Transcript This Sunday’s Gospel – Mat. 4:12-23 • • • • When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.

This Sunday’s Gospel – Mat. 4:12-23
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When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left
Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and
Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land
overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach
and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called
Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He
said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw
two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in
a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and
immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. He went
around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.
House keeping…
• This next week, your pictures will be hung up for the
parish in the front entrance of the church
• Make up class of the tour of the church is scheduled for
Thursday, January 30th at 6:30 in the church
• www.mybrotherjesus.com – has all of the power points
of our classes. If you have missed any please take the
time to review the material.
• Start researching saints names for Confirmation www.catholic.org/saints/stindex.php
• Learning the knew prayers – try to learn a new one we
have not yet covered this week from your handout of
prayers
th
6
th
9
Class 16 –
and
Commandment
6th Commandment – Thou Shalt not commit
Adultery
• God tells us to be pure and modest in our
behavior
9th Commandment – Thou Shalt not covet Thy
neighbor’s spouse
• God tells us to pure in our thoughts and
desires
Topics involved in the 6th
Commandment
• Not just adultery, but all sins against the
sacrament of Matrimony
– Contraception
– Fornication
– Homosexuality
– In-Vitro Fertilization
– Sterilization
– Test tube babies and human cloning
– Donor insemination
Chastity a beautiful gift from God
• Chastity – what is it?
– A virtue, a habit, that moderates the desire for
sexual pleasure according to the principles of faith
and reason.
– Married couples: chastity moderates the desire in
conformity with their state in life
– Unmarried people: the virtue is lived in
abstention until they get married
– For those who never marry: sexual pleasure is
sacrificed entirely
Chastity continued
• Chastity, purity, modesty, and decency are all
comparable in that they have the basic
meaning of freedom from whatever is lewd or
scandalous. But yet they differ, How?
How is chastity different?
• Chastity implies an opposition to the immoral in the
sense of the lustful. It suggests refraining from all
acts or thoughts that are not in accordance with the
church’s teaching about the use of one’s
reproductive powers.
• Chastity stresses restraint and avoidance of
anything that might defile or make unclean the soul
because the body has not been controlled in its
passions.
Examples of Chastity
• Blessed Mother Mary - never had relations
with any man. She was a virgin before, during,
and after the birth of Jesus
• St. John the Apostle - He was the one who
was privileged to rest his head up against the
Sacred Heart of Christ at the Last Supper.
– He is the one who Christ entrusted his Mother to
at the foot of the cross.
6th Commandment – Thou shall not
commit adultery
• Forbids all impurity of the body
• Forbids immodesty in words
• Forbids immodesty in action
– All whether you are alone or with others
• THIS COMMANDMENT FORBIDS ADULTERY,
WHICH IS UNFAITHFULNESS.
Adultery
• Unfaithfulness of married persons is a terrible sin for
many reasons
– Marriage is supposed to reflect the unity of Christ and His
Church
• When adultery is committed, it is a great evil, because it strikes at
that unity, that harmony that should exist between a married man
and woman
• Adultery is an injustice to one’s spouse because the
two have become one.
– The bible says, “a man shall leave his father and mother,
and cling to his wife. The two shall become as one, and
what God has joined man must not divide.
• Adultery is the worst betrayal within a marriage
Effects of adultery
• A great evil which separates families
• A great evil which separates marriages
• John Paul II: Families and marriages are the
great building block of our society. They bring
forth life, and an abundance of life.
Adultery is always a sin
• A sin against chastity
• A sin against purity
• A sin against justice because of the injustice done
toward the innocent spouse, and toward the
other person.
– REMEMBER MATRIMONY JOINS TWO PEOPLE
TOGETHER, A MAN AND A WOMAN, AND WHAT GOD
HAS JOINED NO MAN MUST DIVIDE!
• Marriage is indissoluble until death do the
couple part
– Adultery is a mortal sin.
We start with contraception?
• Also known as any form of birth control
• Contraception is a serious sin! Why?
• Contraception is a deliberate interference with
marital intercourse in order to prevent
conception.
• Spoken of in the bible? Yes the sin of conjugal
onanism from the sin of Onan in Gen. 38:8-10
What is the Church’s view on birth
control and contraception?
• It has been forbidden from the beginning of the
church, and has been a tradition of the church.
• Humanae Vitae, a church document written by
Pope Paul VI said “direct interruption of the
generative process has already begun”, even
though done for therapeutic reasons, is to be
“absolutely excluded as a licit means of regulating
birth.”
• Equally excluded is direct sterilization for
contraceptive reasons
So why is contraception wrong?
