Chastity Like You've Never Heard It. (What Is True Chastity?)

Christopher and Matt Fradd dive deep into John Paul II's profound understanding of chastity. Often misunderstood, chastity is frequently associated with negative connotations like repression and abstinence. However, John Paul II seeks to rehabilitate this concept, revealing it as a vital virtue that upholds the dignity of the person and fosters true love. Through engaging analogies and insightful discussions, we explore the challenges and beauty of living a chaste life, the misconceptions surrounding it, and the ultimate joy it brings.
Watch the full discussion here: • A Deep Dive Into John ...
============================================
🔥 Get 3 FREE sessions of our flagship course on Theology of the Body: www.tobforfree.com/
🎤 Check out the Ask Christopher West Podcast where Christopher and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom. It's available on all streaming platforms. askchristopherwest.com/
⚡️ Click the link to join our Patron Community! Your monthly gift helps us continue to put out the message of Theology of the Body to the world. Thank you! www.tobpatron.com/
📚 Want to attend a course at the Theology of the Body Institute online or in person? Click the link to view our schedule: tobinstitute.org/programs/tob...
📍 We might be coming to a city near you! Check out our Made for More event schedule: tobinstitute.org/live-events/
🏔️ Want to join us on one of our pilgrimages? Click here: tobpilgrimages.com/
🛍️ Check out our store! shop.corproject.com/
🌟 For professional Catholic Life Coaching, including Porn Recovery: www.stevemotylcoaching.com/
============================================
Social Media:
📸 TOBI Instagram: / tobinstitute
🟦 Facebook: / tobinstitute
📸 Christopher's Instagram: / cwestofficial
🟦 Christopher's Facebook: / cwestofficial
📸 Discerning Marriage Instagram: discerningm...

[@greyforge27]

Maybe the most important channel on KZbin right now

[@mvose2085]

Heck yeah!

[@Sheepish-Shepherd]

I like that definition of chastity. Valuing human dignity is a lifelong worthy practice.

[@Goretti8201]

Thank you for your words of encouragement! Former professional musician here... I would add that you have to have a true love for what you are striving for. If you don't "know" and "love" the goal for which you spend countless hours practicing, any effort whatsoever is going to be fruitless. That fiery love of God and neighbor provides motivation to do all the hard things. There is nothing "sweeter" and which can move heaven and earth than the love of God!

[@themysteriousdomainmoviepalace]

This is frustrating in the sense that, being born in 1955 and raised in a strong Catholic household, in a very small town, we had innate chastity. Fast forward into the world, looking for love as a young woman, both feminizm and the sexual revolution fueled by The Pill, which I didnt use, I was bombarded by womanizers. I can honestly say, that it was impossible for me to function as myself and I had to do violence to my own nature just to live in society. I also think satan really targeted us who were raised with Catholic values because as far as dating, it was an obstacle course. Im saying this because younger generations have no idea of the impact of contraception, feminizm and the sexual revolution on women who never dreamed they would have so much trouble finding the One. Now men are trying to turn the tables with a nice clean woman who could hardly exist in the 1970s until now, after they ran roughshod over all of us because The Pill meant they were entitled to sex. I could write a book on this. But there was a thing called Date R*pe in the 80s because many men wouldn't take No for an answer. Chastity was a casualty of all of it. I am very grateful that Our Lady carried me through all of this and led me to my Jesus. But I don't know one woman my age or younger whose life wasn't a total mess, at least for a while, because of the devil's campaign against the family.

[@sitka49]

Sorry to tell this but the sexual revolution did not start in the free-loving 1960s as is commonly thought, It began with the “silent generation” of the 1940s and ‘50s, which as it s says the silent generation implies, didn’t talk much about sex. But U.S. Census Bureau statistics on premarital pregnancy and vital statistics on single motherhood between 1940 and 1960 point to the unexpected conclusion that there was much more sexual activity during those decades than Americans were willing to admit, People didn’t start having sex because Elvis Presley was shaking his hips or because Hugh Hefner came out with Playboy,” the use of census data focusing on premarital pregnancies. After 15 years of Depression and war, there was also a desire on the part of Americans to live in the moment and enjoy life, and they were accordingly less likely to defer to traditional restraints on their behavior.” According to research, the sexual revolution actually began during World War II, which had a great liberalizing effect on values, affecting everything from child-rearing to religion. For example, the proportion of the population that considered alcoholism a disease rather than a moral failing increased from 6 percent in 1944 to more than 60 percent in 1954 and this was all before the pill.

