Practical Helps For Purity

This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable.  It has not been verified by the author.

We have a clock at the back of the chapel for me to keep an eye on the time. And you might not know that, and you might not believe that, but I do. And Loretta, right before Mass, came and told me that it was stuck. It wasn’t working. It’s a good thing she told me, because I would have gone on and on otherwise. So, there’s a lot in this gospel today, a lot of points. So, I’ll just focus on one particularly challenging point. That’s where our Lord says, “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 with her 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. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body go into hell.” And so, this is a very severe passage from our Lord. And many of you are aware that there’s just, very recently, there’s been all these new documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein that have been published in a sign of how much evil there is even at the most powerful levels of our society. So, this passage is very important, and we sense the severity of the Lord. There’s if you’re interested, there was another time in which I took a different perspective on this gospel. It was a homily of September 29 of 2024 but I want to use something different today for this gospel. And many of you are aware, I’ve often spoken of how 30 years ago, when I was serving in Monterrey, Mexico, two women came to me who had been having interior locutions, and they said the Lord wanted me to be their spiritual director. So, I need to emphasize that this is in a different context. Well, first of all, this was given in Spanish, and I translated as best I could, and also with a computer and this was given in Mexico, which was a more traditional culture in which I think that the families were often more intact. And it was a message given especially about young people. And this was given in the 90s, that was before internets and cell phones and social media. So, a lot has changed in these 30 years, but I think that the key points of this are still very helpful, and as we’re just about to enter Lent, this is a good message. It’s pretty long, so I’m going to adapt, summarize and shorten some of the parts. So, the message begins by stating the question, “what can be done to combat the sin of impurity?” And it says, “impurity has two sources, two origins. One is concupiscence. Concupiscence, that is the inclination toward evil. And the other is our sight, our vision. So, one is internal, the other is external. So, we need to work on these two points, since you have had this inclination toward evil since birth, because of original sin,” this concupiscence, this inclination that we all have towards evil since birth, because of original sin, “this is something that you must struggle with throughout your life. With regard to the second point to sight or vision, awareness and good discipline will help greatly.” Then it says, “first of all, seek the help of My mother, the spotless purity, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, so that she may help you in this task that is so difficult for humans.” And then it says, “First of all,” so it’s kinda like a second first of all – “First of all be aware of how God, through purity, through pure souls, gives the world the greatest treasures, the greatest revelations.” And so, it’s going to begin by helping us understand a little bit the value of purity. So, it says, “through Mary, because of her Immaculate purity, He gives the world the gift of all gifts, His Son, Jesus Christ. My apostle, John, through his purity and love, received the greatest revelation of the New Testament, My apocalypse.” Only John knew the secrets of the mystery of God, and in his Gospel, from the beginning, he goes back to the origins of the Word made flesh. My adoptive father, St, Joseph, a chaste and pure man who had also taken a vow of chastity from his youth. My John, the Baptist, the greatest man born of woman since I sanctified him, freed him from his original sin through the presence of My mother, who carried Me in her womb. John was pure and ascetic. There are many examples in My gospel and in scriptures of the beautiful value of purity.” So, first of all, he is highlighting through examples, the value of purity. “How and why should we be aware of this? This explanation is to demonstrate the wonderful transcendence that a pure soul can have, and in fact, does have. Young men and women fall into impurity because, due to their inclination and weakness,” the inclination and weakness of all of us, “they seek impurity, because for them, it is an apparent good, it seems like a good. Man goes after what seems good for him, even if, in reality, he is mistaken.” And we know that we’re in a society which promotes impurity in so many ways and mocks purity. You know, just for instance, how much of comedy has the spirit. “When purity is presented for what it is, it transforms a virtue that encompasses not only all beauty, but also strength. The attraction to a good from God, it encompasses firmness of spirit, strength of character, strength to overcome oneself, despite all internal and external adversities.” So, He’s emphasizing purity, how purity encompasses strength. “Purity is a virtue that engenders saints, men and women who are great in the eyes of God and in whom God will establish His holy law and their hearts and spirits to make them free, free from the slavery of sin and passions. Only in this way can man be free from himself, walk through life above his own passions, his own inclinations. I repeat, the value of purity must be exalted to its rightful place, so that young men and women may feel a desire to aspire to possess it, whatever the cost.” I’m just thinking, for instance, we just had the Super Bowl, which was another extreme example in our society, an event which draws so much attention ofhow much the evil one attacks us in this way. So, after first of all calling our attention to purity, He says, then He focuses, He explains that, and He talks about Goodwill. And so, I’m just going to summarize the section, since it’s lengthy, but he says this, all this that he just gave is an appeal to their goodwill. And so, he says that goodwill