Need Help re. Unwanted thoughts

[ItrustJesus]

Could someone answer these questions please that confuse me:

1. If sinful thoughts suddenly come into your head, but you have not consented/freely chosen to think them, but they just seemed to appear without warning, and you then pushed the thoughts away quickly, without accepting them, would this be a sin?
2. Why do unwanted/unconsented thoughts come into peoples heads. Is it the devil doing this and is it therefore spiritual warfare?

Yours,

 

[Jabronie]

I think that if the thoughts just pop in, it’s a tempation. If you entertain the thoughts after they come, then it’s a sin.

 

[atsheeran]

I don’t think that something that is not willed can be a sin.

But I do think that this is spiritual warfare. I definitely think the devil tries to put evil thoughts in our minds to turn us away from the Lord.

Next time such a thought occurs, close your eyes and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Make that your automatic response to the attacks of the devil.

 

[ItrustJesus]

atsheeran:

Next time such a thought occurs, close your eyes and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Make that your automatic response to the attacks of the devil.

Thank you. I will definitely pray this prayer.

 

[canne]

Good question, great response. Much needed too. Thanks

 

[Madia]

First off, I recommend reading this list if you’re a bit scrupulous:

mission.liguori.org/newsletters/scrupulosity.htm

Why do unwanted/unconsented thoughts come into peoples heads?

Original sin. Please read about concupiscence in the Catechism particuraly #1263-#1264:
scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm#1264
scborromeo.org/ccc/index/c.htm

If sinful thoughts suddenly come into your head, but you have not consented/freely chosen to think them, but they just seemed to appear without warning, and you then pushed the thoughts away quickly, without accepting them, would this be a sin?

If a bad thought occurs pops into your head (you didn’t will it) it does not mean you have committed a sin. If you consent to the thought and indulge in it then it would be a sin. However, I warn against repressing the sinful thoughts also. I don’t think this is mentally healthy since the more we repress something the more likely it is to pop back up into our mind. For example, if you think it is sinful to think of a squirrel and continuially repress the image of a squirrel when it pops into your mind soon you may spend an inordinate amount of time in fear of an image of a squirrel appearing in your mind and the more you think about it the more the image of a squirrel appears.

So if contenting to a bad thought is sinful and repressing one is harmful then what are you to do with such thoughts? Offer them up. For example, if someone is treating you uncharitably and you get angry at him, try saying something like this: “Lord, I offer you this anger for the person treating me uncharitably. I do not wish vengance on him, I only wish that he sees his uncharitable behavior and repents of it. Have mercy on him Lord, and call him to repentance. Help me bear this cross of anger for I know that by offering it up to You my sufferings are not in vain for many graces can be brought down by them.”

If you an impure thought enters your mind, offer it up for the woman who you are thinking of. If anger enters your mind, offer it up for who you are angry about. Etc.

I also recommend offering everything to God through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Try the Fatima morning offering:

catholic.org/clife/prayers/prayers.php?section_id=35&name=Morning

Then, when you are confronted by bad thoughts, know that by bearing your cross you are bringing down graces and sharing in the Life of Christ.

 

[st_ignatius110]

1. If sinful thoughts suddenly come into your head, but you have not consented/freely chosen to think them, but they just seemed to appear without warning, and you then pushed the thoughts away quickly, without accepting them, would this be a sin?

I always confess sinful thoughts even if I do not dwell on them. I find that this helps me the next time to be even stronger when the temptation comes along. It also allows my priest to give me spiritual advice.

1. Why do unwanted/unconsented thoughts come into peoples heads. Is it the devil doing this and is it therefore spiritual warfare?

It is the devil. We are all oppressed by demons. The number one form of oppression comes through temptations. It has been said that demons can at times enter the psyche, and even influence thoughts and dreams…though this happens more often with people who are possessed rather then oppressed.

I would for sure reccommend offering up any temptations to our Lord. For example, if an impure thought pops into your mind…immediatly offer this temptation up to the Lord and ask Him to help you see all people the way that He does. And this works…I have been doing this and the impure thoughts just fizzle away…I also, after I offer up the thought, pray a Hail Mary.

We must always remember that we are in a daily battle with Satan and his demons. During an exorcism one demon told a priest that if we could see them the sun would be blocked out because there are that many of them. Remember what Revelation says…Woe to you O Earth!(paraphrase) the devil knows his time is short and will unleash his fury on you.

Stay in constant prayer and go to confession weekly.

 

[Christ_Soldier]

ItrustJesus:

1. If sinful thoughts suddenly come into your head, but you have not consented/freely chosen to think them, but they just seemed to appear without warning, and you then pushed the thoughts away quickly, without accepting them, would this be a sin?
2. Why do unwanted/unconsented thoughts come into peoples heads. Is it the devil doing this and is it therefore spiritual warfare?

---

My friend,

I like you, over the years, have been plagued by this evil as well. And to a certain extent, I am still fighting evil thoughts of every kind. I believe that I can offer some advice in this area, which should hopefully keep you from these thoughts, for this is how I am able to keep myself free of them.

