Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 <inaudible> the name of the father, the son, the Holy spirit. Uh, just a brief note. Saint Paul and a pistol day talks about being taken up to the third heaven. And just for clarity, sometimes people don't really understand how they talked about things in the old days. Could the first heaven it's like art happens fear. The second heaven is what we would call it or space. The third heaven is what we would call heaven. So when you hear about that in the scriptures, that's, that's what he's talking about. There's is what we would call him.
Speaker 1 00:00:30 Okay.
Speaker 0 00:00:33 As a punishment for their sins of rebelling idolatry, the people of God spent seven years as captives in the pagan King of Babel. And as we saw last week during the whole season, from September, until Easter, the liturgy symbolizes the Babylonian captivity. It's reminding us of the world as sin in which we find ourselves struggling in until we're released from our bondage and allowed to enter into the heavenly Jerusalem, which is symbolized and liturgy from Easter to panic cost in Psalm one 36, the people of God, more than the next out on the quote by the rivers of Babylon. There, we sat and wept. When we remembered signing on the willows, we've hung up, her instruments they've let us the captivity required of a song. And they carried us the way he said, sing to us as the songs of silence. How should we sing the song of the Lord and strangely close quote?
Speaker 0 00:01:33 So the people that got a weeping and mourning down about one and able to sing the songs of the Lord during this XR, which is symbolized in the literature during this season, by the suppression of the Gloria and the hallelujah. And the morning itself is symbolized by the violent vestments. Last week, we also spent some time considering some of the damage. We all suffer from the original sin. One of the weak points at which this Babylonian culture in which we find ourselves attacks us, let's review mans, a creature, made the image and likeness of God, the body, an immortal soul, a spiritual soul, which is meant for union with God. He's created a state of original justice. He was showered with heavenly gifts, but when are the first man or father Adam committed the original sin, he threw away the state original chests. He threw a supernatural grace.
Speaker 0 00:02:31 He threw away the kiss and integrity and past civility, the mortality. He threw away friendship with God. And she goes bondage to say, man became subject to hard work suffering sickness and death man landed in the state of fallen nature in which doing good is difficult. The intellect is darken. The Willow's weak man suffers from his passions, rising up and rebellion against right reason in that rebellion is known as concupiscence. And all that means right now for all of us. Instead of being led by reason, we can easily be led by our passions and our appetites, but when we're being led by our passions or emotions, instead of our reason, then we're actually being unreasonable. And in fact, the very degree that we're being led by our passion. So that very degree we're no longer acting like men. We're actually acting like beasts with one major difference is that the beads can't act below their nature.
Speaker 0 00:03:37 So in other words, we saw the concupiscence inclines as strongly towards sin. So that's reality before the fall, because of the gift of integrity, human nature was perfectly ordered. So the man loved God above all things and certainly more than himself, but after the fall, sanctifying, grace, the gift of integrity, loss and human nature's disorder, the passions are disordered. The intellects when dark and wills have been weakened, a man has trouble struggling to do the good man. Now naturally tends towards selfishness to seek his own personal desires without thinking about the common good and without thinking about God, and this cannot be fixed without grace.
Speaker 0 00:04:22 So we're here to get to him, but we have a problem. And it's a serious problem. Reflecting with concupiscence while afflicted with this terrible inclination towards sin. And then with all bad as background, we considered one very common way that our Babylonian culture taxes. We noticed that in spite of the fact that we all suffer from Coupa since the serious problem, with our, in a sense appetites, we're trying to rebellion against right. Reason advertisers typically attack us at this weak point by appealing Turkey, Coupa scents, by appealing to our passions and emotions. We know that since most of our advertising is set up specifically to appeal to a power, which reclines us towards sin. That means it's actually set up to tempt us. We saw that for the first time in history, in all of human history, temptations are being scientifically designed to stir up Pash and it works. It really works. The advertisers today are spending upwards of $5 million for 32nd Superbowl commercial. Obviously they're pretty confident that that's a good investment. And it's say a Moreland.
Speaker 0 00:05:35 The first time in all of history, temptations are being scientifically designed to appeal the central desires and this in spite of the fact that the unanimous test mourning of history and human experience, that it's a constant battle for Amanda conquers passions. And it bring them under the rule of right reason to live a life of virtue. The passion simply after we brought in a submission and that's impossible if they're continuing being. So it's just totally impossible to live a virtuous life. The passions have to be brought into submission. You can't do that. If a constantly being excited so much for the review last week, we start this little discussion with an example of children's cereal. That's something sweet, something that's meant to appeal their taste. Buds charges are the, obviously there's an even greater desire. There's only one appetite for strong, the desire for food and that God's placed in this in order to preserve the human race, desire to procreate st. Thomas points out that with regard to this desire, the sense appetites are the most strongly because of the vehemence of the pleasure. And you don't need me to tell you the mass media of this toxic Babylonian culture is absolutely drenched with central images, meant to stimulate, promote that desire, central imagery, that attempts and beckons men, the deadly sin of lost is everywhere. You can buy a bottle of milk in the grocery store without having to run a gauntlet.
