Catholic Life Section:

Against Bodily Destruction

"Furthermore, Christian doctrine establishes, and the light of human reason makes it most clear, that private individuals have no other power over the members of their bodies than that which pertains to their natural ends; and they are not free to destroy or mutilate their members, or in any other way render themselves unfit for their natural functions, except when no other provision can be made for the good of the whole body." (Pope Pius XI, "Casti Connubii", 1930)

"You are a portrait, O man, a portrait painted by your Lord God. Yours is a good artist and painter. Do not deface the good picture" (St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church, c. 387 A.D.)

Also See: Sterilization | Suicide | Tattoos (Topical Scripture)

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Anger

"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 5:21-22)

"All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice." (Eph. 4:31)

"But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths." (Col. 3:8)

"Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, and do not leave room for the devil." (Eph. 4:26-27)

"What was anger when it was fresh becomes hatred when it is aged." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"If an angry man raises the dead, God is still displeased with his anger." (St. Agatho)

"There is no sin or wrong that gives a man such a foretaste of hell in this life as anger and impatience." (St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church)

"You will effect more by kind words and a courteous manner, than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used by in necessity." (St. Angela Merici)

"As a general thing, self-control and contempt for calumny and evil reports are more successful remedies than resentment, disputes and revenge." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"If one of you should be cross with another because of some hasty word, the matter must at once be put right and you must betake yourself to earnest prayer." (St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church)

"Above all everyone should in conversation try to avoid anger or bad temper, or showing he is annoyed with someone, and no one should hurt another in word or deed, or in any way." (St. Vincent de Paul)

"Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a saint, in spite of his present weakness." (St. Thomas of Villanova)

"The memory of insults is the residue of anger. It keeps sins alive. Hates justice, ruins virtue, poisons the heart, rots the mind, defeats concentration, paralyzes prayer, puts love at a distance, and is a nail driven into the soul." (St. John Climacus)

"If we did like St. Remigius, we should never be angry. See, this saint, being questioned by a Father of the desert as to how he managed to be always in an even temper, replied: 'I often consider that my guardian angel is always by my side" (St. John Vianney)

"Just as the surest cure for lying is to unsay a falsehood as soon as we are conscious of having told it, so the best cure for anger is to make immediate reparation in meekness; for, as the proverb says, fresh wounds are always the easiest to heal." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Forgiveness | Hatred | Anger (Topical Scripture)

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Bad Thoughts

"It is not the bad thought, but the consent to it, that is sinful." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"Just as you cannot stop air from coming into your chest, you cannot stop evil thoughts from coming into your mind. Your part is to resist them." (St. Poemen)

"If any bad thought comes to you, make the sign of the cross, or say an Our Father, or strike your breast, and try to think of something else. If you do that, the thought will actually be winning you merit, because you will be resisting it." (St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church)

"Do not argue with perverse thoughts or evil desires, but when they attack you, occupy your mind vigorously with some profitable meditation and plan until they vanish away. No thought or intention is ever expelled from the heart except by some other thought or intention incompatible with it." (St. Anselm of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Sinful Desires Forbidden

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Blasphemy

"Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 12:31)

"But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, 15:18-20)

"Some, by rejecting conscience, have made a shipwreck of their faith, among them Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme." (St. Paul, 1 Tm. 1:19-20)

"Be warned, my friends, that if blasphemy reigns in your homes, all therein will perish." (St. John Vianney)

Also See: Cursing | Language / Speech

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Cursing

"Bless those who persecute (you), bless and do not curse them." (St. Paul, Rom. 12:14)

"For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers. Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh." (Jms. 3:7-12)

"I tell you again that you must never curse your children, your animals, your work, or the weather, because in curing all these things, you are cursing what Almighty God has done by his holy will." (St. John Vianney)

Also See: Anger | Blasphemy | Language / Speech | Against Swearing and Cursing (A MyCatholicSource.com 'Exclusive Article')

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Despair

"We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body." (2 Cor. 4:8-10)

"When tempted to despair, I have only one recourse: to throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a little dog at the feet of his master." (St. John Vianney)

Also See: Affliction | Suffering | Trials & Tribulations | Our Father's Love (Reflections)

