Innocent things becoming sinful?

[Mary_Katharine]

Hi,

Recently I’ve noticed that when I do innocent activities like watch kids tv shows or change the outfits on dolls I’m faced with impure thoughts. For example, when I change the outfit on the doll it makes me think of a real person’s body and then I feel like I’m thinking impurely. I usually do these kiddy things with my younger sister so it’s not like I have impure intentions or anything.

But what I want to know is whether or not it is sinful to keep doing these apparently innocent things when I know it could lead to impure thoughts popping into my head (near occasions of sin I guess)?

 

[Qwestions]

Hi, Mary Katharine! Welcome to CAF!

Don’t worry about these things unless you act upon them. Playing dolls to help entertain your little sister is, as you noted, innocent. You’re getting older. Your body, as well as your mind, is stretching, and you’ll notice many weird thoughts popping into your mind “out of nowhere,” but that’s simply a part of life. Once you become accustomed to the weirdness of it, you won’t even notice them. It’s the newness of these thoughts that is bugging you now, but it’s no big deal–just part of life and growing up.

Why not discuss these things with your mother, aunt, or grandmother, in order to keep a Catholic perspective? When we’re young, we think only of what is on our minds, but as we get older, our minds sort have “minds of their own” and impose ideas that we’d not yet thought of on our own. Keep a long list of things you want to do and books you want to read and you’ll be so busy that you won’t give such thoughts much attention.

Catholic books and the long form of the Examination of Conscience can help you decide what to be concerned about if a particular line of thought keeps returning, and you’ll receive special graces by frequently receiving Holy Communion. Always feel free, of course, to discuss anything with your priest, especially a thought that keeps intruding so often that it’s bothering you. Best wishes to you!