Speaker 0 00:07:12 It's everywhere. That's not accidentally. Not only is it not accidental, that kind of imagery has consequences, lots of serious social consequences. And let's see why suppose some man goes home to see his wife and expectedly find someone else in there right then and there, he totally flips out and kills the entry. That's a crime of passion. Everybody knows then a crime of passion, a man's passion. I've literally overwritten his reason. So he's actually not in his right mind completely. When he commits the crime, we can all see the difference between a killing done in the heat of passion and one done in cold blood and a cold blooded crime. The murder coolly, calmly, carefully dispassionately plans, the execution of his victim. So these two examples make the point that when we look at the effect of the passions, have an action as a fallen man, like us, not just crimes, there are actually a two possible extremes.
Speaker 0 00:08:14 How one is a man can be led, you know, led away by his passions, please, all the way out of his mind, what the other is acting coolly and calmly like you would when solving math problems. So he's cool as a cucumber or raging maniac, those are kind of the two extremes, right? Once we see that it's easy to understand the effect that sends against purity sends a blast have on a man because of the violent effect of the passion was excited by lust. The mental state of a man under the influence of lust is hovering somewhere towards the one extreme of the passionate, you know, where if it's all way paid to be out of his mind or to passion extreme, but it's over there. It's on that side of the meter.
Speaker 3 00:08:58 That's the, yeah.
Speaker 0 00:08:58 The fact that inflaming this passions have on me say Thomas says, quote, lust increases the force. Good Coupa sits and weakened the strength of the mind, the reason and the world, or most grievously disordered by lust close call lust increases the force, looking cute, presents it, inflames the passions. And we can see the strength of the mind, the reason and the will most grievously disordered by lust. Now with all that as background at the mental state of a man under the influence of loss is grievous to disorder and is somewhere over on the side of the passion extreme. You can go all the way where we could go all the way to the OD of the mind, given that let's take a few minutes to consider the short term and longterm effects of sins against period short term effects. According to st. Tom's sense of loss, give rise to a series of four problems in the handle act.
Speaker 0 00:09:58 The first is intellectual blindness. The image in the imagination is messed up because of the violent excitement that last causes the passions. So these raging passions, a cover image, so to speak, which means that the picture of reality that they've in imagination is flood fuzzy and blur and exaggerated in the parts that are attracted. Not because the image and imagination is messed up the intellect, which relies on imagination to stay in contact with reality, just as it getting a clear focus. In fact, it can't, all that's available is a distorted, passionate overwritten pitch. Okay? So let's just wax the thought processes out of kilter. The more perverted the sins, the more the passion is distort the image. And so the more out of whack, the metal period pitcher becomes, for example, let's imagine the young couple with the vocation of Holy matrimony and they've been compassionately kissing and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 0 00:10:58 From the beginning of the relationship, which by the way, passionate kissing is a privilege reserved completely for the merit. All those passions are God's gift to the married and to no analysis. And to deliberately stir them up, say by passionate kissing is a mortal sin for the unmarried. Okay? So this young couple has been getting carried away and there are serious consequences to that kind of behavior because the stirs up file it, emotions are violent excitement rather than the passions. The image the young man has as the young lady and vice versa, the image and his imagination is distorted by those excited feelings. These raging passions distort the image so that the image of the person is basically clouded over with a Stevie, missed a passion now because the image and imagination is so clouded over his intellect, which relies on his imagination to stay in contact with reality, she has can't get a clear picture.
Speaker 0 00:11:58 It can, it isn't getting one. Cause it can't all that's available as a distorted passion over in pitch. Okay? So this passionate behavior is wax. The thought processes, LT, kilter, the more repeated or the more perverted, the passionate behavior, the more the resultant passions for hook up that image instead of the more steamy and out of focus, the mental picture becomes okay. St. Thomas calls this problem, intellectual blindness. Remember the clear the image we have some object like the person we're considering married, the clear to understand we're going to come to the more confused you're messed up. The image you get to the person. The more hazy understanding will be now think about what that means for this young couple. This means that neither of the two parties involved can actually get a clear picture of the other person, neither of them. Can you get a clear picture of the other person now notice what happens when he looks at or thinks about her, or she thinks about him or looks at him instead of being able to kid a calm, relatively clear balanced assessment of the person, the flames of passion have distorted the image they have of each other.
