An act of sexual union which truly and honestly expresses total and life-long and exclusive union between a man and woman is also an act which is open to new life in a child. If the act is deliberately prevented from being open to new life, this can only be by the introduction of some barrier or separation into the life-giving act. But deliberately to introduce separation into an act which intends and says total union is a failure in truth. There are other dimensions of meaning in the language of sexual union which are related to these basic meanings. It carries the promise of seeing life through together with each other.
Sexual union is only one part of the total language of sexuality.
Man and woman are sexual beings through and through. Their masculinity or femininity affects all of their modes of being and the whole of their relationships with one another. Sexual union should be a special moment in a whole conversation of love between husband and wife. This conversation is carried on by words, by letters, by signs and by silences. It is also carried on by acts of thoughtfulness, attentiveness, remembrance and concern.