{"id":26007,"date":"2023-03-23T10:43:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T15:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=26007"},"modified":"2023-03-23T10:43:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T15:43:57","slug":"capital-sin-5-lust-oh-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/capital-sin-5-lust-oh-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"Capital Sin #5: Lust. Oh boy!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wow, where do we start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with God\u2019s idea for sex. God invented sex. There needed to be an energy, a force of nature, that would be so powerful that it would ensure the survival of an animal species and the human race. Genesis commands man and woman to \u201cbe fruitful, and multiply. Fill the earth . . . \u201c. To do this, nature has equipped the sexual drive with an exquisite pleasure that accompanies the sexual act. Yay God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far so good. But, side by side with this wonderful plan is man\u2019s habit of taking things too far. This \u201ctoo far\u201d is called Lust. The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us, \u201cThe disorder proper to the sin of lust is found primarily in the failure of the natural appetite for sexual pleasure to be guided by man\u2019s reason\u201d. One might say, \u201cit\u2019s my body, I\u2019ll pleasure it however I like.\u201d Or, \u201cIf it feels good, it can\u2019t be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seeking of sexual pleasure for itself alone defeats the purpose of the gift of sexuality. Catholic moral teaching (Vatican II) tells us the essence of human sexuality is twofold: 1. To bring forth new human life (\u201cbe fruitful and multiply\u201d) and 2. To unite the man and woman in a covenant of love and community of life. To act in accord with God\u2019s plan for us brings the happiness of being in right relationship with what God created us to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s get real. We need help with our sexual desire. Who of us hasn\u2019t at some point been blinded by the power of sexual pleasure? Young people especially feel this energy in them as they make their way toward maturity. Nervousness, anxiety, social media, and peer pressure can all influence their sexual behavior. What help does our Faith offer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a virtue called Chastity (or Temperance). It is given to us by the Holy Spirit. It is a grace that enables us to live our sexuality according to \u201cright reason\u201d. (Right reason is our knowledge of and participation in the source of all reason . . . God).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But get ready. This recognition of how things ought to be, requires an apprenticeship in self\u0016mastery. We must train ourselves to be free from acting out of habit or compulsion. With- out the discipline of our eyes, our imagination, our relationships, we can become slaves to a self\u0016seeking pleasure that de- faces our integrity as human beings. \u201cThe alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he let\u2019s himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.\u201d CCC.2339<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key to this \u201cself\u0016-mastery\u201d is self\u0016-knowledge and prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-\u0016knowledge – – – come on, you know in your bones when something is wrong. It feels dark. It wants to hide. It\u2019s secret. It\u2019s not love. (If you don\u2019t recognize this about pornography, or hooking up, or lustful looking, you\u2019ve lost something of your beauty as a proper lover.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer. Okay, you know it\u2019s the right way to act but sometimes you just don\u2019t have the will to do it. We\u2019ve all been there. The devil comes in big time here to tell us it\u2019s impossible to resist the power of lust. He\u2019s a liar. And he hates it when we keep trying to be chaste even when we fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s where prayer calls out to God. \u201cLook Lord, you gave me this body, with these hormones, with these desires. I know how awesome they are. But Lord, they\u2019re so strong help me to use them as you intended. Because in the end I know this is the way to happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t give up. Ten thousand times. God loves you and will answer your prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re beautiful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Tim<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow, where do we start? Let\u2019s start with God\u2019s idea for sex. God invented sex. There needed to be an energy, a force of nature, that would be so powerful that it would ensure the survival of an animal species and the human race. Genesis commands man and woman to \u201cbe fruitful, and multiply. Fill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26009,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007\/revisions\/26009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}