As far as confirming with preists: if you ask 10 different preists, you’ll get 10 different answers. For this reason, I refer to the opinions of experts in moral theology, like any interview I can listen to of Cardinal Muller, G. P. Gury, St. Alphonsus’s moral theology, the National Catholic Bioethics Center. I listen to anyone that I can find who is an expert in theology, especially professors like Stephen A. Long, Saints, and the Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith. I have especially been intensely studying Denzinger, a compendium of Magisterial decrees since the Apasolic Age.
As far as the quote in question: Saint Alphonsus says it in a black and white way,
in a moment. There, is no way to misinterpret. He says resist “
immediately.”
Also, note my position all along has been that we may only be fully culpable, with sufficient knowledge and consent, of only a
small percentage of our complacencies and lustful thoughts. But since a small percentage of a very, very large number, is still “large,” we can still very well be culpable of so many mortal sins that we cannot count the number that we committed the next time that we go to confession.
I said “can,” not “guaranteed.” Also, we do not know how God’s infinite Mercy interacts with his infinite Justice. It is possible that even if we are culpable of many, many mortal sins, we can still be forgiven with true sorrow. I didn’t say every single complacency was a mortal sin, rather, that it is very possible to have sufficient consent and knowledge to be a mortal sin (even from only a moment.) Therefore, we must be constantly vigilant and ready to resist temptations (no day dreaming). Saint Alphonsus’s advice: Beseech God and pray as often as possible.
Also, Saint Alphonsus loves this quote from the Bible: work out your salvation in fear and trembling.
But St. Alphonsus’s tone is only one path to Holiness, among many.
And I agree, his tone is not optimal for evangelization. But we must “operate” with vigilance at all times. But remember, there are many equally valid paths to Holiness. Take Pope Francis’s tone for example