I am fond of quoting Father John Corapi ,who has done a televised lecture of the entire Catechism…UNBELIEVABLE…Fr. Corapi states that temptation is not a sin. it is only a temptation, and should be treated as such. It all depends on what you do with the temptation. The temptation only becomes a sin when you give into whatever it is that is tempting you, by action or possibly speech of some kind. In your case, if you are being plagued by angry thoughts, the only time it would become a sin (according to Fr. Corapi) would be if you went into an angry rant against that person. Technically speaking, whenever you have any thought that you think has evil origins, you should and must dismiss it immediately, to prevent yourself from being further tempted by it, and falling into a state of sin. But to answer your question, which has been confirmed by just about everyone else in the thread, unwanted thoughts are not naturally sinful, and as long as you dismiss then immediately, and continually do so, for I have found that you can’t simply say no, they (he) will continually come after you, and you must have the proper “ammunition” to continually dismiss them. I’ll get to this a little later.

To also answer your other question, yes, it is satan, lucifer, whatever you want to call him, in my opinion, and his evil minions. they are the ones who are constantly driving these thoughts into your mind, and trying to deceive and manipulate you, in order for you to sin (which, considering society today, I would say they are succeeding, which we must stop). You use a good metaphor in saying “spiritual warfare”, which is a good way of describing it. This brings me to something else I am fond of saying, originally from my cousin, who consults w/ BC Dep. of Theology (Boston College Department of Theology), that the angel of darkness will always appear as an angel of light, and we all must know the faith in order to fight him. this is the ammunition that I was getting to earlier. THE FAITH.

The best way, really the only way, that I have found to be successful in fighting satan in all his forms is of course, being active in the Faith and the Church. But given today’s society, which is bordering on the description/fulfillment of some revelational/apocalyptic prophecies, that is especially…especially hard. but trust me, it is the only way. WE MUST IMMERSE OURSELVES IN THE FAITH. This is the only way that I have found refuge from the evils of the world, which are many. One simple way of avioding unwanted thoughts that I have found is to pray, right when you have an unwanted thought, for Fr. Corapi also says that evil and prayer cannot coincide and that if you pray hard enough, the evil thought will eventully dissipate. I believe others have mentioned this as well. Pray the Our Father, or the Hail Mary, and an Act of Contrition even, or even a prayer for the person or emotion your thinking about. Offer it up as others have said, to God to take away from you. ** Believe me, throught prayer, anything is possible.**Now, I’m not saying to go join the seminary, but we as lay Catholics must become more active in the Church than any other generation has had to be in the past…we are at the gates of a dominantly evil world, and we must fight it. I don’t mean to sound mean with the word evil, but it is true. Our society has become what Aldous Huxley predicted 70 years ago and George Orwell predicted 50 years ago. (read “Brave New World” and “1984” OBJECTIVELY) This is what I mean by evil. And the only way to fight it is to immerse ourselves in the Church, in Jesus Christ.
(CONTINUED IN NEXT POST)

 

[Christ_Soldier]

TAKE me for example. 2 years ago, I was one of those lazy American Catholics who thought that going to mass once a week was good enough. To be completely honest, I lived in complete sin, both mentally and physically, and only went to Mass weekly with my elderly grandmother, not because I wanted to (All I wanted was the free food that came afterwards!). After my grandmother died, who was the reason I went to Church, I began to realize the truth about the world around me, the error of my ways, and began reading the Bible and the Catechism, which not only reinforced my notions, but showed what more I needed to do to really be a Catholic. Now at 18 years old, by the Grace of God, I am now a member of three different Catholic youth groups, leader of one, and also a teacher in my local religious education program. All of this came to me because I immersed myself in the Faith and Church teachings, and still am. Mind you, I may have no intentions of becoming a Priest or theologian, but it is my strong belief that today, we can not afford to leave it to the few and proud (and hopefully the many once again) Priests and theologians to tell us what to do, we must take it upon ourselves to read the Bible, the Catechism, and KNOW THE FAITH. Pope Benedict XVI himself was the one who said recently that lay Catholics around the world must “immerse themselves in the faith and the eternal word”. I did not hear this myself, but when it comes to taking the word of Scott Hahn, one of, and in my opinion, THE foremost Christian and Catholic theologian in the world, I’ll take his word for it, especially when it’s in person. (also unbelievable)

TO THIS DAY…I still have unwanted thoughts, but you may ask yourself how I accomplish so much and still be tempted daily; it is the simple, but undeniably strenuous concept of immersing myself in the Faith and Church. Trust in me, Scott Hahn, and Pope Benedict XVI, when we say that you must immerse yourself in the Church to be saved from evil of every kind. I realize your probably scared half to death after that reading this, and although you should fear The Lord, don’t fear my words. I said them to help you, not scare you. I think I can relate to your situation better than most because I was there and to extent still am; I know what it is like to constantly give into unwanted thoughts. Looking back honestly, I spent a good 7 years as a slave to my senses, desires, and ultimately, satan. I was his lapdog and I lapped it up. By the Grace of God though, I have repented my evil ways, and am weaning myself off my evil through self-discipline, hard work, and of course, immersing myself in Church activities. And you know what…IT’S WORKING! And in my opinion, is the only way for Catholics of ALL AGES to survive. Remember this, of my own intuition…satan doesn’t care whether you’re young or old, man or woman, black or white (or green or yellow or pink for that matter), or even WHAT YOU BELIEVE…he attacks all people of every religion and kind on the face of this earth. **The only way to survive is to fight him with divinity through the Church.
**
Grace of Christ and continue to trust in Jesus and his Church,

R.A.H.