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Envy

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him." (Ex. 20:17)

"Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander; like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good." (1 Pt. 2:1-3) 

"Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another." (Gal. 5:26)

"I do not believe there is a more ugly and dangerous sin than envy because it is hidden and often covered by the attractive mantle of virtue or of friendship." (St. John Vianney)

Also See: Sin | Vice

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Fornication

"Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 6:9)

"[F]ornications...are unlawful connections between persons, not bound by marriage" (Gloss)

"[A]s chastity is the way that leads to God, so fornication is the way that leads to the Devil" [Pseudo Chrys (as quoted by St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)]

"[T]he sin of fornication is grievous." (St. Cyprian of Carthage)

"Hast thou been a fornicator? Abstain from fornication, and apply chastity to the wound." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"...the act of fornication is always evil." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"There is nothing polluted in the human frame except a man defile this with fornication and adultery" (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church)

"He that is chaste before marriage, much more will he be chaste after it; and he that practiced fornication before, will practice it after marriage." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"For thus, according to the holy apostle, the sin of fornication is perpetrated against the body, as involving also sin against the temple of God." (St. Irenaeus of Lyons)

"Or to put the matter in a different light: other sins are outside of us; and whatever we do we do against others. But fornication defiles the fornicator both in conscience and body" (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"He who believes that his body shall remain to rise again, is careful of his robe, and defiles it not with fornication; but he who disbelieves the Resurrection, gives himself to fornication, and misuses his own body, as though it were not his own." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church)

