A Beacon Of Light… The Battle Between The Flesh And The Spirit

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.

(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn. He received his BA in religious studies and his MA in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.)

• + + Welcome back to our survey of the Catechism and the Ten Commandments. Today we will examine and break down the meaning behind the Ninth Commandment which is: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”
  This commandment is uniquely linked to the Sixth Commandment. Unlike the Sixth Commandment that deals with carnal actions of sexual nature, the Ninth Commandment explores the thoughts and words of covetousness.
  The First Letter of John explains three kinds of covetousness: “For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16).
  This covetousness, or concupiscence, is linked to our first parents Adam and Eve. Our first parents lived in perfect happiness. This was lost, however, through the cunningness of the serpent, and an obstacle was placed between them and God. This resulted in a flawed desire toward evil and sin.
  St. Paul describes this “flawed desire” as a battle that exists between the “flesh and the spirit.” In his Letter to the Galatians he says: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:16, 17, 24).
  The Ninth Commandment forbids the intentional desire and longing for immoral sexuality. To sin in the heart, Jesus says, is to lust after a woman or a man in your heart with the desire for them. Just as human life is a gift from God and needs to be respected, defended, and protected, so too, is human sexuality.
  Catholicism regards human sexuality as a divine gift, so it is considered sacred in the proper context — within marriage. What are some of the ways we fail in living the Ninth Commandment? Here are a few examples.
  One of the most frequent sins confessed is pornography. Pornography is using explicit books, magazines, movies, or the Internet for arousal and sexual satisfaction. This is serious because it makes a person an object for pleasure. We are not created as objects for pleasure, but as self-giving creatures for love.
  Reading sexually explicit materials falls under this Commandment. We have all heard of the person who reads sleazy novels. Reading these novels can diminish our fortitude in fighting against sexual pleasures. Dwelling on impure thoughts or fantasies for the purpose of arousal causes images and fantasies to be burnt into our brain. These images and thoughts are always there and can haunt us for years. Sadly, pornography, sleazy novels, imputed thoughts, and fantasies, can lead to willfully lusting after another.
  Living this Commandment requires a purification of the heart. Our “moral personality” lives within our hearts. In fact, Jesus Himself reminds us of this in St. Matthew’s Gospel when he says: “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them” (Matt. 15:11). Here, Jesus explains, that the effects of covetousness are from the inside and from which we must choose to act or not.
  Purity of heart requires the practice of temperance. Temperance is the virtue, whereby, man is given the ability to act well with oneself, from within oneself. This is the virtue that assists us in maintaining a purity of heart. Purity of heart is linked in the “divine blessedness of God.” Meaning, purity of heart is a precondition of the beatific vison and our participation in it. Purity of heart keeps our eyes focused on God, rather than on the struggles of life.
  There exists a kind of “security” assisting us in the battle for purity. This “security” is bestowed upon us in Baptism, and we call it “grace of purification.” This purified grace enables us to prevail in the battle of purity. The virtue of chastity allows us to love with upright and undivided hearts. Purity of intention consists in seeking the true end of man’s destiny, which is to find and fulfill God’s will in all we do. Purity of vision is man’s desire to keep his eyes always focused on the beatific vision and on the heavenly Kingdom. Lastly, the battle of purity can be accomplished when God’s grace is united in a life of prayer. In any battle there exist weapons to assist people in reaching the desired outcome. And so, the battle of purity has, as its weapons, God’s grace, and the prayers of the faithful to assist us on the battlefield of life (CCC, n. 2520).
  There is another tool at our disposal that assists us in living this Commandment. This we call modesty. Modesty has as its goal to protect the mystery of love. It does this by reminding us of the need to be patient and moderate in our relationships. What do I mean by this? Well, if we look at this Commandment we see it deals with our thoughts and desires and the ability to act justly in accordance with them. Patience is needed in not moving too quickly in the pursuit of desire. In a similar way, moderation helps us to make right judgments in our relationships. Modesty helps us to resist the allurements of societal pressures and the many prevailing false ideologies of our time.
  We see this in the battle that ensues regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s possibility of casting down Roe v. Wade. Here, we see how a lack of modesty, or prudence for that matter, led to leaking a drafted majority opinion of justices. Casting down this law has enflamed pressures on the justices to abandon their opinions and lower themselves to what extremists want. Modesty, at its core, “exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man” (CCC, n. 2524).
  Today’s culture is rapidly trying to eradicate all sense of modesty from society. As Christians, it is our responsibility to rid society of ideologies that threaten man’s purity of heart. The world needs a “new purification” to restore modesty and purify the hearts of all. But in order for this to happen, Catholics must be “countercultural.” Being “countercultural” ensures we never give in to the times. We must never allow fears or political pressures to lead us down a road where we trade our dignity as a person for the dignity of society. We must stand firm in our desire to maintain purity of heart.
  St. Augustine says: “Grace builds on nature.” Our very nature is rooted in God Himself. Through sin, we disrupt our nature and open fissures in the soul, whereby covetousness and concupiscence distract us from seeing our created dignity. The more we avoid temptations of the flesh, the more we grow in grace. The same is true on the other side. The more we engage in sin, the more we are tempted by the evil one.
  Next week we will finish our examination of the Commandments, which will lead us into the last section of the Catechism: “The Life of Prayer.”