Speaker 0 00:13:14 The more excited they've allowed themselves to get the more disturbed that images. And so the more profound that blindness by steaming up their mind with illegitimate pleasures is actually really, really gummed up their ability to judge whether or not this is the right person, a marriage is this the right person for me to marry and the more repeated and the more perverted the passionate behavior, the more the passion is distort that image of the other. And so the more gummed up their judgment becomes, and this is a judgment which directly impacts their happiness in this life. And the next once we see this and understand this, it's easy to see why the honeymoon is supposed to come after the marriage. And also why so many marriage problems started cropping up. As the Plains of passion naturally started cooling over the years. They really didn't know that person like that. They use in big biblically before they knew them as another person. And that's the wrong order.
Speaker 0 00:14:22 We continue this intellectual blindness directly affects the decision making process because of this blindness, the whole process of choosing the right means to get something done gets knocked out of kilter. Now, without going through all the details in a nutshell, here's what happens when someone who has committed a sin of lust is trying to make a practical judgment concerning the object of his passion. In other words, he's trying to decide how to do something, but he's trying to decide what's the best way to get this done. He's got some real problems. His unruly passions have distorted the less full man's imagination, which has we've seen cause mental blindness. And even though intellectually, he may have a clear understanding of how a problem ought to be solved. He can't clues how to solve this particular problem. He may understand the principles, but he can't completely put them in the practice.
Speaker 0 00:15:09 Now why is that? We'll look at a concrete sort of this problem in just a minute, but first we'll go through the steps of the decision making process. Find st. Thomas very close, and the process of making a practical judgment judgment, do something. The first step is to consider it are the different options. What are different ways I could get this done in the case of lustful man, because of the mental blindness, he's not in complete contact with Rio, since he's not complete contact with reality, since he has his award passion distorted pitcher to work with, but he doesn't have the ability to carefully judge his circumstance. See he makes rash decisions. He seizes on a possible solution without carefully considering all the options. Then that's compounded by fabulousness. That's an inability to thoughtfully considered compare to determine whether or not this particular story. He selected Isabelle meth.
Speaker 0 00:16:03 Why? Because this is mental blindness and rash is prevented from carefully wearing the decision to make sure this really is the best solution. And then to top it off, he's troubled by and constancy. He can't stick to his decision. He can't decisively command something to be done. Even when he knows it's the right thing you do since he's such a slave to his passions, Saint Thomas points out that loss caused the man to be carried away with his passions. And this causes him to be hindered from doing what his reason ordered to be done. Okay. Now let's see a con let's consider a concrete example to see how this works. Suppose a man suffering from mental blindness caused by way realize he just has to break up with his Parker and sin so far so good, but then he makes a rash decision. He sees on a path, the whole solution without carefully, considering all the options you decide, I'll just go over to her place tonight and tell her it's so hot.
Speaker 0 00:16:59 I mean, you could pass it. That's so stupid. He doesn't even really care. Consider any other options. That's his rash. He's made a raft decision. He sees on a possible solution without carefully considering all the other options. Then his mental blindness rash is prevented from really taking stock of the situation and said, wow, if I really want to break up with her, maybe this isn't really the best way to do a build up. But that's the problem thought was he just coughed? It goes along with the first thing that came to his mind, he's made the decision. He drives other bonded Terman to break up. He walks in his cell. It tells her it's over baby. And as soon as he tells her that she burst into tears and then what happens there? She is bawling her eyes out. So he feels terrible. And he's a slave to his cash. It says feelings take charge. At that point, it's an ability to stick to the decision. Kicks in is resolution. It goes flying out the window and he rushes over to comforter and his story he's worse off. And when he started and that happens all the time,
Speaker 0 00:18:02 That happens all the time in constancy means a young man or young woman can't stick to the decisions concerning the object of passion, the other partner, he can't decisively command something to be done. Even we know darn good and well, it's the right thing to do. As we've just seen, he may very well decide that he just has to play catch up with the girl. They may even try to break up, but because he's now enslaved his passions, he may very well be unable to stick to his resolution. In fact, he may very well leader down the Island spite of those misgivings. And that happens all the time. And obviously this will also directly impact your happiness in this life and the next, okay, quick review, there are four levels of darkness and flipped on the intellect by sins of last metal pipelines, because imagination is carried away by the passions rashness and judgment because of man blinded by loss. Can't see clearly exactly what is appropriate in this situation. Thoughtlessness because this man's blindness and rash is keeping him from carefully considering and choosing the best cup is options. And it constancy because this man is so carried away by his passions. He's actually hindered from doing what his reason to us, him odd
Speaker 0 00:19:23 So much the damage to the reason caused by seeds of lust. What about damage done to the will? There are also a series of problems here in the first place because of the disordered state of lustful man, the basic setting for his will as self-love why, because he has this disordered desire for sinful pleasure. And so he longs to please himself. And the natural result of the state of self club is hatred. Oh God, less Furman is unwilling to separate himself from his sin. He's in love with his pleasure himself. And so naturally hates God. Why? Because God absolutely forbids the pleasure of this man. So passionate and desires, look at how some of these poor people, how unwell the church or vet a new <inaudible> a new nonjudgmental Cod that affirms them in their sins.