"He said not, 'abstain from fornication,' but 'Flee:' that is, with all zeal make to yourselves deliverance from that evil. 'Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.'" (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"Simple fornication is contrary to the love of our neighbor, because it is opposed to the good of the child to be born...since it is an act of generation accomplished in a manner disadvantageous to the future child." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"For though he might in deep indignation have dealt with the fornicator, he doth not so; but with fearful words he first represses the swelling pride of the man, since in truth, what had occurred was a twofold sin, fornication, and, that which is worse than fornication, the not grieving over the sin committed. For not so much does he bewail the sin, as him that committed it and did not as yet repent." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"The fornicator is said to sin against his own body, not merely because the pleasure of fornication is consummated in the flesh, which is also the case in gluttony, but also because he acts against the good of his own body by an undue resolution and defilement thereof, and an undue association with another" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Further, nothing but mortal sin debars a man from God's kingdom. But fornication debars him, as shown by the words of the Apostle (Gal. 5:21), who after mentioning fornication and certain other vices, adds: 'They who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.' Therefore simple fornication is a mortal sin." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"The sin of fornication is contrary to the good of the human race, in so far as it is prejudicial to the individual begetting of the one man that may be born...Moreover, fornication is a sin against God, not directly as though the fornicator intended to offend God, but consequently, in the same way as all mortal sins. And just as the members of our body are Christ's members, so too, our spirit is one with Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 6:17, 'He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"The gravity of a sin may be measured in two ways, first with regard to the sin in itself, secondly with regard to some accident. The gravity of a sin is measured with regard to the sin itself, by reason of its species, which is determined according to the good to which that sin is opposed. Now fornication is contrary to the good of the child to be born. Wherefore it is a graver sin, as to its species, than those sins which are contrary to external goods, such as theft and the like; while it is less grievous than those which are directly against God, and sins that are injurious to the life of one already born, such as murder." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"What, for instance, is more offensive than fornication? And if this is not perceived at the time of its commission, yet, after it is committed, its offensive nature, the impurity contracted in it, and the curse, and the abomination of it is perceived. So it is with all sin. Before it is committed it has something of pleasure, but after its commission, the pleasure ceases and fades away, and pain and shame succeed. But with righteousness it is the reverse. At the beginning it is attended with toil, but in the end with pleasure and repose. But even here, as in the one case the pleasure of sin is no pleasure, because of the expectation of disgrace and punishment, so in the other the toil is not felt as toil, by reason of the hope of reward." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"The sin of the fornicator receiving Christ's body is likened to Judas kissing Christ, as to the resemblance of the sin, because each outrages Christ with the sign of friendship, but not as to the extent of the sin...And this resemblance in crime applies no less to other sinners than to fornicators: because by other mortal sins, sinners act against the charity of Christ, of which this sacrament is the sign, and all the more according as their sins are graver. But in a measure the sin of fornication makes one more unfit for receiving this sacrament, because thereby especially the spirit becomes enslaved by the flesh, which is a hindrance to the fervor of love required for this sacrament." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"The single are to be admonished not to think that they can have intercourse with disengaged women without incurring the judgment of condemnation. For, when Paul inserted the vice of fornication among so many execrable crimes, he indicated the guilt of it, saying, Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10). And again, But fornicators and adulterers God will judge (Heb. xiii. 4). They are therefore to be admonished that, if they suffer from the storms of temptation with risk to their safety, they should seek the port of wedlock. For it is written, It is better to marry than to burn (1 Cor. vii. 9)." (Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"And once when I was discoursing of this to a certain one, and saying, that love makes men unblamable, and that love to our neighbor does not suffer any entrance of transgression, and in my discourse going over, and pursuing all the rest - some one of my acquaintance interposing himself said, What then of fornication, is it not possible both to love, and to commit fornication? And it is indeed from love that this springs. Covetousness indeed, and adultery, and envy, and hostile designs, and everything of this sort can, from love of one's neighbor, be stopped; but how fornication? he said. I therefore told him, that even this can love stop. For if a man should love a woman that commits fornication, he will endeavor both to draw her off from other men, and not himself also to add to her sin. So that to commit fornication with a woman is the part of one exceedingly hating her with whom he commits the fornication, but one who truly loved her would withdraw her from that abominable practice. And there is not, there is not any sin, which the power of love, like fire, cannot consume. For it is easier for a vile faggot to resist a great pile of fire, than for the nature of sin to resist the power of love." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"Without any doubt we must hold simple fornication to be a mortal sin...[E]very sin committed directly against human life is a mortal sin. Now simple fornication implies an inordinateness that tends to injure the life of the offspring to be born of this union. For we find in all animals where the upbringing of the offspring needs care of both male and female, that these come together not indeterminately, but the male with a certain female, whether one or several; such is the case with all birds: while, on the other hand, among those animals, where the female alone suffices for the offspring's upbringing, the union is indeterminate, as in the case of dogs and like animals. Now it is evident that the upbringing of a human child requires not only the mother's care for his nourishment, but much more the care of his father as guide and guardian, and under whom he progresses in goods both internal and external. Hence human nature rebels against an indeterminate union of the sexes and demands that a man should be united to a determinate woman and should abide with her a long time or even for a whole lifetime. Hence it is that in the human race the male has a natural solicitude for the certainty of offspring, because on him devolves the upbringing of the child: and this certainly would cease if the union of sexes were indeterminate. This union with a certain definite woman is called matrimony; which for the above reason is said to belong to the natural law. Since, however, the union of the sexes is directed to the common good of the whole human race, and common goods depend on the law for their determination...it follows that this union of man and woman, which is called matrimony, is determined by some law...Wherefore, since fornication is an indeterminate union of the sexes, as something incompatible with matrimony, it is opposed to the good of the child's upbringing, and consequently it is a mortal sin. Nor does it matter if a man having knowledge of a woman by fornication, make sufficient provision for the upbringing of the child: because a matter that comes under the determination of the law is judged according to what happens in general, and not according to what may happen in a particular case." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Legitimate / Illegitimate Children | Living Together Without the Sacrament of Matrimony | Chastity | Modesty/Proper Dress [Pg.]

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Gluttony

"If you are dining with a great man, bring not a greedy gullet to his table, Nor cry out, 'How much food there is here!' Remember that gluttony is evil." (Sirach 31:12-13)

"Distress and anguish and loss of sleep, and restless tossing for the glutton! Moderate eating ensures sound slumber and a clear mind next day on rising." (Sirach 31:20)

"Be not drawn after every enjoyment, neither become a glutton for choice foods, For sickness comes with overeating, and gluttony brings on biliousness. Through lack of self-control many have died, but the abstemious man prolongs his life." (Sirach 37:28-30)

"The forerunner of impurity is over-eating."

