May we share the same hotel room?

[bookgirl]

My boyfriend and I are both 29 years old, in a very serious relationship, and have been successful at waiting for marriage. We’ve gone on several vacations together and always managed to find hotels where we could stay in a suite, meaning that there were seperate sections to the hotel room, even if we were in one room. We are going on a weekend trip to the apple orchards near our town, and there are only the conventional hotel rooms available. Considering how committed we are to waiting, would it be wrong for us to share a room, but of course sleep in seperate beds, for one night?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear BG,

I commend the two of you for respecting each other by waiting for your wedding night. There is another consideration that is pertinent here, however. It is the matter of the witness you are giving. Most others who know that you are spending the night together don’t know that you are being celibate. This includes hotel personnel as well as casual acquaintances. One could say that it is none of their business. Whether it is their business or not, the fact remains that by your example you are either speaking for Christian values or you are not. The world is either better for our example or it is worse for it. And we never know how much we affect others by how they perceive us.

Stay in separate rooms!

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.