I recently read an article entitled, Devout Catholics Have Better Sex, Study Says. And so say churchgoing Christians in the eighteen to fifty-nine age range, according to the National Health and Social Life Survey. The main reason behind these stimulating results is that couples who attend church together on a regular basis, especially weekly, feel more loved during intercourse than couples surveyed who rarely or never attend church together.
Click here to read the article.
As this article is posted, I'm midway through my honeymoon, and I can attest to the connection between a strong devotion to God and the expression of unconditional love in married life.
There was a time that I struggled to get to Sunday Mass each week, and, during that time, the main emotions I remember feeling were loneliness, abandonment, and complacency. But doesn't it make sense that the more a person is open and willing to receive God's love that she would begin to feel less lonely and more comforted, less abandoned and more wanted, less complacent and more inspired? When spouses participate together in the sacraments of church, experience the community-mindedness that is promoted in a parish, and especially when they partake in the Eucharist, they are given real and tangible reminders of Christ's life-giving sacrifice and proof of just how much they are are loved.
And if we begin in church to understand how we are loved by God, how much more could we imitate that through the love we show others, especially to our spouses? How much more could we be totally open and giving of ourselves to each other through our actions (especially sex) when we truly understand what love is and what it was meant to convey?
When I know and believe just how much I am loved by God, I feel a complete, selfless compassion. That is the feeling I want to share in all aspects and actions of married life. And that is where sex becomes a gift that spouses can freely, openly, and lovingly give to each other. And each time that gift, given in love, is received with the same love, we see Christ's love, learned in Mass, reflected in each other, and it is no wonder devout Christians have the best sex.
Photo: Evelyn Vaughn Photography
Written by: Erika Rose is West Michigan Woman magazine's staff writer. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism. Erika was born and raised in West Michigan, and after a brief stint on the sunrise side, she's home and loving it.