"For excess in eating is the mother of lust; a belly that is distended with food and saturated with draughts of wine is sure to lead to sensual passion." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"Now it behooves us not to indulge in delights which fattening the body make lean the soul, and bring a heavy burden upon it, and spread darkness over it, and a thick covering, because in pleasure our governing part which is the soul becomes the slave, but the subject part, namely the body, rules. But the body is in need not of luxuries but of food, that it may be nourished, not that it may be racked and melt away. For not to the soul alone are pleasures hurtful, but to the body itself, because from being a strong body it becomes weak, from being healthy diseased, from being active slothful, from being beautiful unshapely, and from youthful old." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Temperance | Abstinence | Fasting | Mortification | Renouncing One's Self | Gluttony (Topical Scripture) 

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Hatred

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 5:43-48)

"You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 10:22)

"Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 24:9)

"You will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mk. 13:13)

"You will be hated by all because of my name" (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Lk. 21:17)

"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Lk. 6:22-23)

"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Jn. 15:18-19)

"Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:19-21)

"Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor." (Rom. 12:9-10)

"For as long as we live in hatred for our neighbors we are hating our own selves, because hatred deprives us of divine charity. How stupidly blind not to see that with the sword of hatred for our neighbors we are killing ourselves." (St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Anger | Love / Charity | Hatred (Topical Scripture)

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Homosexuality

Also See: Homosexuality (Topic Page)

"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination." (Lev. 18:22)

"Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:9-11)

"I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that (the) Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe. The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day. Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 1:5-7)

"Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved." (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

"Homosexual persons are called to chastity." (Pontifical Council for the Family)

Also See: Sodomy | Striving Against Nature | Order of Things Established by God | Against Cross Dressing

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Living Together Without the Sacrament of Matrimony

"Lastly, since We well know that none should be excluded from Our charity, We commend, venerable brothers, to your fidelity and piety those unhappy persons who, carried away by the heat of passion, and being utterly indifferent to their salvation, live wickedly together without the bond of lawful marriage. Let your utmost care be exercised in bringing such persons back to their duty; and, both by your own efforts and by those of good men who will consent to help you, strive by every means that they may see how wrongly they have acted; that they may do penance; and that they may be induced to enter into a lawful marriage according to the Catholic rite." (Pope Leo XIII, "Arcanum")

"It is a grievous sin for unmarried men to have concubines; but it is a most grievous sin, and one committed in special contempt of this great sacrament, for married men also to live in this state of damnation, and to have the audacity at times to maintain and keep them at their own homes even with their own wives. Wherefore, the holy Synod, that it may by suitable remedies provide against this exceeding evil, ordains that these concubinaries, whether unmarried or married, of whatsoever state, dignity, and condition they may be, if, after having been three times admonished on this subject by the Ordinary, even ex officio, they shall not have put away their concubines, and have separated themselves from all connexion with them, they shall be smitten with excommunication; from which they shall not be absolved until they have really obeyed the admonition given them. But if, regardless of this censure, they shall continue in concubinage during a year, they shall be proceeded against with severity by the Ordinary, according to the character of the crime. Women, whether married or single, who publicly live with adulterers or with concubinaries, if, after having been three times admonished, they shall not obey, shall be rigorously punished, according to the measure of their guilt, by the Ordinaries of the places, ex officio, even though not called upon to do so by any one; and they shall be cast forth from the city or diocese, if the Ordinaries shall think fit, calling in the aid of the Secular arm, if need be; the other penalties inflicted on adulterers and concubinaries remaining in their full force." (Council of Trent)

