LoveEd: Inspiring young children to embrace to know, embrace self-giving love

When we look around the world, we see unending beauty. From snowy mountain peaks to crystal-blue waters to breathtaking natural landscapes and more, we are surrounded by the beauty given to us by our creator. But the most beautiful thing we have is our ability to love others. To truly love others. This is a gift that we should not only cherish but also foster and protect. It is this gift that is nurtured in a program called LoveEd.

LoveEd is more than a Catholic sex education program. It is a beautiful way for parents and children to comfortably discuss sexuality in the context of Church teaching. As the website explains, it “is a Catholic book/video resource that assists parents in teaching their children about God’s plan for life, love, sexuality, relationships, and purity.”

This is so needed today, as we live in a world that regularly invites organizations such as Planned Parenthood into classrooms and that teaches kids to do whatever makes them happy or feel good. This harmful attitude corrupts children, encourages them to see sexuality as a fun pastime rather than as something beautiful and self-giving, and gets them hooked on birth control.

Then, when that fails, it often leads to abortion. These offenses against the dignity of the person result in the devaluing of others, which is antithetical to self-giving love.

Thus, it’s crucial to teach kids from the time they are young that their bodies are special and unique, that they are valuable, and that giving themselves to someone to use (or using someone) for pleasure may result in momentary happiness, but it can never lead to true happiness. In fact, it will eventually result in emptiness.

A program for families

Created by Coleen Kelly Mast, LoveEd encompasses both Catholic teaching and accurate science, and it beautifully teaches pre-adolescents and adolescents how their bodies function, that God loves all His children, and that every person has value. It strives to create strong children who can grow to create strong, faith-filled families.

Mast, no stranger to teaching kids the beauty and importance of chastity, is a family life and chastity expert who has spent most of her adult career teaching these subjects to adolescents, authoring books, and even debating Planned Parenthood. She knows how to reach children.

In a phone interview, Coleen shared that she wrote LoveEd at the request of her bishop and is now partnering with the John Paul II Renewal Center to make the program more widely available.

LoveEd is a six-week program that is usually hosted by a church or school. It begins with a parent meeting to acquaint them with what they will be discussing with their children. All parents receive an instruction book plus a book geared toward their child’s age and sex. The program contains four books: two for each sex, ages 9-11 and 12-14, so kids can grow with the program. After that first meeting, parents and their same-sex child read the text together at home and then attend the remaining six meetings together to watch and discuss the videos.

Coleen explained that LoveEd “empowers the relationship” between the parent and child, which is why it’s important for a father to participate in the program with his son and a mother to participate in the program with her daughter.

Theology of the body

One of the most beautiful things about this program is that it’s based on St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. From September 1979 through November 1984, the Holy Father gave his Wednesday talks on subjects such as marriage as a sacrament, the gift of the human body, adultery, celibacy, contraception, motherhood, the difference between love and lust, and more, and they were compiled into a completed work now known as Theology of the Body.

Rooted in John Paul’s words, LoveEd “combines the beautiful teachings of the Catholic Church with scientific truth to teach children what they need to know at appropriate age levels” with a goal of raising children who are “strong, smart, and pure.”

Coleen stated that the program aims to keep children “innocent but not ignorant,” in that it teaches them age-appropriate information without presenting too much too soon. It does so with beautiful language and delicate illustrations meant to build the child up and give him or her confidence in these teachings. The program teaches that our purpose in life is to bring God’s love into the world. Examples include proper terms and scientific information about the ways our bodies work, why marriage should be between one man and one woman, and that the sexual act, referred to as the “marriage act” because it belongs in the marriage, is both unitive and procreative.

As the parent book states, “Love is the willingness to sacrifice oneself for the good of others. Love is not simply a feeling. The feeling of romance can lead to love, but it is not love itself.” When kids understand this, they are more likely to live this as they grow and build their own families.

Additionally, the children’s books foster communication between the parent and the child through real-life scenarios and thoughtful questions to discuss. Coleen explained, “Having these private conversations initiated by the video and the book gives the parent that power for the child to respond to it in their own unique way but yet gives them the guidance they need that’s directly from the Church.”

LoveEd truly puts the love into Catholic sex education as it teaches authentic love and seeks to form children into adults who understand their bodies and who understand the great gift of self in our relationship with others and with our spouse. It teaches that truth in a profoundly beautiful way that will stay with children for years to come and that will build the foundation they need to combat a world that views sex as merely an extracurricular activity.