PRAYER WEAPON. We are weak, better said, very weak! Jesus
reminded the Apostles as well as the whole world in the Garden of Gethsemane
with these precise words: “The spirit is
willing but the flesh is weak. Pray that you will not enter in the test.”(Mt
26:40-41) Instead of praying the Apostles fell asleep and thereby failed the
Lord. The principal reason for falling
into any sin, but especially that of impurity, is either lack of prayer or a
very weak and anemic prayer. The
Israelites were able to defeat their enemies only after Moses perched on the
top of the hill, overlooking the battle field, lifted his arms to heaven. (Exodus
17:8-13) To conquer the imperious demands of the flesh and the constant
insinuations of the world and the temptations of the devil, we must (like
Moses) lift up our arms constantly in prayer. Jesus invites us with these words:
“Ask and you will receive… “(Mt. 7:7). Let us beg the Lord for the gift and
virtue of purity.
DO NOT PLAY WITH FIRE. A key reason why many fall into sins of
impurity is a failure to avoid the near occasion of sin. Proverbs are not
lacking: “He who plays with fire will
get burnt”… and “He who walks on thin ice will fall in” … once again… “He who
walks on a slippery slope will fall.” We
have to use common sense and prudence. A simple example! A boyfriend and girl- friend, after having a
nice meal together, the boy-friend invites his girl-friend to his condo to pray
the Rosary together!!! Mind you! They
will both forget their Rosaries and fall prey to the temptations of the devil
and demands of the flesh!
MODESTY. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states
that modesty is the guardian of the virtue purity. (CCC # 2521-2524) All must
practice modesty, but especially women.
Through Baptism our bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit, still more,
temples of the Blessed Trinity and after Holy Communion living Tabernacles of
the Blessed Sacrament. Women should never be a provocation or occasion of sin
to men. Indeed men are not to be excused by a wandering eye, but women should
not be an occasion. All women should take as example in all, but especially in
their wardrobe and dress, the example for all women THE BLESSED VIRGIN
MARY. Contemplate any noble statue or
painting of Our Lady—Our Lady of Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima—and you will be
struck by heavenly beauty, but also the virtue of modesty. May Our Lady be our
model and guide especially in the practice of purity.
PENANCE. Jesus stated:
“Some devils can be expelled only through prayer and fasting.” On one occasion
I was taking a walk and in my path was a big black bird—a Crow. As I drew closer the bird did not take flight.
Always having a strong devotion to St. Francis, I thought that maybe I had a
latent special gifts with animals. This was not the case at all. The reason for
the lack of flight was the simple reason that the poor bird had a broken wing!
The scene brought me to a spiritual reflection. We are like the bird in our
spiritual lives. We are called to be like eagles to fly high into the lofty
heights, but we need two spiritual wings to fly on high—PRAYER AND PENANCE!!! Ton conquer the imperious demands of the
flesh we must pray, pray and pray, but also learn the art of fasting and live a
life of penance! All the saints have taught us this clear lesson!
AVOID LAZINESS. Another huge opening for the devil of
impurity is the capital sin of SLOTH or call it laziness! Once again maxims are at our beck and call: “Idleness(laziness)
is the workshop of the devil.” The great saint and educator and patron of youth
of the 19th century, the great Saint John Bosco experienced a mortal
fear when vacations arrived for his young people. He called vacations the
harvest ground of the devil Why? The reason was clear—summer months free and
nothing to do! In this state of affairs the devil enters in quickly to tempt in
many ways and especially against the virtue of chastity. One of the primary reasons why so many young
people—especially of the male-sex-- have serious problems with Internet porn
and self-abuse is because of excessive free time, boredom and easy access to
impure websites! Saint Bonaventure put it succinctly: “When one is working a devil might be there
to tempt, but when you have nothing to do a multitude of devils are there to
tempt.”
IMPROPER LANGUAGE. In all times and places and circumstances we
should control our tongue. Saint James admonishes us: “We should be slow to
speak and quick to listen.” (Read St. James 3—the sins of the tongue) But this
is especially pertinent with respect to purity. Never should it happen that
issues from our lips dirty words, suggestive language and worse yet coarse,
crude and impure jokes. Later on in his life as an mature priest, Saint John Bosco
lamented that he could not expunge or erase from his mind an impure thing that
a man had uttered in front of him when he was a mere boy. It was engraved in
the memory back of the young Bosco and still there as an elderly priest. Jesus
warns us that we will be judged on all of the words that issue from our mouths.
Never forget that we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus on our tongues; our
tongues become the throne of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let us
speak with such nobility!