Also See: Fornication | Legitimate / Illegitimate Children | Marriage

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Materialism

"The eclipse of the sense of God and of man inevitably leads to a practical materialism, which breeds individualism, utilitarianism and hedonism. Here too we see the permanent validity of the words of the Apostle: 'And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct' (Rom 1:28). The values of being are replaced by those of having. The only goal which counts is the pursuit of one's own material well-being. The so-called 'quality of life' is interpreted primarily or exclusively as economic efficiency, inordinate consumerism, physical beauty and pleasure, to the neglect of the more profound dimensions - interpersonal, spiritual and religious - of existence. In such a context suffering, an inescapable burden of human existence but also a factor of possible personal growth, is 'censored', rejected as useless, indeed opposed as an evil, always and in every way to be avoided. When it cannot be avoided and the prospect of even some future well-being vanishes, then life appears to have lost all meaning and the temptation grows in man to claim the right to suppress it. Within this same cultural climate, the body is no longer perceived as a properly personal reality, a sign and place of relations with others, with God and with the world. It is reduced to pure materiality: it is simply a complex of organs, functions and energies to be used according to the sole criteria of pleasure and efficiency. Consequently, sexuality too is depersonalized and exploited: from being the sign, place and language of love, that is, of the gift of self and acceptance of another, in all the other's richness as a person, it increasingly becomes the occasion and instrument for self-assertion and the selfish satisfaction of personal desires and instincts. Thus the original import of human sexuality is distorted and falsified, and the two meanings, unitive and procreative, inherent in the very nature of the conjugal act, are artificially separated: in this way the marriage union is betrayed and its fruitfulness is subjected to the caprice of the couple. Procreation then becomes the 'enemy' to be avoided in sexual activity: if it is welcomed, this is only because it expresses a desire, or indeed the intention, to have a child 'at all costs', and not because it signifies the complete acceptance of the other and therefore an openness to the richness of life which the child represents. In the materialistic perspective described so far, interpersonal relations are seriously impoverished. The first to be harmed are women, children, the sick or suffering, and the elderly. The criterion of personal dignity - which demands respect, generosity and service - is replaced by the criterion of efficiency, functionality and usefulness: others are considered not for what they 'are', but for what they 'have, do and produce'. This is the supremacy of the strong over the weak." (Pope John Paul II)

Also See: Riches / Wealth | Envy

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Mediums

"Do not go to mediums or consult fortune-tellers, for you will be defiled by them. I, the LORD, am your God." (Lev. 19:31)

"[Question:] Whether it is permitted through a medium, as they call him, or without a medium, with or without the application of hypnotism, to be present at spiritistic conversations or manifestations of any kind, even though these phenomena present the appearance of honesty or piety, whether by interrogating souls or spirits, or by listening to responses, or only by looking on, even with a tacit or expressed protestation that one does not wish to have anything to do with wicked spirits. - Reply: In negative in all cases." (Reply of the Holy Office, 1917 A.D.)

Also See: Satan / Devil | Horoscopes / Divination / Necromancy / Soothsayers (Topical Scripture)

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Pleasure is Momentary

"Pleasure is momentary, but the punishment due to it is eternal." (St. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Sin | Vice | Reward / Punishment | Tough Love in the New Testament | Judgment (Topical Scripture)

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Pride / Vanity

"When pride comes, disgrace comes; but with the humble is wisdom." (Prov. 11:2)

"More and more, humble your pride; what awaits man is worms." (Sirach 7:17)

"For pride is the reservoir of sin, a source which runs over with vice; Because of it God sends unheard-of afflictions and brings men to utter ruin." (Sirach 10:13)

 "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (Jms. 4:6)

"Beware of vanity. Remembrance of the past is a good antidote." (St. Claude de la Colombiere)

"Pride is an illusion, a lie and a theft. And since it is a truth of faith that we are nothing, he who esteems himself and thinks that he is someone is a seducer who deceives himself." (St. John Eudes)

"Nothing is harder to bear than those things which wound our self-love; but if we thought of the humiliations suffered by Jesus Christ at Bethlehem, should we ever dare to complain?" (St. John Vianney)

"Oh, whenever the tempter wants you to be puffed up with pride, say to yourself: all that is good in me I have received from God on loan and I should be a fool to boast of what is not mine." (St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina)

"You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy - the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud." (St. Vincent de Paul)

"Those who talk often of themselves, discover that they are deeply infected with the disease of the devil, which is pride, or with the poison of vanity, its eldest daughter. They have no other reward to expect, but what they now receive, the empty breath of sinners. Even this incense is only affected hypocrisy. For men, by that base passion which they betray, become justly contemptible and odious to those very persons whose vain, applause they seem to court." (Butler)

