YOUCAT Lesson 387
YOUCAT the catechism
for Catholic youth
387 How should we treat our
body?
The Fifth Commandment forbids also the use of violence
against one’s own body. Jesus expressly
demands that we accept and love ourselves: “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
St. Paul wrote: “Do you not know that your bodies are
members of Christ? Shall I then take Christ’s members and make them the members
of a prostitute? Of course not! [Or] do you not know that
anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For “the
two,” it says, “will become one flesh.” But whoever is joined to
the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every
other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins
against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple* of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have
from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at
a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.”--1 Corinthians 6:15-20 ….. 387
Self-destructive acts against one’s own body (“body
piercings”, cutting and so on) are in most cases psychological reactions to
experiences of abandonment and a lack of love; hence they call first and
foremost for our sincere and loving response.
Within the context of organ donation (while living), it must be made
clear, however, that there is no human right to destroy one’s own God-given
body. 379
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