• Contraception is a barrier in the love
communicating process.
– The fruits of love are disrupted.
• Contraception deliberately interferes with the
marital act (conjugal act)
• Contraception interferes with the holiness of
self giving, self donating act of love between a
husband and wife.
What is the conjugal act of love?
• A conjugal act of love is one that shows affection of a
husband and wife through sexual intercourse. This act
should have two ends: they are unitive and
procreative.
• Unitive – a constant awareness of God’s presence, and
a habitual conformity to the will of God
• Procreative – selfless love between man and wife for
the potential offspring God may wish to give them
through marital intercourse.
– Creative act WITH GOD to bring life into the world
– We do not REPRODUCE, we PRO-CREATE WITH THE HELP
OF GOD
Basis of Church’s teaching on sexuality
• Sexuality is based on three principles in light
of the Church’s teaching
– The dignity of all interested parties is respected
– To remember that we are made in the image and
likeness of God
• Meaning we can “know” and “love”
– To understand that we are temples of the Holy
Spirit.
Temples of the Holy Spirit?
• 1 Cor. – St. Paul says, “Do you not know that
you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?”
– If so, “glorify God in your bodies!”
• Our bodies are considered sacred, because we
are made in the image and likeness of God
• 6th and 9th commandments remind us to
respect not only our own bodies, but also the
bodies of others.
Contraception is contrary to nature
• Contraception is not wrong because it is
artificial. God is not against artificial things
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Contact lenses are artificial and fine
Eye glasses are fine – it assists the eyes
Pacemakers are fine – it assists the heart
Hearing aids are fine – it assists the ears
• They try to improve nature, whereas contraception is
contrary to nature!
• It is not the artificiality of the contraception that
makes it wrong. Contraception is wrong because
it violates the sacredness of the marital act.
Contraception – through the ages
• Every religion, and yes every Protestant
religion up until 1930 condemned
contraception as a serious sin and offense
against God.
– Only the Catholic Church today has remained
faithful to the teachings of God on marriage and
the Bible.
Natural Family Planning - NFP
• NFP will be covered in a few weeks when we
talk about the sacrament of marriage
• You may ask, “how can I regulate how many
children I have if I do not contracept, because
quite frankly I cannot afford to raise more
than five children?” - this is a common
question
– The answer is found in NFP
NFP briefly
• Studies show men are fertile every day out of
the month. Women are fertile a certain
period each month, roughly 4 day or 100
hours a month.
– NFP helps one to understand when this cycle takes
place. The church says that a man and wife can
abstain from relations during the fertile time of
the month, and not have marital relations.
– It is perfectly acceptable to abstain from having
relations during certain times of the month.
NFP – more in detail later
• NFP respects the body,
– The body of the man
– The body of the woman
• NFP does not violate the marital act
• Contraception violates the sacredness of the
marital act, which is holy ground.
– When Moses went up on the mountain, what did
God say, “Take your shoes off, because you are on
holy ground.”
Sexuality is holy ground!
• Sexuality is very sacred, very holy ground.
– The problem is we live in a culture which has
desacralized this.
• Sexuality is SACRED; it is so holy that
contraception is a sacrilege against the
holiness of the marital act.
• With NFP, you are abstaining from the act
One LAST HUGE difference
• NFP respects the love and life aspects of marriage
• THE PURPOSE OF INTERCOURSE:
– Giving life toward your spouse through love
– Bringing about new life
• Contraception violates this life aspect
– Couples who contracept say, “NO” to life.
• It is like telling God you are having a party, but He is not
invited
• Sexuality is for both LIFE and LOVE!
When life and love are violated…
• This renders an immoral act
• What about rape?
– Let’s say a woman gets raped, and gets pregnant.
• The LIFE aspect is present
– It is still a sin, because there was no mutual love in that
action.
• Sexuality is self-giving - that is why rape is
immoral, even if new life is brought about
– Life is sacred
– Every child deserves to live
– In rape, life is open in the act, but love is violated
• Therefore, rape is immoral
What about contraception in regard to
life and love?
• The husband and wife are still showing love to
each other through their sexual act.
• CONTRACEPTION IS IMMORAL because they
are not open to life
• BOTH LIFE AND LOVE NEED TO BE PRESENT IN
ANY SEXUAL ACTS
– Someone wants a child, but does not love their
partner – king wants an heir to his throne 
immoral act
Other violations of the 6th
commandment - Fornication
• What is fornication? Fornication is sexual
relations between unmarried persons
– ALWAYS A MORTAL SIN
• Premarital sex between boyfriend and
girlfriend is called a sin of fornication
• Fornication is sex outside of marriage or
before marriage.