[@mvose2085]

@sitka49 No. The contraceptive movement took hold of the US in 1930 after Lambeth Conference when the Anglican church decided to be in favor of birth control. This swept through every Protestant denomination. The cowardliness of these religious leaders is the reason our country devalues the human persons.

[@mvose2085]

@themysteriousdomainmoviepalace that experience most of have been a heavy cross. I have written numerous theology papers on Humanae vitae (Church’s teaching on contraception) and researched about the mass exodus of the people from the Church after. But rarely do I get to hear a story about someone who remained faithful through it. Praise be to God. But I believe God is doing a great work in the dark times we are in.

[@themysteriousdomainmoviepalace]

​@sitka49 Satan Kinsey wrote his screeds in the 1940s. Actually, you can see the seeds of 1960s in 1950s films like Rebel Without a Cause. Also, my parents were born in the 1930s and their parents had their hay days in the 1920s which were known for hedonism.

[@FreeBirdVince]

Brothers please pray for me that I grow in discipline to stop giving into lust.

[@CatholicBell]

I shall. It is a hard journey, but God’s grace is truly amazing. If you are Catholic, I strongly recommend going to confession. I had not been for a long time while I struggled with lustful sins, but after going again, I felt God’s grace strengthening me in the fight. Don’t get me wrong, the struggle is still present, but you will find yourself more able to fight the temptations. I still need to grow in virtue, but because of the Lord, I am no longer where I once was.

[@FreeBirdVince]

@@CatholicBell Thank you. Yes I have been going to confession weekly for a year now. It feels shameful. But what I am adding now is fasting. I need to take Friday fasts more serious to discipline my flesh.

[@CatholicBell]

@@FreeBirdVince praying the rosary and fasting helped me. Not just fasting from food and drink (which is still good to do) but also fasting from technology - anything I don’t need for work. I know the shame and hurt you feel, but never give up!

[@mvose2085]

There maybe a deeper healing that God wants to do in your life. A heache can be symptom of a much larger issue. For me lust was a symptom of something much large.

[@mvose2085]

“Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing“ by Jay Stringer is a great book to help the journey towards healing.

[@williamroberts34]

"There is another way!! There is a 3rd way!"... yes there is. Great video. Love the 'banging on the piano' analogy. Keep up the great work.

[@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute]

Thank you! Please pray that we may continue to make beautiful music!

[@FrhrVonFalkenstein]

@@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute To be honest, I found it difficult to extract any practical application from these many beautiful and profound sounding sentences you and Matt strung together. My advice, which helped, nay, allowed me to overcome both porn and cannabis addiction was to beg God for the grace of it, desperately beg for it, and to pray the Rosary daily.

[@djacobmadrigal]

Chastity is a virtue the opposite of Lust; Abstinence is a virtue the opposite of gluttony. So when idiots say abstain from sex they are mixing the wrong pairings of virtue/sin.

[@saintjoshua1]

Great job guys, very well put together this one. 👏👏

[@ShiloKehati]

So good! Bless you guys❤

[@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute]

Bless you too!

[@ronaldngure]

This is perhaps one of the richest conversation I have heard from you two. Your carefulness in using words is amazing. I find myself drawn to your rich language of sex and lust and draws me to see the beauty of our bodies and the ugliness of sin and lust

[@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute]

Thank you for your comment Ronald! That's so hopeful. If you'd like to take a deep plunge we'd suggest you check out the full series here: kzbin.info/aero/PLAbqXQaOvkM4UxMiREWkgYmY-PHTEnRtn&si=IptnoqLzJnnC054S

[@ronaldngure]

@@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute I have been following the content.

[@sorcindy]

Giving like before starting because you know is going to be good. 😇😎

[@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute]

Woohoo! Thank you @sorcindy . Please pray for us.

