Masturbation

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Regarding the issue of masturbation…
I see lots of people in this forum say masturbation is a grave sin. But what is grave? I can agree that if you kill someone it’s something very grave. But masturbation? Why is it grave? Aren’t you people being too much puritanical?
May I ask, do you believe that masturbation is immoral/wrong?

Thank you for reading
Josh
 
I think masturbation has probably caused more corporal damage to society in the past 50 years than the Holocaust.

^ This is a statement that would get me laughed at by most crowds of people. In some crowds, they would even find it offensive, because I am counting the horrors of the Holocaust as a lesser evil. I would come across as hysterical. I suppose even a person that agrees with the Church teaching on masturbation doesn’t have to agree with me on this, but I think it’s a very reasonable view to have.
I think it is a very ridiculous view to have. You are equating what is a natural, if unfortunate, habit with the horrors of Auschwitz. A person may be a ‘jerk-off’ but that doesn’t make him into Hitler.

I am indeed, laughing. And I think you should be forced to retract such offensive remarks.

Best wishes,
Padster
 
I think masturbation has probably caused more corporal damage to society in the past 50 years than the Holocaust.

^ This is a statement that would get me laughed at by most crowds of people. In some crowds, they would even find it offensive, because I am counting the horrors of the Holocaust as a lesser evil. I
The reason it would get you laughed at is because it displays a shocking lack of intellect. Utterly insensitive statements such as this are made purely due to their shock value, denigrates the innocent millions that died, and becomes fodder for others to dismiss a religion as an utter joke.

Engage your mind before your mouth. Masturbation has existed as long as man has existed. Your timeframe reference is purely arbitrary, and your analogy is highly insensitive and derogatory.
 
You would say that murder is a grave sin as well. Granted, I would admit that murder is worse, but that doesn’t change anything. Let’s say hypothetically I killed 24 people and it required 3 for me to get a life sentence (probably not accurate at all, but just pretend it is). If I killed 14 people instead, yeah, it wouldn’t be as bad, but it would still be bad and a life sentence. So yeah, you could argue that one grave sin is worse than another grave sin, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re both grave sins.

Being Catholic means that you should follow the Church’s rules. You might not agree with or understand certain things, and I’m sure a lot of us have felt the same and can relate, but you should follow them while searching for a better understanding of why the rule is what it is - this site is great for that. And I don’t know what priests you’ve met, but the priests I know all seem to follow the Church’s rules. I don’t know where you got “most priests don’t”.
… and the Church’s teaching is to follow a well formed conscience.
If the conscience is in the middle of the process of being well formed then what does a person suppose to do?
 
The reason it would get you laughed at is because it displays a shocking lack of intellect. Utterly insensitive statements such as this are made purely due to their shock value, denigrates the innocent millions that died, and becomes fodder for others to dismiss a religion as an utter joke.

Engage your mind before your mouth. Masturbation has existed as long as man has existed. Your timeframe reference is purely arbitrary, and your analogy is highly insensitive and derogatory.
“Private” sins are severe in their corporal consequences in spite of their seeming triviality because of how they affect the entire person and the ultimate decisions that are made in life. It is commonly agreed in secular thought - nevermind any theological arguments - that engaging people while they are young is the first and perhaps the most critical period to instill good habits and character in a person. I agree with this. It is possible to change later in life, of course, but it is an uphill battle.

Where Christianity and secular liberalism part ways is that sexual ethics are largely either neglected entirely or marginalized, for the obvious reason that sex feels good and it is a difficult thing to master, hence the contemporary view that if it’s not rape, then it’s not a big deal, or it’s fine.

I apologize to the readers if my analogy was unnecessarily vulgar. I could and should have conveyed my point in other ways, but even if my original presentation was poor. I still hold to the point I made that it is the private sins and the marginalized sins that are oft underestimated that are the most dangerous, not in spite of them seemingly being trivial, but because they are seemingly trivial. They are the foundation to other evils. The Blessed Mother at Fatima was far from considering sexual sins to be unimportant, but rather, that “more souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason”. There are more people being lead to an eternity in Hell because of impurity than because of violence.
 
