Through my struggles with purity and active sharing of TOB, I often get questions like:
Why? Whats the benefit?
Why should man curtail his freedom?
Why shouldn't we indulge our own passions?
Why should man curtail his freedom?
Why shouldn't we indulge our own passions?
And from my own experience I say the answer to these whys is this often misconstrued term, freedom.
Sexual immorality is but an enslavement. The more we indulge it, the more emaciated it leaves us, the more unsatisfied, the more empty, the more compulsively wanting to fill up that vacuum. Its literally an enslavement that consumes us and everything good about us. It takes hold of our life and makes us unfit to experience the real joy of life.
In the words of St John Paul II,
"Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love. . . Deep within yourself, listen to your conscience which calls you to be pure . . . a home is not warmed by the fire of pleasure which burns quickly like a pile of withered grass. Passing encounters are only a caricature of love; they injure hearts and mock God's plan."
"Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love. . . Deep within yourself, listen to your conscience which calls you to be pure . . . a home is not warmed by the fire of pleasure which burns quickly like a pile of withered grass. Passing encounters are only a caricature of love; they injure hearts and mock God's plan."
I know purity can seem like a useless struggle but it isn't. Its like the athlete training which enables one to enjoy the joy of being able to complete a marathon or the simple mundane stretching routine which helps you to be able to bend over and touch the ground. The process may make you sweat but the end result, a pure person- heart, mid and soul, will be worth it. You will find your self -esteem flourishing. You will find yourself fearless. You will begin to see yourself and others as we were made by the author of life - fearfully and wonderfully.
St Paul puts its beautifully in 1 Corinthians 6: 12 (on sexual immorality) "Everything is lawful for me" -but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is lawful for me," but I will not let myself be dominated by anything.
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). It seems no little coincidence to me that the Holy Spirit is often symbolized as a pure white free bird. Because purity and freedom are the cause and effect.
Therefore, dear one, lets strive for purity in thought, word and deed.
Its never too late. No matter what we have done in the past. Porn, masturbation, fornication, indulgence of lustful fantasies, incest, adultery, whatever form it has taken shape in our life, we can still be redeem if we only say yes to our redeemer-Jesus.
I v started on this journey towards purity and I find the hardest is purity at the thought level. But I pray constantly without ceasing (1 Thessalonian 5:16). I ask Him, each time I sit before Him in the blessed sacrament and each time I receive Him in Holy communion to heal me of my disordered attractions. I pray the Rosary and ask Mama Mary, the model of perfect purity, to pray for me. Our Lord is moving me forward. At times I manage a large step forward followed by a slip backward but on I go. Come, Lord Jesus Come.
I v started on this journey towards purity and I find the hardest is purity at the thought level. But I pray constantly without ceasing (1 Thessalonian 5:16). I ask Him, each time I sit before Him in the blessed sacrament and each time I receive Him in Holy communion to heal me of my disordered attractions. I pray the Rosary and ask Mama Mary, the model of perfect purity, to pray for me. Our Lord is moving me forward. At times I manage a large step forward followed by a slip backward but on I go. Come, Lord Jesus Come.
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