Speaker 0 00:20:16 Now besides self love and the company, hatred of God. It's also to see whether we'll have less of a man has set towards the love of this world. Why? Because he lost to gratify his passions. He's in love with worldly pleasures and the natural assault of loving this world is despair at a future life. Why? Because a man in love with carnal pleasures realizes at some level that spiritual growth requires deny himself. It's separating himself from the sins lust. Now we don't want to confuse this despair with the feelings of spear. This problem is in a will, which basically is taken a position of rest or complacency or surrendered with respect the situation. That's why it's not uncommon to hear people enslaved by Susan lost utter four finer marks like, well, I'll just go to hell. That's where all my friends are going to be.
Speaker 0 00:21:07 God forbid his worldly friends may indeed end up down there, but there isn't any kind of comfort and companionship and hell no one has any friends. Now nobody a perfect example of love this world to spare the future lie. We're given a few years in an interview with a well known degenerate who said, quote, I do not believe in a biblical God. I would believe in a God who created this world, but would indeed give us an afterlife and afterlife would be a really good deal. Yeah, I would vote in favor of that. But in the meantime, I urge one at all to live this life as if there is no reward in the afterlife close club. Well not one line you are the captures. The essence of the love of this world is spare the next lift this life as if there is no real work and the laugh in the afterlife will cheat. That's just really profound. He died this last September. So he knows the truth. Now we're speaking of course about you have here, which are finally enough, seems to have given no sign whatsoever of repentance.
Speaker 0 00:22:17 So the problem is in the will of less of a man herself love hatred of God, love of a squirrel and a spare the future. Now that we've taken a quick look at the short term problems, it seems against purity because the individual's center let's take a quick look at the longterm problems. They cause the longterm effect st. Thomas called there is no sin in which the devil takes so much light is impaired because the flesh is strongly inclined to that vice and he, that falls into it can be rescued from it only with difficulty closed because the flesh is strongly inclined to that place. He then falls into it can be rescued from it only with difficult. In other words, over the long term sins against purity places center in bondage. There's a simple rule. The more repeated sense, more perverted the sin, the more trouble the bondage.
Speaker 0 00:23:12 Why? Because the more, this is a repeated, the more preferred they are, the more the passions are inflamed and escaped the rule of reason. In fact, that degree they've been repeatedly inflamed and perverted to that degree, it's all the more difficult to get them back under control, which is another way of such as saying mortality. They hold that sooner in bondage, more repeated. The more preferred, the more enslaved once we understand these sins cause problems like mental blindness, self-love hatred of God loved this world has spear a future life in bondage. Once we realized that because the violent effect of the passionate, excited by loss, the mental state of a man, not an influence left is hub hovering somewhere near that out of his mind or the passion extreme. Once we consider all of that. And it's really easy to see what people react. So violently who hear the actual obstacle, teach you the Holy Catholic church. A lot of like parody, their passions are so inflamed and God's teaching is so threatening to the pleasures. They really live or they're at the point where they can actually scarcely help themselves. They can scarcely help themselves and we need to pray hot, desperately need to pray and fast and sacrifice for them so they can get the grace. They desperately need to deny themselves to escape this terrible dehumanizing bondage. We need to pray.
Speaker 0 00:24:41 We need to pray, especially because the final by far, the most serious problem resulting from soon begins, period. Saint Alphonsus explains called sins against a period of your kind of sins, which Phil Hill was souls. And other has the devil fishes with the hook, this he fishes with the net. So that by impurity gains more for hell than by all other sins. And DDI do not hesitate to assert that all those were damned or damnit canvas one bicycle period, or at least not without it close quote, Saint Alphonsus Bishop doctrine of the church. So the final, most serious problem or something from sins against period, cause he turned down nation. We need to pray. Is there a lady of Fatima said in August of 1917, pray, pray very much. Make sacrifices for centers for many souls, go to hell for their none to sacrifice themselves, pray for them.