exists in each one of us like a little seed. And He recalls the words of the angels at the birth of our Lord, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth. Peace to men of good will.” Peace to men of good will. That this good will is like the engine that changes and moves us to do what is good, even when it’s hard. And so, it gives some examples, some concrete examples. “If you have good will, you will seek what is good for you, what does not harm you. You will seek for instance, you will seek to eat what is good for you and set aside what harms you. You will seek to do exercise that strengthens your muscles, which will give you more work, which is harder than resting, but you will do it because it is good for you. You will seek to do your homework, the hard work that benefits you in order to prepare for tomorrow, even though you know it costs you more to do it than to not do it. You will seek cleanliness and personal grooming, because it is good for your health and will make you and others feel better, even though you know it takes more work than walking around dirty and unkept. As in all these examples, purity will cost more to possess and you will not be able to appreciate or know this fully in this life, but in the next, when your spirit shines and will shine like a crystal clear diamond without blemish or defect. Of course, the fruits and benefits of purity in this life already can be appreciated humanly speaking, because the body, life and future generations receive the physical benefit of a clean, healthy body and mind.” We can just think of the very many STD’s which cause so much damage. Then it speaks of prayer, the importance of prayer, and I won’t read that section because we’ve often talked about it here, but emphasize how much that is importantin the struggle for purity. And He says, prayer helps to exalt the virtue of purity.” He says, it’s important to teach about this and to teach them the best way to achieve it through prayer. “How many young people will choose the right path? The path that leads to Me, many are torn between anguish, doubt and sin, and since there is no one to give them clear ideas on the subject, they fall into sin.” And then He talks about discipline, in particular discipline in eating and drinking. “There is another thing that helps to achieve and maintain purity, and that is to sacrifice the palate, the taste buds and the stomach. This is a discipline that seems unrelated to the subject, but it definitely helps. Young people must first discipline themselves to eat at regular times and not snack on this or that between meals. If it is necessary for health or necessity to eat something, preference should be given to something nutritious, such as fruit or natural juices rather than cravings. Disciplining the taste buds helps to discipline the other senses.” I’ll read that again. Disciplining the taste buds helps to discipline the other senses. “You should always give preference to eating nutritious food and set aside what only pleases the palate.” So, he’s for making America healthy again, right? And then a word on fasting. “Fasting, even if it is only one meal, for instance, not eating breakfast or not eating at noon until the evening, is discipline. Dinner should not be skipped, as this would keep you awake or make you feel sick in the middle of the night.” And then also, “depriving yourselves of sweets and treats sometimes also helps.” And then it goes on about healthy discipline.  “Getting up early, going to bed early, exercise, a lot. It helps the body and the soul. Walk, walk a lot, contemplating nature and the work of the Creator. Meditate on His goodness and on His love and mercy. All this is helping discipline and correcting our concupiscence,” our inclination to sin. So, these are a lot of very practical things that all of us, in one way or another, can do, and that can help us in achieve a healthy discipline working against our concupiscence, our inclination to evil. And then He’s going to pass on to the second point about vision.  “Let us move on to the second point mentioned at the beginning –  sight, the cause of so many sins of impurity. Young people,” and he’s saying young people, but of course, most of this is very applicable to all of us, ”young people should be made aware of this and made to realize this criteria. The vast majority of sins of impurity entered and are committed through sight.” I’ll read that again. “The vast majority of sins of impurity, enter and are committed through sight.” And then He cites the passage from the Gospel today. “What did I say in My gospel? If your eye or your hand is the cause of scandal that is of sin, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of heaven without it than to go with it to eternal fire. So, what can be done to avoid reaching that point? Discipline your eyes. Discipline yourself. How?” And so here again, he’s going to give some concrete advice, and this first point is very strong. But of course, the Gospel passage that we just read is very strong. “First of all, give up modern media, which is so contaminated, so corrupt in these times. First give up television totally, yes, totally. Will we never be able to watch television, some will say. Well, if you value purity, what purity is, what does it matter if you never watch television again in your life, as long as you go to heaven. I told you at the beginning and gave you examples of how what is worthwhile takes more effort. Television is the great means of perdition for youth as are movies. Therefore, give up movies and television. No one has died because of it. On the contrary, the soul, the life of the Spirit, will live through the life of grace.” So, as I say, that’s a very strong passage. And of course, there’s different things. For instance, now we have which I don’t think was available back then in Monterey, we have something like EWTN, which is a very good use of that. So, there’s discernment needed, but He’s speaking about how much evil there is in TVs and movies. Someone was pointing out that when they introduced television in the 50s, most of the shows were very family friendly, and so people got used to seeing it as kind of a nice family activity to gather around the TV. And then once we were kind of used to that, then they began adding much