Impure thoughts and recieving Communion

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I am in the process of defeating a huge pornography and masterbation addiction and am doing pretty well with it if I so say so myself. I’m very proud of my progress so far but a couple of things really bother me.

It seems that a side effect of trying to rewire my brain to do without porn is resulting in my brain making its own elaborate porn. I am able to kick it out of there most of the time but sometimes it just runs wild and I guess I let it get the best of me and I get really turned on. I don’t, however, turn to masterbation.

Anyway, should I be confessing this before recieving Communion? I eventually fight the thoughts off by focusing on something else but I am afraid they are going on too long and resulting in mortal sin.

I also tend to get extremely needful of porn the further from Sunday I get and at times actually entertain the thought of looking at it after I recieve Communion. When I get to Mass, however, I recognize the grace of God and I know that I should not and will not not do anything to separate myself from God and the thoughts relent. I then recieve Communion without this on my conscious. If I had to confess this I would never be able to recieve because it is Mass and the nearness to the Blessed Sacrament that saves me from these thoughts and lets me recieve the with a clear head.

So what are your thoughts? Are these thoughts mortal sins? I feel like God is as proud of me as I am that I have come so far but still am worried that I may be recieving Communion unworthily.
 
Pray the rosary every day, please - this is the most powerful advice i can GIVE to you.

pray the rosary every day.
 
Mortal sin is when one has grave matter (this is grave) and full knowledge and complete consent…if thoughts come of their own as it were…and you do not consent…but turn gently to some thing else…there is no mortal sin! If one gives partial consent …but not complete consent…that is a venial sin…

(from previous posts by me)

Regarding thoughts

While Jesus makes it clear that one can sin in ones thoughts…just cause some lustful thought happens does not mean that one sinned…

(and one can have a sufficiently good reason to think about sexual matters…for instance studying moral theology…but care must be taken to avoid things that would be a problem…but that is another question)

What should we do with* unwanted* sexual thoughts? Those pesky temptations that can come …even though we are not seeking them etc…

(there are of course some things we should avoid that cause them…and there can be sin if it is something one should reasonably avoid…but often they come uninvited)

First…Relax. Do not worry.

Now are they mortal sins?

For a mortal sin one needs a grave matter …full knowledge AND deliberate consent!!!

for a venial sin …one has to consent …and when thoughts happen and you do not want them or hate them…they displease you…it is a sign of NO CONSENT

A. If you do not want the thought…it the thought displeases you: it can be a sign actually that you did not give consent or do not give full consent.

B. Even if you felt a temptation for the thought – and were drawn to it —but rejected it and maybe even turned to God : again a sign not full consent.

C. But what if one has a tempting thought --say of a sexual nature and even hesitated for a moment…but then rejected it for one did not want to sin? : it can be partial consent perhaps (and thus a venial sin)-- or it may be no sin at all but rather a strong temptation that drew you but then you saw what was happening and turned away.

D. A temptation can even be very strong or the thoughts very often – but this does NOT mean one has consented! so worry not…even it they go on for a long time…

remember --for it to be mortal there must be that deliberate consent!

What to do? on the spiritual side–relax first of all and remember the above.

Next – know that the more one fears the thoughts the more likely they are to come… or said another way --the more a person seeks to avoid the thoughts the more likely he will have a problem with them. (but do not worry about this either!)

for example: for the next 10 seconds try NOT to think of an apple.

tick tock …

tick tock…

Ok what did you think of? Most likely an apple.

