I was blessed to teach 7th & 8th grade for three years and high school for ten. While I taught many different religious classes, the course I always taught was Catholic morality (which was also my favorite).

Obviously one of the major components of a morality class is to teach the concept, importance, and practice of chastity…to teenagers.

But there is a mistake people make in teaching chastity that many times we make in evangelization.

When teaching teens chastity, we many times stress that waiting till marriage will be worth it. That it will be beautiful to be able to give yourself completely to your spouse on your wedding night.

Let us be clear, those things are most certainly true! However, let me explain what a teenager is hearing: “You want me to wait ‘forever’ to have sex.”

They are hearing this because they have been raised in a culture that promises instant gratification for anything that they desire. Plus, our average marrying age is 25 and heading north. Plus, plus, we have now run into the problem of even defining what marriage is.

All of this equals: “You want me to wait ‘forever’ to have sex.” Hence, for most teenagers this becomes an arbitrary and unreasonable suggestion.

After I realized this is what my students were hearing, I knew I had to offer more then just a “Promise” of happiness.

Chastity gives us happiness NOW.

“Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy” (CCC 2339).

So, living the virtue of Chastity will make us happy in the future and TODAY!!!

There is more to teaching this nuance of Chastity but that is not the point of this reflection.

My point is that I fear we many times make the same mistake when sharing the Christian Faith. When we share the Gospel, are we just sharing a “Promise of eternal happiness.”

Again, that is true, HEAVEN IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!

But what unbelievers hear is: “So you want me to live an austere life of denying myself the pleasures and comforts the world offers so I can die and then be happy.” Again, for many this is arbitrary and unreasonable.

Christianity certainly entails the promise of eternal bliss, but Christ can give us a happiness NOW.

As St. Paul stated, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:4-7).

Paul is speaking in the present tense. Christians possess a supernatural peace and joy that the world does not have. A peace and joy that can be known even in the mist of the difficulties and suffering of this world.

So, when we evangelize, are we offering a “Promise or Now?” You guessed it, we are offering the PROMISE of happiness in eternity AND an authentic joy right NOW.

It is not easy, but I know this is why I am so excited about being a Catholic Christian and want to share with everyone I can.