Jesus condemns lust, divorce and adultery and warns of the fires of Hell. Every Catholic man can grow in happiness by seeking the Gift of Understanding from the Holy Spirit so he can understand sexual morality and by building the Virtue of Chastity so he can reject lust and strive to live a life of purity.
Liturgy
10th Week in Ordinary Time – Friday – Mt 5:27-32
Commentary
In His Sermon on the Mount, after revealing that the demands of The 5th Commandment go beyond unrighteous killing and include unrighteous anger (Mt 5:20-26), Jesus now reveals that the higher demands of chastity include not only being chaste in physical sexual acts but also inner lustful thoughts.
Confirming the binding nature of The 6th Commandment against the mortal sin of adultery, which is a sexual act by a married person with someone other than their spouse, Jesus reveals the stunning truth that the sin of adultery includes lust, the act of looking at someone who is not one’s spouse with sexual intent. Confirming the existence, and horrific suffering, of Hell, Jesus twice warns men to take drastic action to stop lust and avoid Hell. Using exaggeration, Jesus speaks of gouging out one’s right eye and cutting off one’s right hand if it causes a man to fall into lust. Jesus may be warning of the sinfulness of masturbation by explicitly linking lust with both the right eye (see) and the right hand (masturbate).
After confirming the truth of the mortal sin of adultery but expanding it to include the higher standard of inner lustful thoughts and acts, Jesus expands the definition even further to condemn divorce. While Moses allowed divorce, Jesus, in an incredible act of authority, revokes the right to divorce and reveals that those who divorce and “remarry”(they actually remain married to their original spouse), are guilty of adultery. Given Jesus’ explicit warnings those who are guilty of the lesser sin of lust (sexual imaginings) face being cast into Hell, Jesus implicitly warns those who are guilty of the greater sin of actual adulterous sexual acts also face being cast into Hell, including those who divorce and remarry.
Be awed by Jesus Christ
Consider Jesus’ demanding call to Chastity: Son of Man, raised by the Virgin Mary and the heroically chaste St. Joseph, Jesus is the perfection of Chastity; a Divine Person with a Human Nature, Jesus has a perfect understanding of the challenges of Chasity; an yet, Jesus, with Divine Knowledge, calls men to perfection in Chastity, including even inner thoughts; using exaggeration, for Jesus would never command self mutilation, and Warnings of Hell, Jesus categorically condemns sexual perversion (of every kind), calls men to chastity and confirms the just punishment of eternal damnation for those guilty of mortal sexual sin.
Seek the Spirit to understand sexual morality
Realize: Today, there is great confusion about the morality of sexual acts and significant numbers of men fall into mortal sin by committing sexual sins; Christ’s teachings, preserved in His Holy Catholic Church, remain the true standard of sexual morality.
Believe: Reflect upon The 6th Commandment (CCC 2331-2359) and The 9th Commandment (CCC 2514-2533).
Pray: Holy Spirit, give me the Gift of Understanding so You help me more fully grasp God’s beautiful gift of sexuality and fill me with the understanding and desire to live in accordance with Your Commandments regarding sexual morality.
Reject lust and strive for chastity
Realize: Satan has seduced millions of boys and men to engage in sexual sin by the instant availability of pornography and by promoting the lie that viewing pornography and masturbation are not sins.
Believe: Reflect upon the Church’s teachings about Pornography (2354, 2396), Masturbation (CCC 2352), and The Vocation to Chastity (CCC 2337-2359).
Pray: Jesus, Perfection of Chastity, help me build the Virtue of Chastity (a part of Temperance) so my heart and thoughts remain pure, I abstain from viewing pornography and masturbation, and I immediately receive the Sacrament of Penance if I fall into sexual sin.