CONSTANT AND STRICT VIGILANCE—ESPECIALLY
THE EYES. Pope Francis in his messages
is constantly reminding us that we must keep vigilance over our persons. The
Ignatian daily examen is key. This superb practice invites us to rewind the
film of our day and see where God has been present and give thanks, but also to
see where our hearts have wandered from our loving God. This we can easily apply
to the virtue of purity. In prayer and
reflection observe and humbly admit when our eyes, mind affections and heart
start to wander from God and start to toy with what is not of God—that of
impurity! A noteworthy Biblical passage
that can be of enormous advantage to us is the temptation, allurement and fall
of the Holy King David. A holy man, a prayerful man, a gifted man, a man after
the very heart of God—this was King David. However, he did not keep strict
vigilance over his eyes, mind and heart and this resulted in a cataclysmic fall,
a fall that cast him into the depths of lust and dishonesty. Giving in to lust
terminated in adultery; then adultery led to murder and murder to the suppression
of the conscience. May the story of David be a warning to us! Jesus warns us: “Stay awake and pray; the
spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
CONFESSION AND RENEWED HOPE AND
TRUST. Human weakness does prevail over
us and we can all fall. Worst of all, above and beyond the fall into any sin, is that of DESPAIR. The gravest fault of Judas was not his
betrayal of Jesus, but his despair and failing to trust in the infinite mercy
of Jesus. This being the case, we should never despair due to our human
inclinations prone to sin and our sin itself. On the contrary. Saint Paul
offers us these encouraging words: “Where
weakness abounds the grace of God abounds all the more.” The great Saint
Augustine, who lived a life of slavery to lust and impurity into his early
thirties, preaches the doctrine of “O happy fault”. God can allow an evil to
bring even greater good out of it. Therefore, if we have the misfortune of
falling into a sin against purity then we should have a boundless trust in God
and have immediate recourse to the Sacrament of His mercy, the Sacrament of
Confession. And let us relish words of the prophet Isaiah: “Though your sins be
like scarlet they will become as white as snow.”(Is. 1:18) A good confession
can transform our souls into the beauty of freshly fallen white snow on the
virgin ground!
FREQUENT HOLY COMMUNION. Of the
greatest importance in safeguarding the virtue of chastity is our relation to
Jesus in the most Holy Eucharist. The Holy
Eucharist is really, truly and substantially the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
of Jesus, the Son of the living God. When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion we
receive all of the following—His totality! We receive the mind of Jesus, with
His memory that purifies our possibly dirty thoughts. We receive Jesus’ Blood
that circulates through our entire body, rushing through our veins and
arteries. We receive the most Sacred Heart of Jesus with His most noble of
sentiments; even more, we receive the absolute purity of the most Sacred Heart
of Jesus. If you like, every Holy Communion well-received results in receiving
a spiritual Heart-transplant. As Saint Paul says, “Put on the mind of Christ;
then, you have the mind of Christ.” Then
Paul abounds all the more in this most lofty expression: “It is no longer I who
live but it is Christ who lives in me.” Frequent and fervent and a passionate
reception of Holy Communion is by far the most efficacious means to live a life
of purity—It is Jesus Himself that takes possession of our entire lives and
being!
OUR LADY: MODEL AND
INTERCESSOR FOR ALL VIRTUES. Of course it would be far from complete our
treatise on the virtue of purity if we did not invite Our Lady, the Mother of
holy and pure love to be with us, pray for us, and intercede on our behalf. Experience shows in the lives of countless
saints that it is through their great love of God and filial trust and love for
Mary that they can live holy lives and lives of great purity. One case! Saint Faustina
Kowalska had an encounter with the Lord Jesus. He drew close to the saint and
wrapped a golden sash around her waist. This symbolized a gift that He
generously bestowed upon the saint—the gift of perfect chastity. Her flesh
would be totally submissive to her mind and spirit and no longer would she
experience indecent thoughts. Jesus would be the center of her life, her all
and all! However, there is an additional very important note. Saint Faustina
said that she had been begging OUR LADY for this gift for a long time!
Therefore, it was through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary that
Saint Faustina acquired this marvelous gift of perfect chastity. Let us all
turn to the most pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary and beg for purity of mind,
heart, body, soul and even intention. Let us beg Mary most Holy for the grace
to live out this sublime Beatitude that Jesus taught us: “Blessed are the pure
of heart for they will see God.” (Mt. 5:8) Let us live out purity in this life
so as to contemplate the beauty of the Blessed Trinity—with Our Lady, the
angels and saints—for all eternity! Amen