… and the Church’s teaching is to follow a well formed conscience.
If the conscience is in the middle of the process of being well formed then what does a person suppose to do?
If your conscience is not well formed then I would think the default would be obedience. Or is that out of fashion these days.😉
 
“Private” sins are severe in their corporal consequences in spite of their seeming triviality because of how they affect the entire person and the ultimate decisions that are made in life. It is commonly agreed in secular thought - nevermind any theological arguments - that engaging people while they are young is the first and perhaps the most critical period to instill good habits and character in a person. I agree with this. It is possible to change later in life, of course, but it is an uphill battle.

Where Christianity and secular liberalism part ways is that sexual ethics are largely either neglected entirely or marginalized, for the obvious reason that sex feels good and it is a difficult thing to master, hence the contemporary view that if it’s not rape, then it’s not a big deal, or it’s fine.

I apologize to the readers if my analogy was unnecessarily vulgar. I could and should have conveyed my point in other ways, but even if my original presentation was poor. I still hold to the point I made that it is the private sins and the marginalized sins that are oft underestimated that are the most dangerous, not in spite of them seemingly being trivial, but because they are seemingly trivial. They are the foundation to other evils. The Blessed Mother at Fatima was far from considering sexual sins to be unimportant, but rather, that “more souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason”. There are more people being lead to an eternity in Hell because of impurity than because of violence.
I was not offended by the mention of the holocaust. The Jewish holocaust is what readily comes to mind for most people when they think of absolute (temporal) evil. Every personal sin, which looks trivial, adds up and becomes the size of Mount Everest. Ramifications, create new ramifications, also known as the snowball effect, and tiny little sins end up changing the direction that entire nations take.

From my own experience, I turned to masturbation to ease the anxieties and the thoughts that plagued me as a lonely young boy. Used it for comfort and to relieve stress and to make my life livable, no less. I don’t have a clone of myself who has always remained continent, so I’ll never know if I would have found my way in life and become a happy, balanced Christian/person had I not turned to sex to ease my psychological troubles. But intellectually I can understand how God has this plan for the survival and growth of the species, and how sex ought to be kept in the confines of a marriage and open to procreation. I also understand that as I know what God intended for sex, that living in open opposition to it qualifies me for an eternity away from God. Too harsh from my perspective, but intellectually, I get it.
 
The problem with far too many people on forums like this is that they limit God to the knowledge capacity of their human brain. It shows astounding stupidity to appear to speak on God’s behalf when in reality one is speaking from one’s own moral view of the world.

God has a plan? That is naive, if I may say so. It assumes that everything is still at the blueprint stage, when in reality God is already YEARS ahead of us, and very much active in the world NOW, despite what our atheist friends would have us swallow. And God is not some old bloke on a cloud. Think of the ‘nano-tech’ in the US TV series Revolution and you are getting close…

Best wishes,
Padster
 
Robert Anthony:
I was not offended by the mention of the holocaust. The Jewish holocaust is what readily comes to mind for most people when they think of absolute (temporal) evil. Every personal sin, which looks trivial, adds up and becomes the size of Mount Everest. Ramifications, create new ramifications, also known as the snowball effect, and tiny little sins end up changing the direction that entire nations take.

From my own experience, I turned to masturbation to ease the anxieties and the thoughts that plagued me as a lonely young boy. Used it for comfort and to relieve stress and to make my life livable, no less. I don’t have a clone of myself who has always remained continent, so I’ll never know if I would have found my way in life and become a happy, balanced Christian/person had I not turned to sex to ease my psychological troubles. But intellectually I can understand how God has this plan for the survival and growth of the species, and how sex ought to be kept in the confines of a marriage and open to procreation. I also understand that as I know what God intended for sex, that living in open opposition to it qualifies me for an eternity away from God. Too harsh from my perspective, but intellectually, I get it.
Thanks.