• Sacred Scripture and handout “What does the
bible say about premarital sex?”
Analogy
• I like to use this with teenagers
– Fire is a good thing, in its proper place, the
fireplace.
• Fire outside of that, can burn down the whole house.
– That is what happens with sex outside of marriage
• Unwed mothers
• Babies born without a mom or dad to provide for them
– In God’s plan, He would want children born into a
home with a mother and a father
God’s plan – a mother and a father
• Every child that is conceived, no matter how it
is conceived, in cases of premarital sex, or
even in cases of rape
– That child is precious
– It is a gift from God
• God can and will bring about a good out of every
situation.
Example
• St. Martin de Porres – never knew his father
– His mother did her very best in raising the young
boy, who became a great saint
– He was born in a relationship outside of marriage,
and he is respected like any other human being.
• Once the child is baptized, it is a child of God.
– The act is wrong – not the outcome!
So what does the bible say about
premarital sex?
• Fornication is mentioned 14 times in the New
Testament. It is mentioned immoral in every
context that it is used
– For example, Jesus says, “From the heart comes evil
intentions: murder, adultery, fornication, theft,
perjury, or slander. THESE ARE THINGS THAT MAKE
ONE UNCLEAN.” -- from Jesus
– St. Paul – “keep away from fornication, all other sins
are committed outside of the body, but to fornicate is
to sin against one’s own body.
• The handout mentions all 14 times it is spoken of
in the New Testament and why it is wrong!
Effects of fornication
• Fornication scars others
– Emotionally
– Physically
• Passing on of venereal diseases
• Passing on sexually transmitted diseases
• Pregnancies before marriage, which sadly end in
abortion
Other sins against 6th commandment HOMOSEXUALITY
• There are many places in the bible that
condemn it – over 7 times homosexual
activity is condemned
– WHAT IS NOT CONDEMNED IS THE INDIVIDUAL
THEMSELVES
• The church condemns HOMOSEXUAL
ACTIVITY, NOT THE PERSON
– The person is still made in God’s image and
likeness.
When a person has homosexual
orientations…..
• They have a large, heavy cross to carry. Why?
– They are called:
• To be pure
• To be holy
• To live good holy lives
• Catholic Church support group is called:
COURAGE
What is COURAGE?
• Courage is a group of Catholic people that meet
on a regular basis.
– They gather to help those who suffer from
homosexual tendencies to lead pure, holy lives, and
not to engage in homosexual activity.
• The sin is the activity, not the person themselves
• COURAGE is a support group where men and
women get together to pray, and try to establish
pure and chaste friendships.
What else does courage offer?
• It offers an opportunity to help those who
struggle carry their cross.
• They offer help to those who are not active in
homosexual relations so:
– They can go to the sacraments
– They can go to communion
– They can go to confession
• HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY is a MORTAL SIN
• If you know anyone with this struggle: here is
your help http://couragerc.net/
Homosexuality never brings about
new life
• Homosexuality activity is always wrong! Why?
– They will say, “Yes we love each other”
• Obviously, their act can never bring about new
life, because of homosexuality
• That is why self abuse, impure actions alone or
with others, and masturbation are always wrong,
– They are not an act of love between spouses, and it is
not life giving
Dignity of every human person is to be
respected
• It does not matter what the orientation of a
person is, their dignity is always to be
respected
– We respect:
• People of different colors,
• People of different races
• The dignity of every human person
• The activity of homosexuality, fornication,
adultery, and all of these are condemned –
not the person but the action.
Do we understand the difference?
• Even if a couple has sex before marriage,
boyfriend or girlfriend, the church does not
condemn the individual;
– Rather the church prays for that individual
– The church wants that individual to come back to God,
to get to heaven
– The church DOES NOT APPROVE of sinful actions, such
as premarital sex or homosexual activity.
• SEX IS VERY SACRED – LOVE GIVING AND LIFE
GIVING – homosexual violates life giving;
masturbation violates life giving
Blessed John Paul II
• RESPECT THE PERSON, BUT
– DO NOT APPROVE of THEIR ACTION
Other sins against adultery
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Test tube babies
Human cloning
In-vitro fertilization
Donor insemination
Sterilization
– To get the sperm from another man, and inject it into
a wife, or to pull eggs from a woman and inseminating
them outside the body is a form of adultery.
• Even though there is not a physical coming together of two
people that are not married
– Life and love are not communicated
More…..
