The Temptations A Man Faces

3 years ago

By JOE SIXPACK

There was someplace I had to be one day last summer, and I was really looking forward to the day’s activities once I arrived. I found it difficult to find pleasure and get the most out of the anticipated activities, though, to say the least. The reason for my difficulty at finding pleasure came from the fact that I’m just a man with a fallen human nature. When I have to be on constant guard against temptations of the flesh and practice custody of the eyes at every turn to avoid giving in to temptations of impure thoughts, it takes all the joy out of any activity . . . anytime, anywhere.

I had to spend most of my time looking at the floor rather than looking at what I came to see and participating in what I wanted to do. It seemed that everywhere I looked, some of the women there were dressed in the most immodest manner. Many of them looked to be falling out of the tops they were wearing, there were a lot of very smooth and attractive shoulders shown, a number of very well-kept figures were proudly accentuated by extremely fitted clothing, a couple of women wore shorts so high that at times much was visible, and I saw more thigh than I’d ever seen at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Some of the other men I noticed there weren’t simply looking at these women, but rather were gawking at them. Of course, this told me they had most likely succumbed to the temptations I was having difficulty fighting myself. I’m writing this in July. I used to love to go swimming, but the reason I stopped going swimming at the river or the beach is because the bathing suits the women wear these days appear to be more like three postage stamps that cover only enough to keep them from violating the laws pertaining to indecent exposure.

The problem is, I wasn’t at the beach or on the river. Nor had I gone to a park. I wasn’t even at Six Flags or Disneyland or any other venue of that sort. And I certainly hadn’t gone to a strip club, although we men couldn’t have been more tempted if that is where we had been. All of the temptation I and all the other men there faced toward thoughts of impurity were because we were at…our parish church for Sunday Mass!

The Ninth Commandment is, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” (Exodus 20:17). This Commandment forbids us all deliberate impure thoughts, intentions, imaginings, desires, and feelings deliberately aroused or indulged in. To avoid temptations of impure thoughts and imaginings we must practice custody of the eyes, which means we have to keep our eyes from wandering toward those things that could tempt us. That’s a little difficult to do, though, when practicing Catholic women keep putting flesh in a man’s face where we have come to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!

The Sixth Commandment is, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). It is the Sixth Commandment that obliges us to be pure and modest in behavior when both alone and with others. This Commandment of God forbids a number of things that are quite common temptations these days, and one of those prohibitions — perhaps the most common among them — is immodest dress.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into Hell” (Matt. 5:27-29).

This means Jesus requires all of us to practice custody of the eyes, lest we condemn ourselves to eternity in Hell. But that practice is extremely difficult when Catholic women bring the temptation to us when we’re supposed to be focusing on a re-presentation of Christ’s Passion and death on the altar.

Jesus also said, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:5-6). Many people think Jesus is speaking only of little children here, but that isn’t the case at all. He makes the point that we are all God’s children, and when we cause another person who believes in Jesus to sin we also condemn our own soul to Hell . . . unless we repent (that is, turn away from the sin) and seek forgiveness in the confessional.

What this means, ladies, is that when you dress immodestly and deliberately tempt men to look at you lustfully, when a man gives in to that temptation you have committed a mortal sin yourself — a sin worthy of eternity in hell. Since you have no way of knowing when a man is tempted by the way you dress and gives in to that temptation, it is your obligation to dress modestly. You have no control over what a man does, but you do have control over whether you put a temptation in front of him by the way you dress.

It has become so bad among some of our Catholic women that it’s downright shameful. One young woman directly in front of me Sunday made a half-hearted attempt to genuflect before seating herself in the pew, and it was no wonder why she only attempted a genuflection. Her dress was so short that even going only half way into a genuflection caused a problem! What is the matter with you, ladies? Do you have no fear of God? Do you have no fear of Hell? If you don’t care about your own soul, at least please allow us men to avoid the temptations you present by exposing your bodies the way you do. Obviously I’m not addressing all Catholic women, but the problem is common enough that it must be addressed.

“Mind your own business, Joe!” Sorry, ladies, I can’t do that. One of the spiritual works of mercy — works we’re all required to perform — is to admonish the sinner. And women who dress immodestly are most certainly committing sin that offends Almighty God! So please, please, please stop offending God and causing men to be tempted and sin by changing the way you dress. This doesn’t only apply to how you dress for Mass, but everywhere you go.

After all, who would want to become a Catholic if someone seeing you knows you’re a Catholic and they see you show blatant disregard for God’s laws? That’s why Protestant fundamentalists look down their noses at us, because they think we believe we can sin all we want as long as we go to Confession after doing so. That simply is not the case. If we did that, we’d be committing the additional mortal sin of presumption!

I’m not letting you men off the hook, either. Being a heterosexual, I have no idea what tempts a woman . . . or a homosexual . . . to look at a man with lust. However, I do know that men attending Mass dress far too casually. I’d appreciate it if some of you women would weigh in on this issue by going to JoeSixpackAnswers.com and telling me how it is men dress or the things they do that tempt you to impure thoughts, because I’d like to address that issue in the future.

The most common mortal sins today are sins of the flesh, whether they be of thought or of action. Our Lady of Fatima told Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco that more people go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than anything else. That was in 1917, when men and women were far more modest in their dress and behavior! Imagine how much worse it must be today. We must pay attention more to God and His laws than our own comfort or the “styles” of culture and society.

If you have a question or comment you can reach out to me through the “Ask Joe” page of JoeSixpackAnswers.com, or you can email me at Joe@CantankerousCatholic.com.

Hey, how would you like to see things like this article every week in your parish bulletin as an insert? You or your pastor can learn more about how to do that by emailing me at Joe@CantankerousCatholic.com.