"God was so displeased with pride that He did not spare to drive down into hell the noble, high, excellent angels out of heaven for the sake of their pride. So who in this wretched world could have a status so high that he would not have serious cause to tremble and quake in every joint of his body as soon as he feels a high, proud thought enter his heart?" (St. Thomas More)

Also See: Sin | Vice | Self-Love / Sin | Humility | Modesty / Proper Dress [Pg.] | Pride (Topical Scripture)

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Self-

Centeredness

"The root of all evils is self-centeredness just as, on the other hand, the root of all virtues is charity. As long as this poisonous root remains in the depths of the soul, even though some of the twigs on the surface may be pruned back, others will inevitably continue to sprout from the invigorated base until the very root from which these pernicious shoots spring up has been utterly torn out and nothing more remains." (St. Aelred of Rievaulx)

Also See: Pride / Vanity | Self-Love / Sin | Sin | Vice | Looking to the Good of Others | Renouncing One's Self

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Self-Love / Sin

"[I]nordinate love of self is the cause of every sin." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Pride / Vanity | Self-Centeredness | Sin | Vice | Looking to the Good of Others | Pride (Topical Scripture)

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Sin

Also See: Sin (Topic Page)

"Virtue exalts a nation, but sin is a people's disgrace." (Prov. 14:34)

"In whatever you do, remember your last days, and you will never sin." (Sirach 7:36)

"Delay not to forsake sins, neglect it not till you are in distress." (Sirach 18:21)

"Flee from sin as from a serpent that will bite you if you go near it; Its teeth are lion's teeth, destroying the souls of men." (Sirach 21:2)

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 5:29) [Reminder: Interpretation and application of Scripture should not be contrary to the perennial, official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Do not take Scripture passages out of context. Do not inflict harm on yourself or others, break laws, take unsuitable/incautious or inappropriate/drastic actions, or take figurative items literally.]

"Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!" (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 18:7)

"If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 18:15-17)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)

"Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned - for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come. But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person's transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many. And the gift is not like the result of the one person's sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal. For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous." (Rom. 5:12-19)

"Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as (being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Rom. 6:11-16)

"If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins but a fearful prospect of judgment and a flaming fire that is going to consume the adversaries." (Heb. 10:26-27)

"He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls." (1 Pt. 2:24-25) 

"Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who remains in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or known him. Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way, the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother." (1 Jn. 3:4-10)

"Death, but not sin!" (St. Dominic Savio)

"[Let] us declare war on sins" (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"Run from places of sin as from the plague." (St. John Climacus)

"We have only one evil to fear, and that is sin." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"You should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin." (St. Louis IX of France)

"[Satan] is 'a murderer from the beginning', is also 'a liar and the father of lies' (Jn 8:44). By deceiving man he leads him to projects of sin and death, making them appear as goals and fruits of life." (Pope John Paul II) 

Also See: Vice | Tough Love in the New Testament | Reward / Punishment | Forgiveness | Holiness / Virtue [Pg.] | Sin (Topical Scripture) | Catholic Basics Section

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Sinful Desires Forbidden

"But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 5:28)

"To abstain from sinful actions is not sufficient for the fulfillment of God's law. The very desire of what is forbidden is evil." (St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle)

Also See: Sin | Vice

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Sins & Shortcomings of Others

"One is often carried away over the sins and shortcomings of others. It would be far better to talk less about them and to pray more." (St. John Vianney)

Also See: Prayer | Should One Correct / Rebuke a Fallen Away Catholic?