So it is best to ignore them and just not consent and then turn your attention to some other good thing…for instance whatever you are doing. Simply do not consent and move on. and do not worry

another point – thoughts can just happen --they are the stuff with which we think…it is up to us to consent and take them further or not. and just because they are REAL VIVID and almost “think themselves” does not mean per se that one has given ANY consent.

they can be annoying…but need cause no actual harm …
but if one doe have full knowledge and give complete consent…goto confession before Communion…(and as soon as is reasonably possible)
 
NguyenKimPhat said:
Pray the rosary every day, please - this is the most powerful advice i can GIVE to you.

pray the rosary every day.
Click to expand...
Absolutely correct.The Rosary will bring you closer to God.Your prayers “perfumed by Mary” will be answered by His assistance in overcoming this addiction.I’ve been where you are and without a daily Rosary and asking the prayerful petitioning of our Lord by St. Maria Goretti I could never have come close to breaking those powerful addictions.
 
texasag7599 said:
I am in the process of defeating a huge pornography and masterbation addiction and am doing pretty well with it if I so say so myself. I’m very proud of my progress so far but a couple of things really bother me.

It seems that a side effect of trying to rewire my brain to do without porn is resulting in my brain making its own elaborate porn. I am able to kick it out of there most of the time but sometimes it just runs wild and I guess I let it get the best of me and I get really turned on. I don’t, however, turn to masterbation.

Anyway, should I be confessing this before recieving Communion? I eventually fight the thoughts off by focusing on something else but I am afraid they are going on too long and resulting in mortal sin.

I also tend to get extremely needful of porn the further from Sunday I get and at times actually entertain the thought of looking at it after I recieve Communion. When I get to Mass, however, I recognize the grace of God and I know that I should not and will not not do anything to separate myself from God and the thoughts relent. I then recieve Communion without this on my conscious. If I had to confess this I would never be able to recieve because it is Mass and the nearness to the Blessed Sacrament that saves me from these thoughts and lets me recieve the with a clear head.

So what are your thoughts? Are these thoughts mortal sins? I feel like God is as proud of me as I am that I have come so far but still am worried that I may be recieving Communion unworthily.
Click to expand...
You are not alone, I am going through the same thing. You said that the farther away from Sunday, the more you feel the urge, my suggestion is to go to Mass on some weekdays. Its helped me. I’, praying for you and myself. :console:
 
Temptation is not sin. I would say if you were being tempted during Mass or while walking down the communion line it could be the devil trying to keep you away from receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament…resist these thoughts and these temptations…no sin has occurred until you deliberately think them on your own after knowing the thought is a sin.

Example. I know this thought is wrong and sinful but I don’t care, I am going to do it anyway. This could be a mortal sin if the thought is grave matter.

I believe the closer one gets to God, and the more you strive to please God, thoughts of evilness will come to you more and more because your flesh is constantly at war with your spirit.

I know I have struggled with this issue…the more perfect you try to live your life, the more the enemy attacks at all costs.

Rest assured, you are not sinning at all if you do not want to think these thoughts and are actively trying to avoid them. My prayer for you is that the Lord will grant you his peace, please pray for me the same.

God Bless.
 
While I do not have a problem concerning pornography/masterbation, I can give you some advice…speaking from a background of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).
  1. Sit in the front of the church during Mass, and focus as much as possible on the priest/lector and what is being proclaimed.
  2. As soon as you recognize that you are distracted, re-focus on the Mass. (I personally think that if, when you recognize that you are ‘distracted’, that if you re-focus on the Mass, then it is NOT a sin–but if you continue entertaining/focusing on the distraction–that’s when it becomes a ‘sin’).
  3. Pray the St. Michael prayer every day, particularly before Mass.
  4. Go to Mass every day or as often as you can make it. If you are in a state of mortal sin, and haven’t been able to go to Confession…still go up at communion to receive a BLESSING.
  5. Pray daily.
  6. This is connected to #3…but more “in general”. Any time that you catch yourself distracted with an unpure thought…then recognize that you are being distracted and then say a prayer.
I will pray for you.

God Bless,

Barbara
 
I suggest going to daily mass too. About going up for a blessing, it’s not done everywhere so you would have to watch and see what your priest does. And yes, do go to mass even if you can’t receive communion. IMO God sees how hard you’re trying and wants you to come to Him.
 
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