[@markcobuzzi826]

I would like to offer some constructive feedback, regarding Christopher West’s analogy of fast food versus a banquet. I personally have preferred calling “pron” the lead acetate to marital intimacy’s sugar. Lead acetate is a toxic chemical, which happens to have the ability to stimulate the same taste buds as sugar, giving it an outwardly sweet taste. Due to this, people in ancient times have used that as an artificial wine sweetener, not realizing its health hazards. Also, there has been a common narrative, where certain lead paints sometimes contained traces of lead acetate, causing chips of those paints to become especially hazardous to toddlers, who might treat them like pieces of candy to ingest. Overall, I think comparing “pron” to lead acetate is a far better analogy, since those do not provide any of the actual substances our appetites are truly gratified by, whether they be sweet-tooth cravings or a craving for marital intimacy. Instead they merely provide the same outward “taste” of the gratifying substance, by pushing the same sensory buttons, which masks the toxicity. Meanwhile, if Christopher West is comparing it to fast food, I think he is unintentionally giving the wrong implication that “pron” does provide some of that satisfying substance, albeit in a less-than-ideal way. That is, since junk food does technically provide some water/nutrients/calories, making it alright to eat as long as it is in moderation and balanced with more healthy foods. Needless to say, that is not the attitude with which we should approach “pron”. By the way, I also presented another analogy, using “The Dark Crystal” to illustrate authentic chastity. But for some reason, it can only be seen when comments here are sorted by “newest first”.

[@samuelmachado7791]

Amazing 🇵🇹

[@Heracleetus]

If a married couple are still banging on the piano is that a sinful disordered use of the piano that needs to be stopped completely until they're at least capable of playing Mary Had A Little Lamb? Or can they continue to bang away at the keys until their musical skill develops?

[@kateribarry]

To keep strictly to the analogy, to learn to play a song by ear requires a lot of patience and listening, sometimes going quite slow. You're not going to put yourself down for making a mistake as a beginner, but rather be excited to learn from it and keep trying til you find the right note, but it's the careful listening with the goel in mind that finds the right note.

[@krdiaz8026]

If they keep banging - literally and figuratively - on the piano, they will eventually damage it in a way that is different from the usual wear and tear of normal use. So, yes, that is a sinful disordered use of the piano.

[@EduardoMorales-sn4kp]

Thanks y’all. I’ve been struggling lately with the thought of self-mortification being among the only paths to sainthood, and what exactly the point was behind that. Specifically, I struggled with the worry that heaven would be the same blind sacrifices and self-denials we were ordered to make in life, only now that we were expected to somehow enjoy them; that we were expected to believe that infinite self-repression and self-abasement was the only way to please God. This cleared things up a bit. Praise Jesus!

[@joane24]

Mortification and self-denial are simply about following where the Holy Spirits inspires you to go, when your lazy flesh doesn't want to. So it's not about making some crazy things (which sometimes have been done in the past). But it's as simple as choosing to cultivating virtue instead of vice. For example, you're feeling down one day, but you choose to smile to others and be helpful and cheerful for their sake, instead of gloomy and angry. It's small things like that. Sounds easy but it isn't. It's simple, but not easy. And it's not about making 'spiritual gymnastics' but rather following the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So someone might be inspired to fast, but someone else maybe quote opposite, inspired to eat healthy and regularly - all depending on the circumstances of each soul.

[@sitka49]

​​​​@@joane24If your going to wait around until you both are in mood for sex it's probably never going to happen. What I find is if you have 2 people that agree on everything one them probably lying. My wife had 0 sexual interest - when not ovulating ( if she had a list of top 10 things to do- sex was about 20th on that list.) If didn't ask about it, it was never going to happen, but when she started having sex she would enjoy it

[@joane24]

@@sitka49 What? What are you talking about? I wasn't talking a marital act. What?😮 I was answering to the OP, about the mortification and self-denial.

[@sitka49]

​@@joane24If think could apply - denial as part of a sexual act -

[@mvose2085]

Well said. Mortification should be inspired by the Holy Spirit. If not failure and humiliation is sure to come.

[@BibleBlondie]

Everyone at any stage in life is called to chastity! Chastity is the correct moral uprightness of sexuality - we are all called to that standard 🙏

[@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute]

Amen!

[@mamiller1980]

I’m struggling with living a chaste life right now. I lost my wife a few years ago and what wasn’t an issue before has become a huge struggle.

[@soschaugtsaus1957]

bangin on the piano

[@monikap8777]

😂😂😂

[@stelucandk97]

Hi! Is there a place to get those quotes you were reading? Like in order...