When I state my opinion that private sexual impurity has been a greater ill for society in the past 50 years (I just came up with a number) than the Holocaust, I am not saying that a young boy masturbating is the moral equivalent to a Nazi executing a Pole or a Jew. Obviously the later is enormously more severe. It was a clumsy and crude analogy for me to use and I was bound to get some negative reactions.

However, when you net all of those sins together, I believe sexual impurity has been more grave to society because it permeates everywhere, it is exceedingly more frequent, and it is ignored. I am absolutely convinced that the world would be almost a paradise if we abandoned sexual impurity and established a global society of healthy, nurturing, chaste families. There are hundreds(?) of millions of children being raised in broken, divorced families. Private sexual impurity is also the setting stage that leads to isolation, fornication, contraception, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking… you name it. It is a colossally big deal, and one in which the majority of the world - both common people and academics - are rendered incapable of recognizing with an objective mind, because they are addicted to it in much the same way that an addict is addicted to a particular drug.
 
The problem with far too many people on forums like this is that they limit God to the knowledge capacity of their human brain. It shows astounding stupidity to appear to speak on God’s behalf when in reality one is speaking from one’s own moral view of the world.

God has a plan? That is naive, if I may say so. It assumes that everything is still at the blueprint stage, when in reality God is already YEARS ahead of us, and very much active in the world NOW, despite what our atheist friends would have us swallow. And God is not some old bloke on a cloud. Think of the ‘nano-tech’ in the US TV series Revolution and you are getting close…

Best wishes,
Padster
Can you relate this post to the topic of masturbation?
 
May I ask, do you believe that masturbation is immoral/wrong?

Thank you for reading
Josh
Thank you for the question 😉

I believe that masturbation is something that will hurt the person who does it more than anyone else. I also believe the same for fornication - it hurts the fornicators more than anyone else. Because sexual sin is something that affects our purity. After commiting sexual sin, the person with a moral conscience feels like he/she is dirty, it’s a sensation of uncleaness and unholyness that is not nice to be felt. I also believe it opens the door for demonic action on us (because every sin we commit opens the door for the demons). But God loves us even when we are being immoral. So it’s not masturbation that is going to separate us from Him. To sum it all up, I believe masturbation is a sin, just not a mortal sin.

I also noticed one thing that happens to me… When I feel disapointed or sad for whatever reason, it makes me much more likely to masturbate. I know it’s not good but it’s something that happens but I know God will forgive me and it’s not like it’s the end of the world because I had a wank.

Well that’s it!
 
If your conscience is not well formed then I would think the default would be obedience. Or is that out of fashion these days.😉
One must first recognize that the conscience is not well formed. Then obedience comes into the consideration.
If that does not happen then the conscience rules. It’s called the invincible ignorance.
 
One must first recognize that the conscience is not well formed. Then obedience comes into the consideration.
If that does not happen then the conscience rules. It’s called the invincible ignorance.
That is not what this says about the levels of ignorance.
newadvent.org/cathen/07648a.htm

You seem to still be describing vincible ignorance. Invincible ignorance seems to have a higher threshold. And while vincible ignorance “leaves the culpability in tact” It can make the act “less voluntary” But invincible? Total excuse from the law?

Not even close on this one.

To claim invincible ignorance of the natural law one would have to have signs like “public masturbation” or public viewing of porn, etc. One knows these things are wrong, one is not ignorant of the moral law because one does not walk into a second grade classroom and start masturbating. One is embarrassed by it (or should be)
 
Thank you for the question 😉

I believe that masturbation is something that will hurt the person who does it more than anyone else. I also believe the same for fornication - it hurts the fornicators more than anyone else. Because sexual sin is something that affects our purity. After commiting sexual sin, the person with a moral conscience feels like he/she is dirty, it’s a sensation of uncleaness and unholyness that is not nice to be felt. I also believe it opens the door for demonic action on us (because every sin we commit opens the door for the demons). But God loves us even when we are being immoral. So it’s not masturbation that is going to separate us from Him. To sum it all up, I believe masturbation is a sin, just not a mortal sin.

