Committing adultery in your heart

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We know Jesus’s words about this. Jesus said “he who looks” but I assume this also includes such thoughts when you dwell on them. Can such thoughts or “adultery in your heart” be mortal sin too like actual physical adultery?
 
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Well, yeah…That’s pretty basic catechism right there…
 
Can you point me to where it mentions thoughts in the Catechism?
Genuine question, thank you.
 
My thought, you’d have to follow through with it to be a sin. I’d be burning in hell right now if I acted on everything I envied or desired but shouldn’t have.
 
Lee1 said:
Can you point me to where it mentions thoughts in the Catechism?
Genuine question, thank you.
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It has to be more than just a thought. Think of it like this… if you are fantasizing about it in your thoughts, then it’s sinful. If your thoughts make you aroused, then it would be sinful.
 
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  1. Grave matter - check
  2. Full Knowledge - check
  3. Deliberate Consent - in the scenario put forth by the OP “such thoughts when you dwell on them” checks the consent box
 
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. Matthew 5: 27-30
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Jesus wasn’t speaking about looking at a woman, or even desiring her, which is natural, but looking at her with “lust.” Lust isn’t sexual attraction of itself, but the desire for sexual dominance and control over the person for the sake of self. There is no love for the other person desired in lust.

As the next verses state, Jesus isn’t telling people to literally gouge their eyes out or cut off their hands, but to show the seriousness of those who die with these evil desires in their hearts.

Jesus came to transform hearts, not make obedient robots.

Jim
 
TechieGuy said:
Grave matter - check
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I am sorry, but I am strongly convinced you took the catechism out of context. You are right for indicating the 3 conditions necessarily present to make a sin venial (grave matter, deliberate consent and prior knowledge). But while the question of gravity is always subject to controversies, I will still maintain that lustfully thinking, being a sin in itself against the virtue of purity, does not amount to the gravity of mortal sin.

I think the previous comment (jimR ocds) also tries to better explain the context of the gospel passage.

God bless you
 
I guess I’m not sure though where the line is where you’re sinfully “dwelling” on those thoughts… Have you crossed the line anyway if you are mindlessly thinking this way and then you suddenly realize its wrong and then try to dismiss these thoughts?
 
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Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart…"
 
rcwitness said:
It’s a matter of the “heart”.
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It is also a matter of lust. I wonder if we properly define lust. I know the catechism does but I don’t think the emphasis is enough on both malice and intent. Sexual thoughts, human desire, is normal and good. God made it so. It is when we corrupt that normal desire with both malice and intent that we cross the line Christ drew in the sand. To observe the desirability of another is not, in itself, a sin. That said, I would think the more and/or longer one “observes” another is tempting the devil to step in and have his say.
My $.02.
 
Part of what was going on when Jesus spoke those words was (is?) that men were perverting the Mosaic law to find easy and trivial ways to divorce their wives. Any time we use the gift of a good thing - law, confession, liturgy, worship, whatever, to try to improperly justify (or make righteous) our sinful acts, we sin in doing so.

However, Jesus also puts a finer point on the danger and nature of sin. The bar with which we measure our true nature is inconceivably high. Without him, we have no hope of overcoming sin - we are totally and completely polluted with it. In the immortal words of Darth Vader “our thoughts betray us”.

Which is why Jesus’ message to mankind is truly good news.
 
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