• To get the sperm from a man, or an egg from a
woman who is not your spouse is adultery and
is always WRONG!
• Test tube babies and in-vitro fertilization is
WRONG as well, because it is separating the
act of love from the conception of new life
– It is taking out the conception of the child
A child – a gift from God!
• Every child has a right to be born in the union of
husband and wife,
– Through an act of love – they are conceived and receive
life
• They are not conceived in a Petri dish
• They are not conceived in a test tube
– Keep in mind: WHAT HAPPENS TO THE EXTRA SPERM OR EGG CELLS
THAT ARE NOT USED? HOW ARE THEY DISGARDED? ALMIGHTY GOD IS
PRESENT IN EVERY EGG AND SPERM CELL.
» If they are thrown away, they are not respected with reverence and
dignity that every man, woman, and child deserves.
• In a sense, people who do this want the best of
everything and are eliminating God from the equation.
Other dangers….
• Another danger is the way we get the sperm is
usually through masturbation, which is a serious
sin in itself.
– It is wrong to do in-vitro for this very reason, and plus
the fact that love is not exchanged at conception.
– Plus, the fact that they usually conceive about five or
six embryos, and…
• Then they destroy many of them
• They kill them (no different than an abortion)
• Those embryos are killed and they are little children,
BECAUSE LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION.
Bottom line…
• What happens is that one or two of the five or
six embryos are saved, what happens to the
rest?
– They are selectively killed
• THAT IS WHY IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION IS WRONG!
Questions, comments, concerns
• It’s break time – let’s take about five minutes
to stretch, get fresh air, use the bathrooms,
meet other classmates
9th Commandment – thou shall not
covet your neighbors spouse
• Matthew 5:27 – the Lord gives us his teaching
on purity
– You have heard it said to the ancients, You shall
not commit adultery. But I say to you that
everyone who looks with lust at a woman has
already committed adultery in his heart.”
• The Lord is very clear that adultery is not just
an action, it can be an intention or a desire.
Matthew 5:27 continued
• There is a difference between
– Looking
– Observing
– Or seeing somebody
– And lusting after them.
• If you see a beautiful person and you admire
their beauty that God gave to them, and
looking at them as you would a beautiful
sunset or something in nature, that is not a sin
Matthew 5 cont.
• What then is sinful?
– What is sinful is when a person lusts or has impure
desires about that person
• The Lord says, if we have done that, we have
already committed adultery in our heart.
• The 9th commandment deals with ADULTERY
OF THE HEART.
To understand this, a distinction needs
to be made temptation vs. sin
• We are not responsible for the thoughts that
come into our mind without our wanting them
– If we get a bad thought, we do we do?
• Lord, I don’t consent to that thought!
• Lord, banish this thought, and get rid of it!
• Lord, I do not give into that thought!
• Temptation vs. sin
– A person could be tempted 100 times a day, but not
sin. What is sinful is when a person gives into the
temptation, when they dwell upon it and cultivate it.
This is when it moves from temptation to sin.
How do I handle temptations?
• Flee from them immediately and run away
from them
– Do NOT try to grapple with it
– Do NOT try to dwell on it
– JUST REJECT IT RIGHT AWAY
How do I grow in virtue of chastity and
purity
• Pray for purity everyday – purity of heart,
mind, and body (3 Hail Mary’s upon rising)
– If a person prays they will be able to be pure
– Without prayer, it is impossible
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Regular confession – every 2 weeks or month
Bring impurities to the Lord in the Eucharist
Devotion to the Blessed Mother
Pray to your guardian angel for help
Pray to St. Joseph
Purity requires God’s help
• Purity requires the grace of God
– Where do we get the grace of God?
• This comes from prayer, the sacraments, and reading
the Word of God in the Bible
• Another help is to remember that God is
always there for you and living inside of those
of you who are baptized.
– God sees everything
Lead us not into temptation Temptation is not a sin!
• Make sure you dress respectfully and modestly;
not seductively  many passages in Scripture
that speak about leading other people into sin
– One way is by the way we dress
• Avoid dressing to lead others to sin
• It is very difficult to go to a mall or stores with
many people, college campus. The present day
fashions are very immodest.
– Please don’t buy clothing that make you or your
children look like a prostitute
• When I went to the mall before Christmas, many dress this
way!
Preserve the innocence of your
children
• Main role of parents
– Protect your children's innocence and holiness
• Be very careful what your children watch on television,
and on the internet.