I also noticed one thing that happens to me… When I feel disapointed or sad for whatever reason, it makes me much more likely to masturbate. I know it’s not good but it’s something that happens but I know God will forgive me and it’s not like it’s the end of the world because I had a wank.

Well that’s it!
We have been over this before. but how do you reconcile this to your faith. The Church says EXACTLY the opposite of what you say. IN fact the Church has the POWER to bind and loose sin. This is given to Her by Christ in the Bible. It is what we base our entire faith on. And in this instance the CHurch has said, using the power, I declare this a mortal sin. You claim that it is not a big deal, that it is inconsequential that you disagree but it could not be more consequential.

How can you trust a faith that you believe is wrong on the very issue of salvation?

Why can’t you just say, I know this is wrong, I know it is mortal, I commit it and I confess it? Why can you not accept God’s mercy? Why do you have to make it not a mortal sin to justify a lewd act that could land you in jail if you do it in public?
 
Thank you for the question 😉

I believe that masturbation is something that will hurt the person who does it more than anyone else. I also believe the same for fornication - it hurts the fornicators more than anyone else. Because sexual sin is something that affects our purity. After commiting sexual sin, the person with a moral conscience feels like he/she is dirty, it’s a sensation of uncleaness and unholyness that is not nice to be felt. I also believe it opens the door for demonic action on us (because every sin we commit opens the door for the demons). But God loves us even when we are being immoral. So it’s not masturbation that is going to separate us from Him.
👍

I believe this is all we need. 🙂
To sum it all up, I believe masturbation is a sin, just not a mortal sin.

I also noticed one thing that happens to me… When I feel disapointed or sad for whatever reason, it makes me much more likely to masturbate. I know it’s not good but it’s something that happens but I know God will forgive me and it’s not like it’s the end of the world because I had a wank.

Well that’s it!
Do you remember the parable of Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman?
Simon the Pharisee:
Luke 7:36-50

36 A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to the Pharisee’s home and got ready to eat.

37 When a sinful woman in that town found out that Jesus was there, she bought an expensive bottle of perfume. 38 Then she came and stood behind Jesus. She cried and started washing his feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. The woman kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them.

39 The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him! He would know that she is a sinner.”

40 Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Teacher, what is it?” Simon replied.

41 Jesus told him, “Two people were in debt to a moneylender. One of them owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. 42 Since neither of them could pay him back, the moneylender said that they didn’t have to pay him anything. Which one of them will like him more?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose it would be the one who had owed more and didn’t have to pay it back.”

*“You are right,” *Jesus said.

44 He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Have you noticed this woman? When I came into your home, you didn’t give me any water so I could wash my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You didn’t even pour olive oil on my head, but she has poured expensive perfume on my feet. 47 So I tell you that all her sins are forgiven, and that is why she has shown great love. But anyone who has been forgiven for only a little will show only a little love.”

48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 Some other guests started saying to one another, “Who is this who dares to forgive sins?”

50 But Jesus told the woman, “Because of your faith, you are now saved. May God give you peace!”
I believe Bishop Fulton J. Sheen addresses this beautifully in his book ‘Life of Christ’

He say’s *It was not the quantity of sin, but rather the consciousness of it and the mercy extended in it’s forgiveness, which manifested the great love of this woman.

When a person has a consciousness of sin, he does not very much distinguish between whether his sins belong in the five hundred pieces of silver category or the fifty. What troubles him is the fact that he has hurt someone that he loves. St. Paul considered himself the ‘cheif of sinners’

He who makes light of sin will make light of forgiveness. He who makes light of really serious wounds will never appreaciate the power of the physician.*

If the light uncovers our sins, love is also there ready to cover them.