Speaker 0 00:25:44 We need to pray. Let's review. We've taken a quick look at the short term, long term consequences of sins against period, which fall upon the man who actually commit these sins. In the short term, we've seen these sins and find the passions. There are four levels of darkness inflicted as intellect, men blindness because imagination is carried away by the passion, rashes and judgment because a man afflicted by that blindness can't make a clear assessment of what's appropriate in the particular situation thoughtlessness because it's man's blindness rations, keep her from carefully considering choosing the best of his options and a constancy because this man is so carried away by his passions. He's actually hindering from doing what has reason tells me what have we done? We've also seen their for problems, the will of lustful man, self-love hatred of God, love of this world, despair of the future lie.
Speaker 0 00:26:36 We've seen it. The reason that centers get so agitated with the churches teachers brought up too, because their passions are so inflamed and God's teaching is so threatening. The pleasures that really lived for they're at the point where they could scarcely help themselves. We've seen that we need to pray fast and your seed for them over the long term. We've seen it the morning since they're repeated, the more perverted they are, the more the passions become inflamed and escape, the rule of reason. And to the very degree, these passions are repeated and flannel perverted. At that very degree there, the more difficult to quiet get back under control, which is just another way of saying more opinion preferred the cities are more tightly that's dinners held in bondage to his life. We see that the final, most serious problem resulting from sins against period. Cause he turned on damnation.
Speaker 0 00:27:25 So sin, some lost wherever, and however, the community have various serious personal and societal consequence. They have lots of very serious social consequences. Let's just take a glimpse at Seminoles. We'll take impure imagery. For example, according to 2015 survey by the bond recruit, that's a California based evangelical polling firm here in the us. 57% of young adults may 18 to 24 and 29% of those 25 and older actually seek out this type of imagery daily, weekly, or monthly, given that this is a shameful topic, that those that were pulled her specifically questions about whether they actively sought out this imagery. These percentages may very well be low. Other polls give much higher percentages.
Speaker 0 00:28:18 Now keep in mind with the more off base communities that have looked at, the more perverted they are, the more the passions of the viewer become inflamed and escape, the rule of reason and a very degree that the passions become repleted repeatedly inflamed and perverted to that very degree, they're more difficult to quiet it back kind of control, which has we seen is another way of seeing the more perverted and repeated the sins. More tightly that stares held in bondage doesn't end there, the more inflamed pervert his passions become, the more the mental state that men moose towards the out of his mind, due to passion extreme to that very decree, it's going to have more difficulty controlling his passions of the flesh, anchor gluttony I'm lost now stop and ponder the damage. The short term longterm damage inflicted on society. Sins. Think about what we've just heard as of 2015, 50% of young adults from 18 to 24 29, Phyllis 29% of those 25 and older actually seek out this type of image daily, weekly, or monthly.
Speaker 0 00:29:35 Why don't we say we're saying that when we have a society in which millions, literally millions of people in that society are committing serious sins against period, that society will be inflected by a profound intellectual and spiritual blindness. Think about that. Think about that. And that's not all, if this behavior continues unopposed because of the very force of millions of sinners, increasingly unable to control their passions because of the very force of millions of sitters living ever closer to that out of their mind because of bash extreme, that society is doomed to descend either into an archi, which has always fall by tear or the tyranny will be imposed before the anarchy breaks out. Why is that? Because there's only two ways to control man. There's only two ways to control man from the inside of virtue or from the outside, with the force.
Speaker 0 00:30:52 There's only two ways to control man from the inside with virtue, from the outside with force. And if there's one fee, those statistics tell us it's that we as an American people are not virtualize. We are not virtuous. We are vicious people. The constitution is only a piece of paper given a society like ours. That's just about how much it's worth to vicious people. And you can't move out of FI's and end of arch, there's only two ways to control a man from the inside. With virtue outside with force vicious, men must be ruled by force and a society dominated by lost it's a society. Officious tyranny is a direct and necessary consequence of allowing a culture to sink into sexual advice.
Speaker 0 00:32:06 Curie is a necessary and direct consequence of allowing a culture to sink into sexual virus. So here we are in Babylon, surrounded by so many millions in bondage, millions upon millions, blinded and blind in bondage, and yet they love their chains. They love their chains. Now for those, they're going to watch the super bowl today. Think about what we've learned over the past two weeks that advertisers are going to spend upwards of $5 million for 32nd slots. Why the chance to manipulate you think about that. They're spent a fortune to manipulate, to attempt here. They know what they're doing. They know what they're doing. Once again, ponder, what have you learned, ask yourself what kind of a country allows these kind of attacks on its own. People think about the social political implications of what we've talked about and we'll back up there next week.
