(Image: Paolo kissing Francesca Gustave Dore, from his illustrations for Dante’s Inferno)
Lust. This is one that seems natural right but isn’t, right? WRONG!!! Lust and the related sins of the flesh, SEEM natural, because they ARE natural. Or at least a twisted up form of the natural. This is not the sin of those people out there whose behavior we don’t approve of, but an imbalance into which any of us might slip. Our desires for love, for closeness, or even just for a bodily expression that our bodies are disposed towards get twisted up and we are tempted to let it control our lives and hearts in ways it shouldn’t. I have to disagree with those who view sins of lust (whether those internal commitment of will or external action) as something that should lead us to hate or fear our own flesh. These are a real thing- I have met Catholics who seem to think the experience of bodily desire and sexual attraction are themselves sinful. I also have to disagree with those who think this sort of sin is caused or worsened by the dress or behavior of others, either those around them or in various media. (Also check out the old post of Mary’s that I just linked for a better discussion of adultery in the heart than I can provide here.) Sins of lust are not the special province of the young, or the non-Christian, or the “worldly” or those who desire and practice forms of sexual expression rejected by the Church. The evil of lust comes from within, from the desire (whether we notice it or not) to take one love, or one kind of love and pursue it recklessly, not heading other goods, or the autonomy of those we desire, or really any kind of order in our loves. Then again, if you are reading this, you are on the internet. Since you likely know all about this sin, I will speak instead about. . .
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