Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archives

Chastity

Chastity

by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

Giving into one’s lustful drives is irrational. Chastity is more than prudent self-control. To practice chastity there must be chastity of the eyes, chastity of the ears, chastity of thought and chastity of desire.

The Holy Eucharist is the principal source we have for obtaining the distinctive grace we need to practice Christian chastity.

Grace permits us to surrender our wills to the will of God. Grace directs our will to command our reproductive powers to conform to the will of Jesus Christ.

About 150 AD, Diognetus, a learned Greek expressed a desire to know what Christianity really means and asked. “What is this new race of men who are neither pagans nor Jews?” In the Letter to Diognetus the answer is given.

Like others, Christians also marry and have children, but they do not expose these children. They do not kill their children. Christians share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven.

Frequent, even daily assistance at Mass is a powerful source of chaste living. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a reservoir of divine strength against the demon of lust for all mankind.

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