– Blocks for the computer are necessary to raise children this
day in age
• Bad books
• Bad magazines
• Internet web sites
– Porn business is a ten billion dollar industry every year
» It has ruined many lives and many marriages
Quote
• “If a television show doesn’t tempt you, the
commercial will.” – That is very true
– Be careful
– Avoid television as much as possible
– Know what is going on in the movies before you
go to them. Here is a good website to review any
movies that you watch:
http://old.usccb.org/movies/movieall.shtml
Pornography – adultery of the heart
• People who view and look at these things, are
actually committing adultery with other people:
– Not physically, but emotionally
– Brain scans on those who view porn show that the
brain is re-routed and looks no different than
someone who has been on crack or cocaine.
• Pornography tears apart marriages.
• It downgrades every being involved as an object,
not as a human being made as a body and soul in
the image and likeness of God.
What is your addiction? Hopefully it is
God!
• God is the only thing that will bring us
happiness, and eternal life.
– Many people are addicted
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Gambling
Alcohol
Drugs
Porn – magazines, internet, DVD’s, movies
– Porn downgrades those involved in making it, and those who
participate in it, and those who view it.
Porn…
• Is a sin against the ninth commandment –
lusting of the heart.
– Porn sees other people as objects, rather than a
child of God
• People who are addicted to porn, lead to
many other crimes
– Pedophilia
– Rape
– Incest
Porn a terrible addiction
• Not an addiction to God, but turned toward
mankind
– Turn in on self
• This addiction leads to:
– Immorality
– Impurity
– It is a terrible scourge of our country.
• It is only overcome by the grace of God!
Avoid all occasions to sin
• An occasion of sin is a place, person, or thing that
would lead you into sin.
– If an alcoholic – avoid the bar
– If a gambler – avoid the casino
– If the internet – get a program where someone can
help you be accountable.
• COVENANT EYES – VERY GOOD – another person sees every
sight you go to. It is good for spouses to hold each other
accountable
• WEB CHAPERONE
• CYBER SITTER
– If you are on a site, you accountable partner will hold you
responsible.
Blessings and curses
• Many tools can be good and help you, many can
lead you to sin. If something leads you to sin, you
must do everything in its power to prevent it.
– This is critical of parents.
• As we leave today, we need to consider if on
judgment day we don’t end up in heaven where
will we be? If we go there who is responsible?
Parents have a huge responsibility in the
upbringing of their children to the ways of the
faith.
Class 16 handout is a dandy
• As we switch gears into our handouts for today.
Today’s, Class 16 handouts, are often some of the
classes favorites for a variety of reasons. They
are filled with much information. So I want to
spend a little bit of time on this.
• Pages 3-4 talk about spiritual practices that
Catholics should be doing on a regular basis
• What are they? Let’s turn to page 3 and look at
them
What should we be doing daily?
• There is a great list on page 5 of things that
could be done on a daily basis
• How many of them are you actually doing?
• For those of you who are Catholics already?
How do you rate with this list?
Spiritual plan for life
• If you turn to page 6, this gives you a list of
things and fits it into a daily routine.
• Notice, we have the act of contrition, if you
don’t know that already, please take the time
to learn it over these next two weeks.
• It is a prayer that should be prayed everyday
before we go to sleep, telling Jesus we are
sorry for offending him.
Advantages of the brown scapular
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel has many great
promises for those who wear the brown
scapular every day.
• What is the greatest promise
• If you look in the middle of the first paragraph
you will see, “whosoever dies wearing this
scapular shall not suffer eternal fire…it shall
be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger
and a pledge of peace.”
A guide to spiritual reading
• Pages 8-9 – give you a great reference for
spiritual reading. It includes
– Beginner’s list
– Intermediate list
– Advanced list
– Catholic Periodicals
• Here in the Diocese of Fargo – we also have our
diocesan newspaper “The New Earth”
• These are based on your reading ability
Other books recommended…
• Scott Hahn had a major conversion to the
Catholic faith. Being a minister, in another
faith, he found the Catholic Church, and began
to study the Church’s beliefs.
– He had a major conversion
• On page 10 of our weekly handouts, you will
see a list of books that he would recommend
every Catholic to read to help them in their
journey of faith.
Page 11 of the handouts
• We call this section the Catholic resource
guide
• For example, you might ask what is a good
Catholic Bible? And if you go down under
bibles, you will see the New American Bible
• You might be looking for good catholic
publishers? And you have a list there as well
Miracle stories
• On pages 12-18, you will find some miracle
stories.
– The miracle staircase in New Mexico – let’s read
this one if there is still time
– Eucharistic miracles
Great closing page…
• Let’s read this are you to busy for Christ one
together, and spend a minute or two in
discussion