Can't Stop?

[JCMeg56]

This is one I struggled with upon becoming Catholic and learning it was indeed a mortal sin. As a Protestant I thought of it as minor because I was not dragging another person into sin with me). I found that reciting the rosary out loud when the temptation began arising in me helped immensely. I also learned to sternly rebuke the voice in my head that wanted to rationalize away the severity of the sin. This became easier and easier as I received counsel in the confessional and became aware of how our personal sin tears at the fabric of the Church itself and grieves the Holy Spirit. I now visualize the communion of the saints and summon them to be with me when I am alone during peaks in my hormonal drive (happens every month like clockwork), especially St Augustine who also struggled with lust for years. WE ARE NOT ALONE! We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are watching and cheering us on to victory! You can do this!

 

[JCMeg56]

This is one I struggled with upon becoming Catholic and learning it was indeed a mortal sin. As a Protestant I thought of it as minor because I was not dragging another person into sin with me). I found that reciting the rosary out loud when the temptation began arising in me helped immensely. I also learned to sternly rebuke the voice in my head that wanted to rationalize away the severity of the sin. This became easier and easier as I received counsel in the confessional and became aware of how our personal sin tears at the fabric of the Church itself and grieves the Holy Spirit. I now visualize the communion of the saints and summon them to be with me when I am alone during peaks in my hormonal drive (happens every month like clockwork), especially St Augustine who also struggled with lust for years. WE ARE NOT ALONE! We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are watching and cheering us on to victory! You can do this!
Be a daily communicant and have a robust prayer life, too. After I had an ecstatic experience in prayer that lasted nearly two hours, I realized how puny in comparison are the pleasures of this world. I am coming to find consolation in nothing and no one but Christ now. The desire to engage in anything that would compromise my connection to Him is atrophying within me in direct proportion to the time I spend contemplating His holy countenance. The Apostle Paul says “…we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of The Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).