Sex and the Spiritual Life: Reclaiming Integrity, Wholeness, and Intimacy

Winner of a third-place award in the morality, ethics, Christology, Mariology, and redemption category from the Catholic Media Association.

Sex and the Spiritual Life will help you understand that you can experience fulfillment through sexual integrity--a way of life that affirms the presence of God and the sacred in our sexual feelings and expressions. You'll hear from a selection of Catholic men and women--married, clergy, religious, and single--whose stories will inspire and equip you to reclaim the joy and wholeness of sexual integrity.

Addressing sexuality across a wide range of vocations, challenges, and experiences, each of the contributors to Sex and the Spiritual Life reflects upon living out the Church's teachings about human sexuality with integrity as a means to achieving spiritual maturity. All those who want to experience the benefits of sexual integrity will be inspired by their witness, and benefit from their practical advice. Contributors include Patricia Cooney Hathaway; Timothy P. O'Malley; Deacon James Keating; Susan Muto; Eve Tushnet; Fr. John Riccardo; and Sr. Sarah Fairbanks, O.P.; as well as clinical specialists in addictions and marriage and family life.

In this groundbreaking book, you will find insights into the following topics:

• the relationship between sexual integrity and spiritual growth
• how the wounds of sexual abuse and addiction can be healed
• the link between sexual and spiritual intimacy in marriage
• how young adults can receive the formation they need to discover their vocations, navigate the complexities of being single, and live in community
• how spiritual friendship informs faithful living within the homosexual community
• the role of sexual desire in the lives of clergy and religious

This is a much-needed book for thoughtful Catholics to help them reclaim sexuality as a positive, joyful component of the human experience and to present a path of healing and hope for those who need to chart a new course.

Patricia Cooney Hathaway is a professor of spirituality and systematic theology and the chairperson of the licentiate in sacred theology degree committee at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where she has worked since 1987. She is the author of the award-winning book Weaving Faith and Experience. She also serves as the associate editor of Human Development Magazine.

Cooney Hathaway earned a doctorate of philosophy specializing in systemic theology, spirituality, and human and spiritual development from Catholic University of America, where she also received a master of arts degree in religious studies. She has a bachelor of arts degree in English from Marygrove College and also earned a certificate of spiritual direction from the Consortium of Theological Colleges and Universities. Cooney Hathaway is a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and Spiritual Directors International. She is also the recipient of the Life Directions Founders' Lifetime Achievement Award and The Splendor of Truth Award from the Catholic Lawyers Guild. Her work has appeared in publications including Mosaic, Human Development Magazine, Seminary Journal, and America. Cooney Hathaway speaks throughout the United States and Canada.

She lives with her family in Detroit, Michigan.

Rev. John Riccardo is executive director of Acts XXIX and the host of Christ is the Answer on EWTN radio. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.