Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: In today’s topic let us take a look at the subject of “Adultery”. In today’s society, this subject of having multiple partners, pornography, self indulgence is seen quite normal and in certain cultures it is very normal. Once a young adult comes at an age of reason, and starts exploring a relationship with the opposite sex. Our society, gives that adult a whole hearty permission to explore his or her sexuality.What does the English dictionary say about "Adultery":
n. pl. a·dul·ter·ies
Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse. The key factors to understand is the word "Voluntary" which means that by free will; a man or a woman in the hour of temptation forgo of their senses, become carnal and commit a mortal and grave sin against their commit of matrimony (husband or wife), their loved one (effect on children and the ramification of the act) and against their creator. Now, we must also understand that GOD has also given us the free will, the freedom to choose between good and evil. That same choice has been with us from the beginning, our first parents had that grace, and they were given to opportunity to confess. Their mind clouded by their sin, made their judgment impaired, to confess and ask for repentance, which was made available to them by GOD the Father.
The other part of this meaning alludes to "a partner" OTHER than the LAWFUL spouse. Which brings us to the point why were these rules set in the first place to be loyal to one spouse and not multiple? Because GOD first created a MAN and then chose a WOMAN to be his partners. He did not create multiple partners for Man's delight. The main ideology behind a spouse is that GOD never wanted mankind to be alone; however the all knowing GOD also placed certain rules for the companionship and living in the bond of Holy matrimony. Holy Bible is filled with teachings and scripture passages that have taught mankind about the true meaning of a committed relationship. Furthermore, GOD gave man the ultimate rule which is found in the Ten Commandments.
What does the Catholic Church and the Catechism tell us about "Adultery"
ADULTERY: Marital infidelity, or sexual relations between two partners, at least one of whom is married to another party. The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely (2380; cf. 1650).
Article 6: The Sixth Commandment “You Shall not commit Adultery” Futhermore, Jesus elaborates on this commandment and tells us in addition to what is the true meaning of adultery:
“You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.114” Now, that doesn’t mean you cannot look at people or persons, but to wrongfully commit lust or want, obsession for someone in your mind or heart; you have committed a mortal and grave sin. One must consistently ask for purity of heart and mind, and the grace from our Lord Jesus to avoid carnal temptations of flesh.
Offenses against the Dignity of MarriageAdultery
Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations—even transient ones—they commit adultery. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire.171 The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely.172 The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of idolatry.173
Adultery is an injustice. He who commits adultery fails in his commitment. He does injury to the sign of the covenant which the marriage bond is, transgresses the rights of the other spouse, and undermines the institution of marriage by breaking the contract on which it is based. He compromises the good of human generation and the welfare of children who need their parents' stable union.
Let’s look at the subject a bit further and see what the Catechism says about adultery, fornication, sexual immorality and or self indulgence. We must first understand what does human sexuality really means. According to the Catechism 2332, sexuality affects all aspects of human person(s) in the unity of his body and soul. The main effective of sexuality is having the capacity to love and to procreate and this helps in forming a bond of communion with others. However, this bond is only achieved when two people are committed to each other through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony and this communion must not be used without the presence of this sacrament. Here are some of the offensive that are of grave nature; that can blemish the soul and condemn you towards eternal damnation.
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.
By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action."138 "The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved."139To form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other psychological or social factors that can lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
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Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally ordered to the good of spouses and the generation and education of children. Moreover, it is a grave scandal when there is corruption of the young.
Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.
Prostitution does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure. The one who pays sins gravely against himself: he violates the chastity to which his Baptism pledged him and defiles his body, the temple of the Holy Spirit.140 Prostitution is a social scourge. It usually involves women, but also men, children, and adolescents (The latter two cases involve the added sin of scandal.). While it is always gravely sinful to engage in prostitution, the imputability of the offense can be attenuated by destitution, blackmail, or social pressure.
Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. Rape deeply wounds the respect, freedom, and physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right. It causes grave damage that can mark the victim for life. It is always an intrinsically evil act. Graver still is the rape of children committed by parents (incest) or those responsible for the education of the children entrusted to them.
Now, let’s spend some time on the topic of Divorce. What does the Catholic Church doctrine tells us about Divorce.
The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble.174 He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law.175 Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death."176
The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law.177If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense.
Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:
If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery; and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another's husband to herself.178
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Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.
It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage.179
Other offenses against the dignity of marriage
The predicament of a man who, desiring to convert to the Gospel, is obliged to repudiate one or more wives with whom he has shared years of conjugal life, is understandable. However polygamy is not in accord with the moral law. "[Conjugal] communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive."180 The Christian who has previously lived in polygamy has a grave duty in justice to honor the obligations contracted in regard to his former wives and his children.
Incest designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them.181 St. Paul stigmatizes this especially grave offense: "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you . . . for a man is living with his father's wife. . . . In the name of the Lord Jesus . . . you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. . . ."182 Incest corrupts family relationships and marks a regression toward animality.
Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing.
In a so-called free union, a man and a woman refuse to give juridical and public form to a liaison involving sexual intimacy.The expression "free union" is fallacious: what can "union" mean when the partners make no commitment to one another, each exhibiting a lack of trust in the other, in himself, or in the future?The expression covers a number of different situations: concubinage, rejection of marriage as such, or inability to make long-term commitments.183 All these situations offend against the dignity of marriage; they destroy the very idea of the family; they weaken the sense of fidelity. They are contrary to the moral law. The sexual act must take place exclusively within marriage. Outside of marriage it always constitutes a grave sin and excludes one from sacramental communion.
Some today claim a "right to a trial marriage" where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who engage in premature sexual relations may be, "the fact is that such liaisons can scarcely ensure mutual sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man and a woman, nor, especially, can they protect it from inconstancy of desires or whim."184 Carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive community of life between a man and woman has been established. Human love does not tolerate "trial marriages." It demands a total and definitive gift of persons to one another.185
The reason for bringing light to this topic is very important in today’s world; I clearly understand that sin of flesh has been with the human race from the beginning of time. But, one must understand the cause/effect and the ramification of this mortal and grave sin. Your salvation is at stake my dear brothers and sisters, though this sin is hard to avoid, because as you read previously from the Catechistic perspective that human’s by nature are sexual and with the integration of sexualized medium that our society uses from billboards, to magazine, movies and internet. People are consistently bombarded with sexual images in this world. So, the only way to avoid such temptation is to pray, avoid all opportunities that can drive your thoughts to sin. Be blessed and I will pray for you, please pray for me. Amen.
Reference: Cathecism http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/ United Stated Conference of Catholic Bishops