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Sodomy

Also See: Homosexuality (Topic Page)

Warning: Contains graphic language

"I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that (the) Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe. The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day. Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 1:5-7)

"[A] thing is said to be natural, if it agrees with nature, and unnatural, if it disagrees." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"[C]opulation with an undue sex, male with male, or female with female, as the Apostle states (Romans 1:27)...is called the vice of sodomy." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"[C]ertain special sins are said to be against nature; thus contrary to sexual intercourse, which is natural to all animals, is unisexual lust, which has received the special name of the unnatural crime." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Wherefore just as in speculative matters the most grievous and shameful error is that which is about things the knowledge of which is naturally bestowed on man, so in matters of action it is most grave and shameful to act against things as determined by nature. Therefore, since by the unnatural vices man transgresses that which has been determined by nature with regard to the use of venereal actions, it follows that in this matter this sin is gravest of all [sins belonging to lust]...Just as the ordering of right reason proceeds from man, so the order of nature is from God Himself: wherefore in sins contrary to nature, whereby the very order of nature is violated, an injury is done to God, the Author of nature. Hence Augustine says (Confessiones iii,8): 'Those foul offenses that are against nature should be everywhere and at all times detested and punished, such as were those of the people of Sodom, which should all nations commit, they should all stand guilty of the same crime, by the law of God which hath not so made men that they should so abuse one another. For even that very intercourse which should be between God and us is violated, when that same nature, of which He is the Author, is polluted by the perversity of lust.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Homosexuality | Striving Against Nature | Order of Things Established by God | Against Cross Dressing

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Sterilization

Also See: Pro-Life (Topic Page)

"To the question proposed to the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office; 'Whether direct sterilization, either perpetual or temporary, is permitted on a man or a woman,' the Most Eminent and Reverend Fathers, Doctors, and Cardinals, appointed to guard matters of faith and morals, on Thursday, the 21st day of February, 1940, have decided that the following answer must be given: 'In the negative, and indeed that it is prohibited by the law of nature, and that, insofar as it pertains to eugenic sterilization, it has already been disapproved by the decree of this Congregation, on the 21st day of March, 1931." (Decree of the Holy Office, February 24, 1940 A.D.)

"It would be more than a mere lack of readiness in the service of life if an attack made by man were to concern not only a single act but should affect the organism itself to deprive it, by means of sterilization, of the faculty of procreating a new life. Here, too, you have a clear rule in the Church's teaching to guide your behavior both interiorly and exteriorly. Direct sterilization - that is, whose aim tends as a means or as an end at making procreation impossible - is a grave violation of the moral law and therefore unlawful. Not even public authority has any right, under the pretext of any 'indication' whatsoever, to permit it, and less still to prescribe it or to have it used to the detriment of innocent human beings. This principle is already proclaimed in the... [Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on marriage, Casti Connubii]. Thus when ten years or so ago sterilization came to be more widely applied, the Holy See saw the necessity of expressly and publicly declaring that direct sterilization, either perpetual or temporary, in either the male or the female, is unlawful according to natural law, from which, as you well know, not even the Church has the power to dispense." (Pope Pius XII, Allocution To Midwives, 1951 A.D.)

Also See: Against Bodily Destruction | Fornication | Marital Relations | Marriage | Contraception

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Suicide

"Moreover if to murder another is the greatest temporal injustice a man can commit against a neighbor, life being of all temporal blessings the greatest and most noble, suicide is a crime so much more enormous, as the charity which every one owes to himself, especially to his immortal soul is stricter, more noble and of a superior order to that which he owes to his neighbor." (Butler)

"To concur with the intention of another person to commit suicide and to help in carrying it out through so-called 'assisted suicide' means to cooperate in, and at times to be the actual perpetrator of, an injustice which can never be excused, even if it is requested. In a remarkably relevant passage Saint Augustine writes that 'it is never licit to kill another: even if he should wish it, indeed if he request it because, hanging between life and death, he begs for help in freeing the soul struggling against the bonds of the body and longing to be released; nor is it licit even when a sick person is no longer able to live'." (Pope John Paul II)

"Suicide is always as morally objectionable as murder. The Church's tradition has always rejected it as a gravely evil choice...[S]uicide, when viewed objectively, is a gravely immoral act. In fact, it involves the rejection of love of self and the renunciation of the obligation of justice and charity towards one's neighbor, towards the communities to which one belongs, and towards society as a whole. In its deepest reality, suicide represents a rejection of God's absolute sovereignty over life and death, as proclaimed in the prayer of the ancient sage of Israel: 'You have power over life and death; you lead men down to the gates of Hades and back again' (Wis 16:13; cf. Tob 13:2)." (Pope John Paul II)