more and more poison. And so, He talks about television and movies. “Then also give up magazines and newspapers that are as obscene as they are now. Flee from immoral and indecent jokes and conversations. And when they have accepted and walked in this discipline, teach them, advise them to mortify their sight.” So, this is what was classically called custody of the eyes. “To mortify their sight, even of something lawful and good, for the sake of mortifying it and learning from it. For example, to boys, if a car or an automobile passes that they like or catches their attention, they should look away and not pay attention to it, but to another object, to something else. If they see a motorcycle they like, they should discreetly turn away and not look at it. If they see a tasty dish, a sweet or something that catches their attention, they should look away and think of something else. This will train you to do without what is lawful, which will later help you to give up what is not.” So, just to clarify. He’s not saying it’s wrong, for instance, to like to look at a motorcycle or cool car or something like that. But what he’s saying is it can help us to train ourselves on things which are easier for us to train, to be able to do things which are harder. So not again that it’s wrong to be interested or look at these things, but to again, to train ourselves on things which, as He says, He says clearly, these things are lawful and good. It’s not wrong to look at them, but we can also use them as a training. “Discipline, discipline, above all else, and at all times. Will it be a constant struggle? Yes, always. But as time goes by, fighting for that goal, it will become easier and easier. Do not openly expose yourself to temptations such as beaches and decent dances or going to bad places. Do not be seduced by opinions such as, if you don’t do it, you’re not a man,” etc, etc. “Young men, above all, must be vigilant and preserving their purity.” And so, he’s focusing again on custody of the eyes. And then He’s going to speak especially for young women. “And young women should be advised of all this as well. But above all, it should be emphasized very strongly that they must be careful about how they dress.” And so here He makes a reference to Fatima. And so, I got a quote about Fatima. Our lady told Jacinta, more souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason. She also warned Jacinta, which was one of the visionaries of Fatima, one of the little girls, that certain fashions will be introduced that will offend our Lord very much. And so, the message goes on. “Will this cause less people to go to Mass? I prefer that they not go. I prefer few but dress decently to many but filling my churches with immoralities that call out to heaven for profaning My sacred precincts. Priests must speak out. They must raise awareness about this. My temples are full of indecency because of their culpable silence. And struck by saying that the body should be covered as best possible, not to wear tight dresses or pants because they offend morality and decency. Furthermore, this is very important – raise awareness among women that if they cause others to sin because of their indecent dress, they bear that guilt, and when they die, they will have to answer to God for all those who sin because of them in thought, word or deed. Children, my priest speak, speak. Do not call prudence, what is omission, serious omission for not indoctrinating, for not raising awareness, otherwise you will have to answer to God for your guilty silence, I repeat.” And then it ends, Jesus Christ, the Lord. And so that’s why we have our dress code at the mission. I’ve said this before. It’s not something that we wanted to do, because it’s a very uncomfortable thing to do, and you don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable. But the Lord in the messages said so clearly that He wanted it done. That’s not a very politically correct thing to do today. But we did it even, you know, we had those, the signs we put up, and signs seem to work better than words, but we did it because the Lord wanted us to do that. And so just to conclude, some of this message is demanding. Might it seem harsh as the gospel today, but the Lord knows that the battle is very difficult and the stakes are high, and so he wants to save us from great suffering already on this earth, because impurity causes so much suffering. But so, this discipline is a difficult discipline with a lot of sacrifices. But as I say, impurity causes so much suffering. It seems to start with pleasure, but it causes so much suffering already in this world, but especially, as He says, with after this life in purgatory or even worse, in hell. And we know that our Lord is merciful. He knows how difficult this struggle is, especially today. Never, never has our world faced the attacks the way we’re facing it today. No generation has had to deal with the attacks that all, but especially young people, are facing today. You know, again, with cell phones and social media and all that. No generation this is and the social media and all that is done with a lot of very careful psychological studies and so forth about how to get people hooked, how to kind of addict people to this. And so, as I say, I think the Lord is very merciful with knowing how difficult these struggles are. He is merciful, but he also wants us to be aware of the dangers. We know that He is always willing to forgive and to heal us when we come humbly to Him, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is especially for that. So, there was a lot in this message today, and it seems providential that we’re about to begin Lent. So, you might ask yourself if there’s one point in particular that the Holy Spirit would like you to work on.  And so, there’s one thing that we can all do right now in this Mass, and it’s what He said at the very beginning of this message. The first, first of all, was asking our Blessed Mother’s help. And so, I think for all of us, this is a challenging struggle, and we know we’ve all fallen in the struggle, but we can, all right now in this Mass, turn to our Blessed Mother and ask her help for each one of us and for all those that we love. Amen. 

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
Matthew 5:17-37