Masturbation

[john97]

Confused on whether it is a mortal sin in my case. I am 50 + and have struggled with this sin all my life. It is habitual and now with the ease of internet sites, the temptations are more available. I am married and have a family. I try to stop and succeed for a while and then fall. A part of me wants to stop and a part of me doesn’t. I try to go to confession as soon as possible but, is it a mortal sin? Do I need to avoid communion?

 

[whm]

Confused on whether it is a mortal sin in my case. I am 50 + and have struggled with this sin all my life. It is habitual and now with the ease of internet sites, the temptations are more available. I am married and have a family. I try to stop and succeed for a while and then fall. A part of me wants to stop and a part of me doesn’t. I try to go to confession as soon as possible but, is it a mortal sin? Do I need to avoid communion?

I would consider it a mortal sin. I would avoid communion if you can’t get to confession on time. If you have fallen since your last confession, go before Sunday. Then if you find yourself in front of the computer on Saturday night, think about having to refrain from the Eucharist the next day. Fear can be a great motivator at the start of your recovery.

Remember it is not a sin to not receive the Eucharist on Sunday. It is a very grave (I have been told the most grave sin) to commit to receive it in a state of mortal sin.

God Bless you for acknowledging your problem and trying to correct it!

 

[michael7777]

Yes, I believe it could be a mortal sin for you. For me, I feel it is definitely a mortal sin because it is definitely a grave matter, I fully know that it is grave matter, and masturbation is always willful.

The saints suggest to overcome impurity to do three Hail Marys, morning and evening for “purity of heart so my heart may not desire evil things, and chastity according to my state in life.” During times of temptation say three Hail Mary’s while kneeling on your knuckles. Doing this overtime should help you conquer those temptations.

Find a good “holy” spiritual director who has conquered this. There are people out there who haven’t fallen into this sin for many years. Don’t accept the lie that it is something to do with your high levels of testosterone.

Pax,
Michael.

 

[EmeraldWings]

yes it is a mortal sin, and receiving communion while in the state of mortal sin is even worse, not just because you have committed a mortal sin, but because when you are in the state of mortal sin, the Eucharist is poison to your soul.

next time you go to confession, i’d talk to your priest about how your problem is habitual, and what you can do to really stop yourself,

if your having the internet is to big of a temptation, then i’d get either child safety on your computer, or just don’t go on it when you are alone, because looking at pornography is also a mortal sin, and maybe it’s to late by now, but the more you look at that trash, the harder it will be to get the images out of your head, i know, cause i’ve been there, and it just drives you crazy when you want to have pure thoughts,

your still young enough to fast(unless you have health issues) i’d recommend fasting, that is a great way to control your urges,
also, try to pray 3 Hail Marys every morning and night, for the intentions of purity and holiness, that helps me greatly,
also, when you are tempted, do what the saints did and bring to mind Jesus crucified, remember the things He suffered for you and how much He loves you,
the saints also always kept death before their eyes, always living each day like their last,
you can also try reading the lives of the saints, or their writings, just to stir up a desire in yourself to be more pure,

well, hope this helps you, i know what it’s like, but i overcame it, so i know you can to,
ok, take care, i’ll be praying for you.

 

[teachccd]

yes it is a mortal sin, and receiving communion while in the state of mortal sin is even worse, not just because you have committed a mortal sin, but because when you are in the state of mortal sin, the Eucharist is poison to your soul.

If you were to replace the name Jesus for the word Eucharist, which you absolutely can, I would avoid saying that Jesus is poison to the soul. What is poison is our willingness to receive Him in a nonchalant manner while in a state of rejection (mortal sin). I agree with everything in your post but I just wanted to clarify that I could never see the Eucharist being poison to your soul. I truly knew what you meant but I just wanted to make a clarification…God bless…teachccd

And keep me in your paryers, as well…

 

[EmeraldWings]

If you were to replace the name Jesus for the word Eucharist, which you absolutely can, I would avoid saying that Jesus is poison to the soul. What is poison is our willingness to receive Him in a nonchalant manner while in a state of rejection (mortal sin). I agree with everything in your post but I just wanted to clarify that I could never see the Eucharist being poison to your soul. I truly knew what you meant but I just wanted to make a clarification…God bless…teachccd

