Purity is living a life free from immorality, which is unlawful or improper sexual relations. God commands us to live pure lives. Like the other virtures, purity can always be attained by those who desire it. "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body" (1 Cor 6:18). "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints" (Eph. 5:3).
Jesus commanded purity of thought when he said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).
Purity makes us like God. Purity is associated with holiness. Holiness is something that God demands of us. We are called to be conformed to God's image and to thus be pure in thought and deed. God never requires from a person what he is incapable of achieving. Since He calls us all to embrace purity, there is no excuse for not living it out.
When we meditate upon the Sorrowful Scourging at the Pillar, purity is the virtue we beg God for. Let us always pray that we live pure lives.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Prayers at the Foot of the Altar
Showing posts with label Lust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lust. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
More on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
What relevance does this doctrine have for our own spiritual life? Why was it God's design to preserve Mary from every stain of sin? Why did He destine her to attain a degree of holiness far beyond that of any other mere creature? And why did God choose to reveal to us the special favors He bestowed upon the lowly handmaid of Nazareth?
First, it was fitting that Mary be conceived without sin because she was destined to be the worthy, beloved Mother of the Holy God. In preserving Mary from all sin, God prepared a holy tabernacle in which His Son was to dwell, a holy body from which He was to take His humanity, a holy Mother whom He could love with the fullness of His divine/human love. The Immaculate Conception is ultimately a reflection of the holiness of Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, with whom Mary was destined to enter into such an intimate relationship.
Sin is alienation from God, disorder in one's relation to God, a loss of the divine image, a defilement of one's being. It was fitting that one who was to be the Mother of God never experience such alienation, disorder, loss, or defilement. What veneration we therefore owe the Blessed Virgin!
Second, it was fitting that she, the New Eve, who was to cooperate so intimately with her Son in the work of our redemption, be entirely free of sin. She who was to be associated with her Son in His victory over Satan must never have been under the dominion of Satan.
Third, in revealing to us Mary's Immaculate Conception and perfect holiness, God places before our eyes a concrete model of what we are to love, and, in loving, strive to be. He gives us a model that is at once perfect and yet lowly, lovable, and imitable. Despite her unique privilege and lofty holiness, Mary is the most imitable of the saints because her greatness is in her lowliness. She is the handmaid of the Lord. Mother yes, but first handmaid. Blessed becasuse she believed.
In gazing upon the Immaculate Virgin, utterly free of the disorders of our sinful nature, the devout faithful feel a new hope in their own humanity. In contrast to their experience of a world given to sin, corruption, lying, cheating, cruelty and lust, they see a fellow creature that is utterly pure and good, totally given to love, a mother's love for all. For mortals trapped in this world of sin to look upon the sinless Virgin is like the mine workers recently buried in South America for so long who were eventually saved and allowed to see the bright sun and breathe pure air once more.
Finally, in revealing to the Church Mary's Immaculate Conception and perfect holiness God shows in her what the Church is called to be and what He will ultimately make her to be.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
First, it was fitting that Mary be conceived without sin because she was destined to be the worthy, beloved Mother of the Holy God. In preserving Mary from all sin, God prepared a holy tabernacle in which His Son was to dwell, a holy body from which He was to take His humanity, a holy Mother whom He could love with the fullness of His divine/human love. The Immaculate Conception is ultimately a reflection of the holiness of Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, with whom Mary was destined to enter into such an intimate relationship.
Sin is alienation from God, disorder in one's relation to God, a loss of the divine image, a defilement of one's being. It was fitting that one who was to be the Mother of God never experience such alienation, disorder, loss, or defilement. What veneration we therefore owe the Blessed Virgin!
Second, it was fitting that she, the New Eve, who was to cooperate so intimately with her Son in the work of our redemption, be entirely free of sin. She who was to be associated with her Son in His victory over Satan must never have been under the dominion of Satan.
Third, in revealing to us Mary's Immaculate Conception and perfect holiness, God places before our eyes a concrete model of what we are to love, and, in loving, strive to be. He gives us a model that is at once perfect and yet lowly, lovable, and imitable. Despite her unique privilege and lofty holiness, Mary is the most imitable of the saints because her greatness is in her lowliness. She is the handmaid of the Lord. Mother yes, but first handmaid. Blessed becasuse she believed.
In gazing upon the Immaculate Virgin, utterly free of the disorders of our sinful nature, the devout faithful feel a new hope in their own humanity. In contrast to their experience of a world given to sin, corruption, lying, cheating, cruelty and lust, they see a fellow creature that is utterly pure and good, totally given to love, a mother's love for all. For mortals trapped in this world of sin to look upon the sinless Virgin is like the mine workers recently buried in South America for so long who were eventually saved and allowed to see the bright sun and breathe pure air once more.
Finally, in revealing to the Church Mary's Immaculate Conception and perfect holiness God shows in her what the Church is called to be and what He will ultimately make her to be.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Christian and the World
Saint John says: "Never give your love to the world, or to anything in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. All that the world offers is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and earthly ambition. The world and its allurements will pass away, but the man who has done the will of God shall live for ever."
We have a responsibility to discern and carry out the will of God at all times. It is not for us to do our own will. I reluctantly accepted the office of priesthood because it was not my own will for my life, but the will of the Father. Once we have accepted God's will in our lives, we must, according to the words of Saint Cyprian, "be single-minded, firm in faith, and steadfast in courage, ready for God's will, whatever it may be."
We must constantly remind ourselves as baptized Christians how we have renounced the world. As Christians we live in it, but are not of it. We are aliens in this world. We should never fear death because death in this life means an end to our exile. We will then become free from this world and be able to welcome the paradise that awaits us. If we want to show the world that we sincerely live our faith, we must always focus on the eternal life that awaits us after this our exile!
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
We have a responsibility to discern and carry out the will of God at all times. It is not for us to do our own will. I reluctantly accepted the office of priesthood because it was not my own will for my life, but the will of the Father. Once we have accepted God's will in our lives, we must, according to the words of Saint Cyprian, "be single-minded, firm in faith, and steadfast in courage, ready for God's will, whatever it may be."
We must constantly remind ourselves as baptized Christians how we have renounced the world. As Christians we live in it, but are not of it. We are aliens in this world. We should never fear death because death in this life means an end to our exile. We will then become free from this world and be able to welcome the paradise that awaits us. If we want to show the world that we sincerely live our faith, we must always focus on the eternal life that awaits us after this our exile!
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Monday, November 22, 2010
Salvation
Saint Peter exhorts us to embrace virtue. We have been invested with a divine power by virtue of our baptism. We therefore have everything necessary for living a life of genuine piety. This is part of our two-fold responsibility toward our Creator. Through the knowledge of Christ Himself who has called us to be His own, we have the strength to fulfill our responsibility.
Saint Peter says we must embrace virtue with a lively faith. Since we have left a world corrupted by lust to become sharers in the divine nature, we must practice self-control. Self control leads to perseverance. Perseverance leads to piety. Piety in turn leads to charity. Charity leads to love.
We thus fulfill the second part of our duty toward God, namely to love. Saint Peter says that these qualities bear fruit in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If we lack these qualities we possess a spiritual blindness.
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Saint Peter says we must embrace virtue with a lively faith. Since we have left a world corrupted by lust to become sharers in the divine nature, we must practice self-control. Self control leads to perseverance. Perseverance leads to piety. Piety in turn leads to charity. Charity leads to love.
We thus fulfill the second part of our duty toward God, namely to love. Saint Peter says that these qualities bear fruit in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If we lack these qualities we possess a spiritual blindness.
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
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