[@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute]

Hello! Here's the link to the pdf: drive.google.com/file/d/1_GLlfEc-fjkl4q4gGaJSREp0FjzQ2Wlk/view You can also go through the entire series starting here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/opLQYoWlrd-hnrM

[@stelucandk97]

@@TheologyoftheBodyInstitute wow, thanks!!!

[@Alex-ms9tk]

Mr. West, I need your prayers and opinion! I'm 24 single male who used to workout and was concerned about maxxing my looks. It worked - too well. I was attracting looks and glances from lots of women including some in the church. Other young men around my age were also giving me aggression and mean mugs probably out of jealousy. I'm now in a rut purposely becoming ugly by neglecting my self care and still want to max my gifts before I lose them without causing other people to sin. What should I do?!

[@danjordan901]

How long was ur mew streak?

[@joane24]

1. Don't ever neglect you self care, especially hygiene. 2. I think you're exaggerating the meaning of 'looks and glaces', especially in the context of women. Remember, women don't think the same as men, many men don't realize that and project men's type of thinking on women. Which then leads to comical and sometimes even absurd situations, where for example a girl is talking to a guy and he immediately thinks that she's into him romantically, whether for her it was just being nice and friendly. Keep that difference in mind.

[@Alex-ms9tk]

@@joane24 Eyes widened and a literal gasp in the confession line with her kids is not "just being nice and friendly."

[@joane24]

@@Alex-ms9tk Yeah I still think you're reading too much into it.

[@leekflower1]

Pray for temperance? There's something in between over focusing on self improvement and not doing anything at all.

[@joane24]

To be honest, I can't understand half of what they're talking about, or find it difficult to relate. Maybe it's more relevant to the married people? I had to listen to it twice and still not sure what the main point is. I always thought it's obvious and natural you're supposed to look at the other as a whole person, and it's also related to their dignity and my own as well. To me (as a celibate person) chastity is less about not doing something, but, primarily, about choosing Our Lord, directing the heart towards Him, as the addressee of Love.

[@MonogoMango]

What you just described was discipline. You defined the word discipline so many times in this video.

[@samuelmachado7791]

Question: how to deal with fear of not using contraception? My girlfriend has absolutely no pattern in regard to her menstrual cycle. We want to obey and we have some time until marriage but we are afraid we just get a lot of kids.

[@joane24]

​@@richprlesi1889 He's asking/preparing for _after_ they get married.

[@sitka49]

​@@richprlesi1889that's not what he asked and it doesn't answer question.

[@sitka49]

​​@@richprlesi1889that's not what he asked - I like how the pious puritans go right to the assumption of fornication!

[@richprlesi1889]

@@sitka49 I misread it unfortunately

[@sitka49]

Well considering about 50% pregnancies ( accidents) unplanned - even though most couples using NFP would never admit that they had a ooops pregnancy ( because its gift god. but who likes surprise?) I would have her talk with her Obgyn about irregular periods - and discuss measures to possibly regulate it - and the types bc your going to use - but the fact is with her irregular period it's going to be extremely challenging with NFP - personally I would find the stressful and overwhelming , wondering if every month when your not trying to have another kid?

[@Man--Catholic]

❤🧡💛

[@harleymann2086]

Forgive me, but this is starting to sound so esoteric it makes it difficult to measure ones development. Nevertheless, I always love pints.

[@peterboer3808]

They are using similes and metaphors. Why does it sound esoteric to you? And how do you measure virtuous behaviour?

[@veronicarowe3960]

Can u not say The b word it's a sin to sweAr

[@Believers49]

Hallelujah!!! I’m favored and blessed with $60,000 every week! Now I can afford anything and also support the work of God and the church.

[@BrendelandFerre]

Oh really? Tell me more!

[@Believers49]

This is what Ana Graciela Blackwelder does, she has changed my life.

[@Believers49]

After raising up to 60k trading with her, I bought a new house and car here in the US and also paid for my son’s (Oscar) surgery. Glory to God.shalom.

[@BishoppKozik]

I know Ana Graciela Blackwelder, and I have also had success...

[@BishoppKozik]

Absolutely! I have heard stories of people who started with little or no knowledge but managed to emerge victorious thanks to Ana Graciela Blackwelder.