Also See: Suicide (Life Issues Pg). | Adversity | Affliction | The Cross / Crosses | Necessity of / Reasons for Suffering | Pain | Sickness / Illness | Sorrow / Sorrows | Suffering | Trials & Tribulations | Words of Advice (Suffering) | Words of Encouragement (Suffering) | How One Dies is How One Remains Forever

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Temptation

"Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. No one experiencing temptation should say, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death." (Jms. 1:12-15)

"To those who are just and upright, temptations become helps." (St. Ephraem the Syrian, Doctor of the Church)

"Blessed are they that are tempted! It is when the devil sees that a soul is tending towards union with God that he redoubles his efforts." (St. John Vianney)

"(In our struggle against temptations) our Lord is there quite close to us, looking on us with kindness, smiling at us and saying: 'So you do love Me!'" (St. John Vianney)

"Offer your temptations for the conversion of sinners. When the devil sees you doing this, he is beside himself with rage and makes off, because then the temptation is turned against himself." (St. John Vianney)

"To resist every temptation, it is sufficient to pronounce the names of Jesus and Mary; and if the temptation continues, let us continue to invoke Jesus and Mary, and the Devil shall never be able to conquer us." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"Wherefore whosoever hath entered a virtuous course, let him prepare his mind for all manner of temptation, for we know that the devil will never agree with those who in God's cause are his enemies, howsoever he fawned upon them while they were in his power." (St. Robert Southwell)

"Don't let temptations frighten you; they are the trials of the souls whom God wants to test when he sees they have the necessary strength to sustain the struggle, thus weaving the crown of glory with their own hands." (St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina)

"A powerful remedy against temptations of the flesh, and all sins of impurity, is to flee idleness; for no one is more exposed to such temptations than he who has nothing to do, who spends his time in gazing at people out of the window, or in chatting with his friends." (St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church)

"In the moment of temptation have you not sought to deceive yourself by foolish reasonings on the justice of God, and on his mercy? Have you not sought to persuade yourself that sin is not so great an evil - that God is too good to punish you? And is it not true that it was only after the sin that your blindness ceased, and that your eyes were opened to the light?" (St. Ignatius Loyola)

"Satan, however, is overcome not by indolence, sleep, wine, revelling, or lust; but by prayer, labor, watching, fasting, continence and chastity. Watch ye and pray, that ye enter not into temptation...is the admonition of our Lord. They who make use of these weapons in the conflict put the enemy to flight; for the devil flees those who resist him." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"For whether we desire it or not we shall be tempted. If we do not struggle, we shall not be victorious, nor shall we merit the crown of immortal glory which God has prepared for those of us who are victorious and triumphant. Let us fear neither the temptation nor the tempter, for if we make use of the shield of faith and the armor of truth, they will have no power whatsoever over us." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"When you are tempted by the enemy, the best remedy is to hasten with all speed to the Cross, and to see Christ thereon, covered with wounds, torn, disfigured, streaming with blood. Then reflect that the chief reason why he is there is to destroy sin; and so, with all devotion, beg him not to allow what is so abominable, and what he sought, with such labor to overthrow, ever to reign in our hearts." (St. Peter of Alcantara)

"The faithful should also reflect who is their leader against temptations of the enemy; namely, Christ the Lord, who was victorious in the same combat. He overcame the devil; He is that stronger man who, coming upon the strong armed man, overcame him, deprived him of his arms, and stripped him of his spoils. Of Christ's victory over the world, we read in St. John: Have confidence: I have overcome the world; and in the Apocalypse, He is called the conquering lion; and it is said of Him that He went forth conquering that He might conquer, because by His victory He has given power to others to conquer." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

Also See: Satan / Devil | Trials & Tribulations | Tribulations / Temptations (Increase Holiness Reflections) | Sin | Increase Holiness Section

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Vice

"When we are assailed by some vice we must, as far as possible, embrace the practice of the contrary virtue." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"He who wants to overcome vices should fight with the arms of love, not of rage." (St. Peter Chrysologus, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Sin | Life's Battle | Renouncing One's Self | Renouncing the World | Holiness / Virtue [Pg.] | Reward / Punishment

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