I hope you will not mind if I share with you some tips I have come accross to help quit. 🙂
C.S. Lewis:
For me the real evil of masturbation would be that it takes an appetite which, in lawful use, leads the individual out of himself to complete (and correct) his own personality in that of another (and finally in children and even grandchildren) and turns it back; sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides.

And this harem, once admitted, works against his ever getting out and really uniting with a real woman.

For the harem is always accessible, always subservient, calls for no sacrifices or adjustments, and can be endowed with erotic and psychological attractions which no woman can rival.

Among those shadowy brides he is always adored, always the perfect lover; no demand is made on his unselfishness, no mortification ever imposed on his vanity.

In the end, they become merely the medium through which he increasingly adores himself…After all, almost the main work of life is to come out of our selves, out of the little dark prison we are all born in. Masturbation is to be avoided as all things are to be avoided which retard this process. The danger is that of coming to love the prison.”
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Motivational Tips to Help You Quit -

Keep the following 3 Ds in mind when you have a craving

Delay: remember that the worst cravings last for only a few minutes and will become even less frequent the longer you have quit.

**Deep breath: **this should help you relax and focus your mind on something else.

Do something else: you could listen to music or pray (pray is usually the best). Find something that keeps your mind busy and distracted and focus on it, don’t allow your thoughts to go into temptation, when tempted, do not give the temptation any attention, instead give it your back.

**1) **A slip up doesn’t mean you’ve failed. What’s important is to work out how you can stop a slip up from happening next time.

2) Don’t say “this is my last time” say “I’m not going to give in today” and take one day at a time.

3) Each craving only lasts a few minutes. Don’t let this be the day that you blow it.
**
4)** Once you have quit for a while, the desires to give in will be much less intense and frequent and remember, the worst cravings only last a few minutes, so remember the 3 D’s above (Delay, Deep Breathe, Do something else).

**5) **It’s important that it’s your decision to quit. That you want to quit and that you feel confident you can succeed.

**6) **Be clear about your reason to quit. It will motivate you to keep going.

7) The most dangerous thought you can have is. I will just give in this one time.

**8) **You may feel as if you have just lost a friend, but really you have just lost your worst enemy.

**9) **Remember the sooner you quit. The sooner you will reap the benefits.

**10) **The more times you try to quit. The better you will get at it until you quit for good.

11) Immediately get rid of any provocative magazines/images etc anything that reminds you of giving in (Otherwise It’s like those who say* “I’m going on a diet”* yet fill their cupboard with junk food, it isn’t going to work, you can’t rely on will power when it comes to these things, you need to set your environment up so that it pulls for your success).

12) Practise saying to yourself “No thanks, I’m chaste/pure”

13) Avoid challenging occasions where there may be provocative images.
**
14)** If you are feeling tense Exercise, lift some weights, take a walk or go for a jog.

15) The most common quitting method for most people is to stop suddenly Go cold turkey.

16) When you quit you might feel some different withdrawal symptoms This is because your body is re-adjusting to being without, it will pass.

When it comes to such desires, I believe they are addictive in nature much the same as things like smoking are, so if you view it as an addiction like smoking, I believe there are dozens of very, very affective resources out there to help you quit. Remember the worst cravings only last a few minutes and they become less intense and frequent the longer you have quit and do not fear you will lose your sex drive, (I believe that is like saying to an acoholic that he is ‘cured’) this is why motivational tip number** 7** is “The most dangerous thought you can have is. I will just give in this one time.”

Remember to simply take one day at a time and tell yourself “don’t let this be the day that you blow it.” 🙂

I believe this site is also helpful - chastity.org/

Never Give up Giving Up - quit.org.au/keep-quitting/

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I would also like to share with you two extracts out of the book ‘Imitation of Christ’ by Thomas A Kempis on temptations.
Extract from the book 'Imitation of Christ' by Thomas A Kempis:
Resisting Temptation

So long as we live in this world we cannot escape suffering and temptation whence it is written in Job: “The life of man upon earth is a warfare.” Everyone, therefore, must guard against temptation and must watch in prayer lest the Devil, who never sleeps but goes about seeking whom he may devour, find occasion to deceive him. No one is so perfect or so holy but he is sometimes tempted; man cannot be altogether free from temptation.

