The definitions of "occasion of sin" were given earlier in the thread at post # 103. Here they are again :.
I searched the Catechism of the Catholic Church online, and I can’t find any reference to a definition by the Church of what is an ‘‘occasion of sin’’.
In letters of the Popes, and Trent, I found this:
“Hence if the circumstances suggest it, it may be necessary to remind them of that well-known precept of the natural and divine law, which commands us to avoid not only sins but the next occasion of sin as well” Encyclical on Mixed Marriages by Pope Gregory XVI, 1832
“On this point it should be noted, as indeed the Fathers and Doctors of the Church teach, that we can more easily struggle against and repress the wiles of evil and the enticements of the passions if we do not struggle directly against them, but rather flee from them as best we may. For the preserving of chastity, according to the teaching of Jerome, flight is more effective than open warfare: “Therefore I flee, lest I be overcome.”[92] Flight must be understood in this sense, that not only do we diligently avoid occasion of sin, but especially that in struggles of this kind we lift our minds and hearts to God…” ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON CONSECRATED VIRGINITY MARCH 25, 1954
“Again, to satisfy is to cut off all occasions of sin, and to close every avenue against its suggestions” Catechism of Council of Trent, Sacrament of Penance
“Finally, we pray that God would remove all occasions of sin and iniquity” Catechism of Council of Trent, The Lord’s Prayer
Unless I’ve missed something (very possible) it seems the Catholic Church itself has not provided any definitive definite definition of what an ‘‘occasion of sin’’ is, and nowhere could I find an official document or definition saying that **a person **,
by virtue of just their personhood, was an occasion of sin.
It seems to me that a person can most certainly be an occasion of sin -
by their actions! This could range from stripping their clothes off in public, to sitting on their own at the back of the bus, seductively moving their hands across their body and caressing their neck while giving the guy looking at her ‘‘the look’’ to everything in between.
But these all involve ‘‘actions’’ on the part of that person.
I can not see that the person in and of themselves can in any way be a ‘‘occasion of sin’’ for anyone, without ‘‘doing’’ something.
And let’s be honest here, we’re talking for the most part about women, and men’s inability to stop themselves from lusting in one way or another, around women.
Look at one of the Scriptural references given for ‘‘occasion of sin’’:
Look not upon
a woman that hath a mind for many:
lest thou fall into her snares. Use not much the company
of her that is a dancer, and hearken not to her,
lest thou perish by the force of her charms.
Gaze not upon a maiden, lest her
beauty be a stumblingblock to thee. Look not round about thee in the of the city, nor wander up and down in the streets thereof.
Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up, and gaze not about upon another’s beauty.
For many have perished by the beauty of a woman, and hereby lust is enkindled as a fire.
Many by admiring the beauty of another man’s wife, have become reprobate,
for her conversation burneth as fire.
Sit not at all with another man’s wife, nor repose upon the bed with her:
And strive not with her over wine, lest thy heart decline towards her, and by thy blood** thou fall into destruction**. Ecclesiasticus 9:3-5, 7-9, 11-13
If a woman, by virtue of no other reason other than she is a woman, is an ‘‘occasion of sin’’ for a man, then that man is the one with the problem - judging the woman as an occasion of sin for the guy when all she’s done is actually exist is about as misogynistic as it gets.
On the basis that occasions of sin can be ‘‘people’’ if the referenced prayer of Trent above for God to get rid of every occasion of sin, every pretty girl in the world, going about her thing minding her own business, would be wiped off the face of the earth - you know, just in case some guy got an eyeful of leg and couldn’t control his thoughts
After 2000 years of ‘‘civilization’’ it really is time guys grew up and stopped blaming women for their own lack of maturity and self control.
Sarah x
It’s just an observation and meant to be fun!
:blush:
