Jun 21 Wed
Christian spiritual wisdom tells us that the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh feed each other. That the concupiscence of the eyes inflames the concupiscence of the flesh, and vice versa.

St. Augustine offers in his “Confessions” a first step to understanding why the consumption of internet pornography can easily lead to the slow destruction of moral self-possession. "The truth," he writes, "is that disordered lust springs from a perverted will; when lust is procured, a habit is formed; when habit is not checked, it hardens into compulsion. These are like interlinking rings forming what I have described as a chain, and my harsh servitude kept me under coercion."

When concupiscence is indulged and habituated, it gathers such strength that it becomes a kind of necessity that compels the will in such a way that the personal attribute "free" becomes increasingly meaningless.

What seems most characteristic of the compulsive consumption of pornography is that the consumer no longer finds any pleasure in looking at the images. All he has left, when the act is completed, is a craving for stimulating a desire for more that will always remain unsatisfied.

What is to be learned from the testimonies of pornography's users is that the lust of the eyes is not a "hot" but rather a "cold" vice. It arises from the roaming curiosity of the spirit rooted in a spiritual boredom that, again, despairs of and eventually comes to resent the very state of grace in which the dignity of the human person has its roots.

The lust of the eyes that feeds on Internet pornography does not inflame but rather freezes the soul and the heart in a cold indifference to the human dignity of others and leads to repugnance of oneself.

The consumption of internet pornography harms the one who does the consuming; those whose dignity, health, and often lives are consumed in the production of pornography; and those who have to suffer from the ending of conjugal and familial bonds of fidelity, intimacy, and trust.
It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense.

Let us promise our Immaculate Mother to fight. I choose you this day, for my Mother and Lady. I surrender and consecrate to you, as your child, my body and soul, my possessions. Keep on helping me to fight the good fight.