centeredness remains with us to this day. It is why we need modesty and custody of the eyes and mind. Our fallen human natures have a tendency to lust and so we see a distorted picture of the body and sexuality.

Making All Things New
But Christ came to redeem us. Recalling the scene in “The Passion of The Christ,” where Jesus has fallen and Mary runs to Him, Jesus says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Keep the image of that scene in your mind. Now remember the original perversion of the sign, the moment when Adam and Eve became ashamed of their nakedness. There was Adam, Eve, the tree, and disobedience to God’s will. Now, during the Passion, there is the new Adam: Jesus, the new Eve: Mary, the new tree: the cross, and the absolute obedience of Jesus and Mary to the will of God the Father. Through the redemption of Christ’s Passion, we now have a chance to see the sign as it was in the beginning. Since we still carry the stain of original sin we generally think of and see the counterfeit sign. But with grace we can get a glimpse of the true sign in its original splendor, a reflection of the divine, and live our lives accordingly.

The Marriage Between God and Man
God offers his hand to us in marriage, calling us to live forever with Him in the love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The sign of our bodies and our sexuality reflect this but only if understood in the proper context. For some, the sign will be fulfilled through a spiritual marriage, such as with priests, nuns and monks who are married to Christ. For most, it will be through the fruitful marriage between a man and woman open to having children. We read of the sign in its original purity in Genesis: “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.” –Genesis 2 24. St. Paul referring to this one-flesh union writes, “This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church.” –Ephes 5 31-32. St. Augustine writes, “As bridegroom and bride, Christ and the Church were to be two in one flesh.” Our sexuality seen in the context of a sacramental marriage reflects the union of mankind with God. As such, there is no more holy or profound sign anywhere in creation. And the deep, profound longing for love and companionship within all human beings has as it source our inner longing for God.

And so we live our lives in accordance with Christ’s teachings, accepting the true purpose and meaning of sexuality. We embrace chastity, not because we are afraid of sexually transmitted diseases, or because sex is bad, or because the church “makes us.” We do so because we approach all things that are holy with reverence and respect, like when we genuflect before the tabernacle. It is not just a matter of saying “no” to sexual sins, but more importantly saying “yes,” to the sign of sexuality in its true form: the hand of the Bridegroom extended to us in divine marriage.

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