God created sex to speak a very specific language—the language of self donation, of “I give myself to you forever.”

"To give your body to another person symbolizes the total gift of yourself to that person." ~ St. John Paul II

Sex speaks the language of marriage.

Part of that language, and the subject I’d like to pick up today, is found in the way God designed our hormones. During sexual activity, the brain releases large amounts of a powerful hormone called oxytocin.

Superglue of the heart

I’ve known about oxytocin for years, and I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching its effects. I knew that it causes forgetfulness and a decreased ability to think rationally, and that it causes a strong emotional attachment to form between the two people involved. Oxytocin has been called the “superglue of the heart.”

What I didn’t know, and I just recently discovered, is that oxytocin also causes a person to experience strong feelings of trust in his or her partner. Trust. It doesn’t matter if the person involved is actually trustworthy, or whether or not they have done anything to earn that trust. The feelings just show up.

Is it just me, or does anyone else see how all of this could be problematic in dating?

The general purpose of dating, as I understand it, is supposed to be to figure out a) if you want to get married, and b) if so, to whom. Basically, it’s interviewing for the job of spouse. Since that’s a pretty important decision, it seems to me that one would need, above all, to have a clear mind throughout the process. You need to see the other person honestly and objectively—as he or she really is.

Sex in a dating relationship

Sex in a dating relationship is going to seriously compromise that process. Sexual activity, as we saw above, causes people to be forgetful, decreases their ability to think rationally, and forms a bond and feelings of trust between them. How objective will they be after all of that?

Have you ever looked at a couple and thought “Why does she stay with him when he treats her so badly?” Or “Why does he trust her when she’s so obviously playing him?” Or, worse yet, have you ever seen one of those 20/20 shows where they profile the wealthy woman who was scammed by the charming con man?

That’s oxytocin at work.

The breakup ...

The breakup of a sexual relationship can be devastatingly painful. God intended this bond to be permanent, to speak the language of “I give myself to you, forever.” It binds two people whom He has joined together ‘til death do they part. It was never intended for temporary or conditional relationships. And when those relationships end, it’s the emotional equivalent of divorce. The superglue of the heart tears apart, and it’s never a clean tear. Pieces of her heart stay with him, and vice versa. And, over time, all of this bonding and breaking creates a certain level of emotional “scar tissue” that makes it more difficult for couples to bond within marriage.

This doesn’t just affect teenagers. It applies to all of us. When somebody comes to me, crying, after I’ve given a talk on chastity, it’s always about this. There is enormous pain out there—not only among singles of all ages, but also among the married who are still struggling with their pre-marital experiences. I suspect there is more than a little experience with this—and more than a little pain—across the the single Catholic community. I will tell you what I tell the others—that there is always hope and healing in Christ.

Why the Church's teaching makes sense to me

One of the main reasons I fell in love with the Church’s message on chastity all those years ago was the freedom that it offered. Freedom to live our dating lives without this kind of pain. Freedom to determine what God is calling us to in life, and freedom to respond. Freedom to get out of relationships that aren’t working out, and freedom to find the right one—no matter how long that might take.

And the more I learn, the truer that is. God’s way is the best way.

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