You shall not

commit adultery.
Ex 20:14; Dt 5:17

The Sixth Commandment

seems simple and direct.
It forbids married persons
from entering into sexual
union with someone other
than their spouse.

But for the ancient Israelites,

this Commandment had more
social significance than sexual.
Its aim was to protect the
family, the absolutely
necessary basis for society.

The family and marriage were

viewed directly in terms of the
two Genesis creation narratives.
God created man male and
female so that man would not be
alone (cf. Gn 2:18), and to
multiply and fill the earth
(cf Gn 1:27f).

Sexuality, therefore, is for

both human completeness
and procreation.

Thus while focusing on the

specific relationship of
marriage, the sixth
commandment actually touches
upon the very nature of human
sexuality, the entire range of
man-woman relationships, and
our common vocation to love
and communion.
(cf. CCC 2331)

The first thing to be made

clear to every Christian
Filipino is the difference
between sexuality in
general, and the sex act.

Sexuality is today understood in

a more complete and integral
sense than in the past when the
focus was almost completely on
the sex act. Today sexuality
signifies an essential
dimension of the whole
person, by aspect of personal
life, and has to be developed by
all men and women just as life
itself must be.
(NCDP 287; cf. CCC 2332)

This wider meaning of

sexuality is reaffirmed by the
Sacred Congregation for

Sexuality is a fundamental
component of personality, one of
its modes of being, of
manifestation, of communicating
with others, of feeling, of
expressing and of living human
love. Therefore it is an integral
part of the development of the
personality.
(EGHL 4)

It is, in fact, from sex that the

human person receives the
characteristics which, on the
biological, psychological and
spiritual levels, makes that
person a man or a woman, and
thereby largely condition his or
her progress toward maturity
and insertion into society.
(DCSE 1)

The basis for this wider

understanding of human
sexuality is, of course,
creation. Man and woman
constitute two modes of
imaging God and they fully
accomplish such a vocation
not only as single persons,
but also as couples, which are
communities of love.
(cf. EGHL 26)

The first consequence of this

fundamental truth of creation is
that in creating the human race
male and female God gives
man and woman an equal
personal dignity, endowing
them with the inalienable rights
and responsibilities proper to
the human person.
(FC 22; cf. CCC 2335)

But this equality as persons

does not entail any unisex
sameness that denies all
distinctiveness of the sexes.

On the contrary, the second

consequence of Gods creative
action is that by their distinctive
sexuality, man and woman are
both different and
complementary, not only in their
physical and biological being, but
reaching down to the depth of
their moral and spiritual being.
(cf. CCC 2333)

This complementary is the

ground for a third
consequence: man and
woman are called to mutual
gift of self, to a reciprocity.
(cf. EGHL 24 )

By and through our sexuality we are

called to live in a positive
complementary relationship with one
another. The partnership of man and
woman constitutes the first form of
communion between persons (GS 12),
and constitutes the basic form of our cohumanity.

Sexuality, oriented, elevated and integrated by

love, acquires truly human quality. Prepared
by biological and psychological development,
it grows harmoniously and is achieved in the
full sense only with the realization of affective
maturity, which manifests itself in unselfish
love and in the total gift of self
(EGHL 6)

John Paul II develops this in Familiaris

Consortio by relating creation directly
with love. For love is the key to: 1God,
the personal loving Creator, 2His
creating act through love, and 3the
human persons created in His likeness
precisely as man and woman for love.

God is love and in Himself He lives a mystery

of personal loving communion. Creating the
human race in His own image through love,
and at the same time for love God
inscribed in the humanity of man and
woman the vocation, and thus the capacity
and responsibility, of love and communion.
(FC 11)

But the affective live proper to each sex expresses

itself in ways characteristic of the different states
in life. They are: 1conjugal union for married
persons; 2consecrated celibacy chosen freely
for the sake of the Kingdom of God; 3Christian
youths before choosing marriage or celibacy; and
4single blessedness chosen by lay faithful.
(cf. EGHL 33)

But in every case, each one of us, man or

woman, is called to a life of love which channels
the gift of our sexuality and its energies into
positive, supporting relationships. Such
relationships build up a wholesome community
wherein all persons are called and helped to
express their personal uniqueness through their
sexuality, integrated within their very persons.

By word and example, Jesus revealed

the true nature of our human
sexuality and of marriage. More
importantly, through his own
Resurrection, Jesus redeemed our
whole persons, with all our instincts,
powers and relationships, including our
sexuality.

Vatican II brings out this

redemptive force of Christs
love:

Authentic married love is caught up into

divine love and is directed and enriched
by Christs redeeming power and the
saving activity of the Church. Thus the
spouses are effectively led to God and
are helped and strengthened in their
lofty role as fathers and mother.
(GS 48)

Sexuality and marriage, then, are

not just biological facts for Christians.
Rather, renewed by God's love
through Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit,
they are a real personal power and a
perduring state for love, a love
which develops, heals, and creates.

In the light of the mystery of

Christ, sexuality appears to us
as a vocation to realize that love
which the Holy Spirit instills in
the hearts of the redeemed.
(EGHL 30)

The Sixth Commandment,

then when viewed through the
eyes of faith in the Risen
Christ, far from restricting us,
actually liberates from two
tyrannies.

The first is the tyranny of

puritanical attitudes and
misguided taboos regarding
sexuality.

The second is the tyranny of

indecency promoted by the
so-called new morality that
exalts casual sex while
rejecting commitment and
moral obligation.

In rejecting fornication, and the forced

violation of sexual integrity in rape, the
Commandment is clearly protecting the
personal dignity of both men and
women, and recalling their social
responsibility against scandalizing the
young.
(cf. CCC 2353, 2356)

For the married, the

commandment enjoins a free
and responsible fidelity to
a conjugal union that is
life-long.
(cf. CCC 2364f)

This means, first, a joining of

a man and a woman in the
fullness of their personal lives
a real, complete communion
at all levels.

Secondly, it means a
permanent, enduring bond
that is for keeps.

That is why it is right that the total giving

of self in sexual intercourse be reserved
for this state of marriage as a permanent
covenantal bond of personal love. For
only within such a communion does
sexual union take on its full meaning and
become truly human and creative.

The high human costs of adultery

and of divorce are often covered up
by the phrases like having an
affair. In reality, adultery gravely
injures the life and character of the
individual married persons involved,
as well as of the community.

Commitments are broken, suspicion

and anger aroused, personal trust
betrayed, relationships destroyed,
children threatened and the whole
social fabric of the community
weakened.
(cf. CCC 2380-86)

Despite all sexist propaganda in the mass

media, real human freedom and love are not
found in the free sex. In rejecting polygamy,
incest, and uncommitted free unions (livingin), the Commandment guides us away from
such false, ruinous attempts to fulfill our
yearning for true love and communion.
(cf. CCC 2387-90)

But Christ is ever mindful of our human

frailty, and the many temptations
constantly bombarding us. His grace is
ever present. Gods fidelity to the
Covenant holds firm and with it our
human covenants; in them alone will we
find our true human freedom and love.