Day 307: Offenses Against Chastity

Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes. CCC 2351

In today's reading, the Catechism outlines offenses against chastity that were first introduced yesterday. Reading through these, it's no wonder that lust is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Theology of the Body I've heard discusses these topics in more depth, but I confess to not having studied it yet. Since I'm basically "filling in the gaps" due to age and what I believe I've missed over the years, hence why I'm I've been doing this re-read of the Catechism, I plan on doing so soon.

The Catechism Compendium gives a summary of what the principal sins against chastity are:

Grave sins against chastity differ according to their object: adultery, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, and homosexual acts. These sins are expressions of the vice of lust. These kinds of acts committed against the physical and moral integrity of minors become even more grave. (#492)

To be honest, I don't understand why masturbation is considered a "grave sin against chastity," especially for teenagers. It seems a rather victimless offense unless done to the exclusion of intimacy with a future spouse. Fornication cheapens the sexual act, and for most of my life, the "hook-up culture" has caused untold problems for society as a whole. So has pornography, which also unknowingly, for those involved, victimizes those who make and distribute it. The negative effects of pornography have become more and more known, especially with the easy access online, which is why I'm glad that some efforts have been made to restrict or ban it. Prostitution, like pornography, also has detrimental effects on society as well as essentially making fornication a money-making affair. Rape is a heinous crime and rightly deemed gravely sinful. It robs the victims of their human dignity for the sake of a few minutes of selfish gratification. To use someone like that against their will in no way can be licit and permissible by God, as I understand it. Whether it's done during wartime as an act of perceived righteous vengeance against an enemy, or in other times, it's always gravely sinful. When any of these involve children, the grave sin is only compounded exponentially and rightly condemned (Matt 18:10). Finally, there are homosexual acts. I'm going to comment on that one tomorrow, since that's the reading for then.

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

You are made in God's image and likeness. You are worth living for and worth dying for. You are worth conquering death for. That is how much God loves you. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins, and he also consoles us. Let us allow him to convict us and console us. If sins against chastity are part of your story, your story is not over... Sexual desire on its own has been given to us by God. We are built this way. It is part of what it is to be a human being. The sexual act is intended to be a gift of self ordered toward procreation and marital unity. Any distortion of this is disordered. (p. 130)