K
KingTheoden
Guest
I have to chime in again because the thread has drifted, since I last checked, away from helping a young man overcome this challenge and instead into some arguing that masturbastion can be defended.
Well, I don’t want to ‘be that guy’ (in this case, the brand new Catholic calling others out) but…
Let’s take a look at the Catechism.
2354: …it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornography.
2352: Masturbation…[M]asturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disorded action(Persona humana is cited)…To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other psychological or social factors that **can **lessen, if even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
So, the sin can be lessened in severity. Note, it CAN be, but need not be. Moreover, it still remains a sin.
This is perfectly reasonable because we are heavily influenced by media and our peers (and sadly, in America we have become intensely sexually charged). So, it might not be as serious a matter for a young man, exposed to oceans of pornography on the Internet at a young age, that he grapples with the addictive nature of the sin of masturbation.
HOWEVER, a sin can never cease to be a sin; it can only be mitigated. Moreover, it is our job as good Catholics to rescue others from this slavery of sin (Christ talked about sin as enslavement; addition to pornography and masturbation is to me almost the best example this teaching).
One thing that I did when I was truly enslaved to this temptation, was I forgot that this is only one kind of sin. Being a good Christian is not simply looking away from bad websites and exercising self control over our bodies. I found as I got much better with this sin, that I had a lot of trouble in other departments. Focusing on those failings, I would for periods of time completely forget about the other one.
Keep this in mind: when you are masturbating, you are lusting. And you are lusting after a father’s daughter (or your women also struggling with this, a mother’s son). And she (or he) is your sister (brother) in Christ. For me, these were really powerful things to meditate on.
We can all pray to Mary that she will intercede on our behalf, that God with fill us with the holiness, chastity, and peace that she exibited.
And remember, as with many things, we will stumble, but that is no reason to get down on ourselves or say ‘well, I’ll just do it a little bit.’ If you get the urge, watch religious videos on YouTube (I would recommend the Gospel of John, a really beautiful screenplay of Christ’s ministry).
Last piece of advice - make yourself busy! Satan tries to make us commit this sin when we do not have enough work to do.
God be with all of you.:knight1:
Well, I don’t want to ‘be that guy’ (in this case, the brand new Catholic calling others out) but…
Let’s take a look at the Catechism.
2354: …it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornography.
2352: Masturbation…[M]asturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disorded action(Persona humana is cited)…To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other psychological or social factors that **can **lessen, if even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
So, the sin can be lessened in severity. Note, it CAN be, but need not be. Moreover, it still remains a sin.
This is perfectly reasonable because we are heavily influenced by media and our peers (and sadly, in America we have become intensely sexually charged). So, it might not be as serious a matter for a young man, exposed to oceans of pornography on the Internet at a young age, that he grapples with the addictive nature of the sin of masturbation.
HOWEVER, a sin can never cease to be a sin; it can only be mitigated. Moreover, it is our job as good Catholics to rescue others from this slavery of sin (Christ talked about sin as enslavement; addition to pornography and masturbation is to me almost the best example this teaching).
One thing that I did when I was truly enslaved to this temptation, was I forgot that this is only one kind of sin. Being a good Christian is not simply looking away from bad websites and exercising self control over our bodies. I found as I got much better with this sin, that I had a lot of trouble in other departments. Focusing on those failings, I would for periods of time completely forget about the other one.
Keep this in mind: when you are masturbating, you are lusting. And you are lusting after a father’s daughter (or your women also struggling with this, a mother’s son). And she (or he) is your sister (brother) in Christ. For me, these were really powerful things to meditate on.
We can all pray to Mary that she will intercede on our behalf, that God with fill us with the holiness, chastity, and peace that she exibited.
And remember, as with many things, we will stumble, but that is no reason to get down on ourselves or say ‘well, I’ll just do it a little bit.’ If you get the urge, watch religious videos on YouTube (I would recommend the Gospel of John, a really beautiful screenplay of Christ’s ministry).
Last piece of advice - make yourself busy! Satan tries to make us commit this sin when we do not have enough work to do.
God be with all of you.:knight1:
