{"id":7073,"date":"2017-03-17T07:28:52","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T12:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=7073"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:41:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:41:32","slug":"celibate-living-in-a-sex-obsessed-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2017\/03\/17\/celibate-living-in-a-sex-obsessed-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Celibate Living in a Sex-Obsessed Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

Driving home from another ministry excursion, I pass billboard after billboard saying there are sex shops nearby. With each sighting, my stomach turns with sickness, my face falls into a frown. I am tempted to ignore the anguish, to shield my thoughts, to avoid that which feels judgmental and ugly within me.<\/p>\n

Instead, I take a deep breath and offer a prayer for healing and conversion: may all people revere every other human as sacred and holy. I wonder, though, what else does Christ need me to do with the frequent reminder that our culture has an unhealthy obsession with sex?<\/p>\n

My haunted mind wanders as I continue to drive toward home. I remember when I was first introduced to what sex was made to be about, while huddled into a tiny rectory living room with other college students. Crowded together, a bunch of us awkwardly stared into…<\/p>\n

[This is the beginning of an essay I wrote for The Mudroom<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0<\/em>Continue reading\u00a0here<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Driving home from another ministry excursion, I pass billboard after billboard saying there are sex shops nearby. With each sighting, my stomach turns with sickness, my face falls into a frown. I am tempted to ignore the anguish, to shield my thoughts, to avoid that which feels judgmental and ugly within me. Instead, I take...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":7138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115341],"tags":[86090,20786359,20271,154513,214,698755374,401,57359,154511391,7816,3785,34941365,137119,534203,10254,15497784,163939,99164],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-7073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-and-justice-equity-and-justice","tag-being-single","tag-catholic-sisters","tag-celibacy","tag-chastity","tag-christianity","tag-community","tag-faith","tag-formation","tag-franciscan-sisterhood","tag-god","tag-love","tag-relationship-2","tag-religious-life","tag-sex-industry","tag-sexuality","tag-the-mudroom","tag-theology-of-the-body","tag-vocation","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/new-york-948165_1920.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Celibate Living in a Sex-Obsessed Society<\/a><\/blockquote>