And keep me in your paryers, as well…

well, i understand what you mean, but that’s how my priest explained it, i never really took it that way, but i see what you mean…
of course Jesus isn’t poison, but to consume Him while you are in such a state is going to have a negative effect on you, not just because your in that state, but also because God is displeased and even angry with you, and you are letting His pure and holy body into you, and when that happens, instead of you receiving graces and blessings and everything, you instead fall deeper into your miserable state, and make it harder for yourself to get out…

well, here’s an example,
when Adam and Eve were banished from the garden of Eden, it wasn’t just a punishment for disobedience, after they had eaten from the tree of knowledge, they lost their sanctifying grace, and so they were sent away, not just for sinning, but also to protect them, what from? from the tree of life, because if they had eaten from the tree of life after losing their sanctifying grace, they would have brought a horrible curse on themselves, and quite possibly have died right there on the spot,
the tree of life actually represents the bread of life, the Holy Eucharist, although not the same thing, but essentially,
that is the severity of taking the bread of life in mortal sin, it is a sacrilege, a sacrilege being the deliberate violation of sacred things, which God does not take lightly,
as much as God bringing punishment down on those who mock or defy Him not being taken seriously now in our modern society, He still does, so even if it doesn’t sound right to call the Body of Jesus poison to our soul when we are in mortal sin, i have heard many stories(like in the book “Eucharistic Miracles”) of people being punished somehow or even dieing after taken the Holy Eucharist in mortal sin or by grave irreverence towards the Holy Eucharist…

ok sorry to change the original subject, but i do agree with you, i never thought of how that sounded, but that’s basically what i mean.

 

[teachccd]

well, i understand what you mean, but that’s how my priest explained it, i never really took it that way, but i see what you mean…
of course Jesus isn’t poison, but to consume Him while you are in such a state is going to have a negative effect on you, not just because your in that state, but also because God is displeased and even angry with you, and you are letting His pure and holy body into you, and when that happens, instead of you receiving graces and blessings and everything, you instead fall deeper into your miserable state, and make it harder for yourself to get out…

well, here’s an example,
when Adam and Eve were banished from the garden of Eden, it wasn’t just a punishment for disobedience, after they had eaten from the tree of knowledge, they lost their sanctifying grace, and so they were sent away, not just for sinning, but also to protect them, what from? from the tree of life, because if they had eaten from the tree of life after losing their sanctifying grace, they would have brought a horrible curse on themselves, and quite possibly have died right there on the spot,
the tree of life actually represents the bread of life, the Holy Eucharist, although not the same thing, but essentially,
that is the severity of taking the bread of life in mortal sin, it is a sacrilege, a sacrilege being the deliberate violation of sacred things, which God does not take lightly,
as much as God bringing punishment down on those who mock or defy Him not being taken seriously now in our modern society, He still does, so even if it doesn’t sound right to call the Body of Jesus poison to our soul when we are in mortal sin, i have heard many stories(like in the book “Eucharistic Miracles”) of people being punished somehow or even dieing after taken the Holy Eucharist in mortal sin or by grave irreverence towards the Holy Eucharist…

ok sorry to change the original subject, but i do agree with you, i never thought of how that sounded, but that’s basically what i mean.

Yes and you do make a vaild claim. Receiving our Lord in the Eucharist while in the state of mortal sin is sacriligious and is definitely sinful. In fact, it also needs to be confessed along with the other mortal sin. I just wanted to make a clarification that it is our actions that destroy our soul and not the Eucharist in and of itself. I know that you knew that. I just wanted to clear it up for anyone else that might have read your post. Thank you and I did not mean to derail this thread so back to our regularly scheduled program…teachccd

 

[Mirror_Mirror]

Confused on whether it is a mortal sin in my case. I am 50 + and have struggled with this sin all my life. It is habitual and now with the ease of internet sites, the temptations are more available. I am married and have a family. I try to stop and succeed for a while and then fall. A part of me wants to stop and a part of me doesn’t. I try to go to confession as soon as possible but, is it a mortal sin? Do I need to avoid communion?

From the Catechism:

2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. “Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.” “The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.” For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of “the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved.”
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 lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.

2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.

Yes it is a mortal sin and the one thing that many people find is that when it is a habit, it can lessen the moral culpability. However, that does not change the fact that it is a mortal sin. And in the case that you mentioned you have been able to stop in the past, but you do not know if you want to going forward.

Let me ask you this, does your wife know about this? What are her thoughts or feelings about it?

Sex is something that is one of the most selfless acts of giving of oneself to their spouse completely. Masturbation is the exact opposite, it is a selfish act. I highly recommend reading “The Good News About Sex and Marriage” by Christopher West as well as “Holy Sex” by Gregory Popcak.

You know that you can stop this habit, you have done it in the past, but it has to be something that you are commited to on a continual basis. The palces that you find yourself masturbating the most, place a picture of Jesus there or even our Blessed Mother. You can overcome this, but you have to want to, you have to make that decision.