Yet temptations, though troublesome and severe, are often useful to a man, for in them he is humbled, purified, and instructed. The saints all passed through many temptations and trials to profit by them, while those who could not resist became reprobate and fell away. There is no state so holy, no place so secret that temptations and trials will not come. Man is never safe from them as long as he lives, for they come from within us - in sin we were born. When one temptation or trial passes, another comes; we shall always have something to suffer because we have lost the state of original blessedness.

Many people try to escape temptations, only to fall more deeply. We cannot conquer simply by fleeing, but by patience and true humility we become stronger than all our enemies. The man who only shuns temptations outwardly and does not uproot them will make little progress; indeed they will quickly return, more violent than before.

Little by little, in patience and long-suffering you will overcome them, by the help of God rather than by severity and your own rash ways. Often take counsel when tempted; and do not be harsh with others who are tempted, but console them as you yourself would wish to be consoled.

The beginning of all temptation lies in a wavering mind and little trust in God, for as a rudderless ship is driven hither and yon by waves, so a careless and irresolute man is tempted in many ways.

Fire tempers iron and temptation steels the just.

Often we do not know what we can stand, but temptation shows us what we are.

Above all, we must be especially alert against the beginnings of temptation, for every enemy is more easily conquered if he is refused admittance to the mind and is met beyond the threshold when he knocks.

Someone has said very aptly “Resist the beginnings; remedies come too late, when by long delay the evil has gained strength.” First, a mere though comes to mind, then strong imagination, followed by pleasure, evil delight and consent. Thus because he is not resisted in the beginning, Satan gains full entry. And the longer a man delays in resisting, so much the weaker does he becomes each day, while the strength of the enemy grows against him.

Some suffer great temptations in the beginning of their conversion, others toward the end, while some are troubled almost constantly throughout their life. Others, again, are tempted but lightly according to the wisdom and justice of Divine Providence Who weighs the status and merit of each and prepares all for the salvation of His elect.

We should not despair, therefore, when we are tempted, but pray to God the more fervently that He may see fit to help us, for according to the word of Paul, He will make issue with temptation that we may be able to bear it. Let us humble our souls under the hand of God in every trial and temptation for He will save and exalt the humble in spirit.

In temptations and trials the progress of a man is measured; in them opportunity for merit and virtue is made more manifest.

When a man is not troubled it is not hard for him to be fervent and devout, but if he bears up patiently in time of adversity, there is hope for great progress.

Some, guarded against great temptations, are fervently overcome by small ones in order that, humbled by their weakness in small trials, they may not presume on their own strength in great ones.
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Extract from the book 'Imitation of Christ' by Thomas A Kempis:
The Voice of Christ -

My Child, you are not yet a brave and wise lover.

The Disciple -

Why, Lord?

The Voice of Christ -

**Because, on account of a slight difficulty you give up what you have undertaken and are too eager to seek consolation.

The brave lover stands firm in temptations and pays no heed to the crafty persuasions of the enemy. As I please him in prosperity, so in adversity I am not displeasing to him. The wise lover regards not so much the gift of Him who loves as the love of Him who gives. He regards the affection of the Giver rather than the value of the gift, and sets his beloved above all gifts. The noble lover does not rest in the gift but in Me who am above every gift.

All is not lost, then, if you sometimes feel less devout than you wish toward Me or My saints. That good and sweet feeling which you sometimes have is the effect of present grace and a certain foretaste of your heavenly home. You must not lean upon it too much, because it comes and goes. But to fight against evil thoughts which attack you is a sign of virtue and great merit. Do not, therefore, let strange fantasies disturb you, no matter what they concern. Hold strongly to your resolution and keep a right intention toward God.

It is not an illusion that you are sometimes rapt in ecstasy and then quickly returned to the usual follies of your heart. For these are evils which you suffer rather than commit; and so long as they displease you and you struggle against them, it is a matter of merit and not a loss.

You must know that the old enemy tries by all means in his power to hinder your desire for good and to turn you from every devotional practice, especially from the veneration of the saints, from devout meditation on My passion, and from your firm purpose of advancing in virtue. He suggests many evil thoughts that he may cause you weariness and horror, and thus draw you away from prayer and holy reading. A humble confession displeases him and, if he could, he would make you omit Holy Communion.

Do not believe him or heed him, even though he often sets traps to deceive you. When he suggests evil, unclean things, accuse him. Say to him: “Away, unclean spirit! Shame, miserable creature! You are but filth to bring such things to my ears. Be gone, most wretched seducer! You shall have no part in me, for Jesus will be my strength, and you shall be confounded. I would rather die and suffer all torments than consent to you. Be still! Be silent! Though you bring many troubles upon me I will have none of you. The Lord is my light, my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Though armies unite against me, my heart will not fear, for the Lord is my Helper, my Redeemer.”

Fight like a good soldier and if you sometimes fall through weakness, rise again with greater strength than before, trusting in My most abundant grace. But beware of vain complacency and pride. For many are led into error through these faults and sometimes fall into almost perpetual blindness. Let the fall of these, who proudly presume on self, be a warning to you and a constant incentive to humility. **
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And remember, Jesus fell three times carrying His cross to Calvary, The first to show sinners who are use to sinning that they can convert and have the strength even though they have fallen into sin. The second for those souls who fail because they are frail or those souls who are blinded by sadness and restlessness that they can get up and embark with courage upon the path of virtue and the third for those souls who depart from sin at the hour of death.

“The sinner who feels within himself a total deprivation of all that is holy, pure, and solemn because of sin, the sinner who in his own eyes is in utter darkness, severed from the hope of salvation, from the light of life, and from the communion of saints, is himself the friend whom Jesus invited to dinner, the one who was asked to come out from behind the hedges, the one asked to be a partner in His wedding and an heir to God… Whoever is poor, hungry, sinful, fallen or ignorant is the guest of Christ.” — Matthew the Poor

"My daughter, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy, graces flow out upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery gets buried in the depths of My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from this fountain…" (Diary, 1777).

"Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul’s distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness" (Diary, 300).

**“My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy” **(Diary, 1485).

"…who will proclaim My great mercy. I shall protect them Myself at the hour of death, as My own glory. And even if the sins of souls were as dark as night, when the sinner turns to My mercy, he gives Me the greatest praise and is the glory of My Passion. When a soul extols My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell" (Diary, 378).

**“My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow My graces upon souls, but they do not want to accept them. You, at least, come to Me as often as possible and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console My Heart…” **(Diary, 367).

Oh, if sinners knew My mercy, they would not perish in such great numbers. Tell sinful souls not to be afraid to approach Me; speak to them of My great mercy" (Diary, 1396).

"The souls that say this chaplet will be embraced by My mercy during their lifetime and especially at the hour of their death" (Diary, 754).

How to pray the Chaplet of Devine Mercy
The Image

http://s8.postimg.org/422f1cyxh/Christ_9.jpg

I hope I have helped (I apologise for the length).

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
 
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To claim invincible ignorance of the natural law one would have to have signs like “public masturbation” or public viewing of porn, etc. One knows these things are wrong, one is not ignorant of the moral law because one does not walk into a second grade classroom and start masturbating. One is embarrassed by it (or should be)
You lost me on this one.

Nevertheless, this is interesting.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424416/Swedish-court-rules-IS-legal-masturbate-public-directed-specific.html

I am not saying the masturbation is right just that there is more to it then we might know.
 
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