Concupiscence

WE have to be familiar with this phenomenon. There’s such

thing as concupiscence which is a certain attraction we have toward

evil. No matter how much we try to be good—we can even be very heroic

in this—we have within ourselves this attraction which we will carry

all throughout our life. We have to learn how to deal with it.

            Nowadays, this attraction toward evil is very obvious not

only in the personal level but also in the world level. Just look at

the talk shows and the other shows in the media, for one.

            All sorts of perversion are not anymore hidden. They are

now shamelessly shown, stoutly justified, promoted and spread all

over. What we see are the many forms of pride, greed, lust, envy,

gluttony, wrath and sloth. The worst cut is when people seem to lose

already the sense of sin. They have redefined what is good and evil.

            While it’s true that our Christian baptism has erased both

the original sin, and to those who happen to be baptized as an adult

having already committed a lot of sins, also the personal sins, the

scar of these sins still remain with us and can act up again anytime.

            We are already warned amply about this in the holy book.

“For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and

the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride life, which is not of the

Father, but is of the world.” (1 Jn 2,16)

            I am sure our personal experiences can easily validate

this truth. That’s why St. John quite openly told us that we are all

sinners. “If we confess our sins, He (Christ) is faithful and just to

forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” St.

John said. “If we say we have not sinned, we make him out to be a

liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 Jn 1,9-10)

            We should not be surprised anymore at this disturbing

condition of ours. Ours is simply to learn and develop the art of

spiritual combat and warfare. We need to have the skills of ascetical

struggle, submitting ourselves to stricter discipline and greater

toughness.

            This does not mean that we have to harden ourselves to

such an extent that we become inhuman, losing our sensitivity and the

capacity to be tender, affectionate, understanding and merciful to

everyone. Neither should we be so tough and hardened that we fail to

ask for forgiveness if we ourselves commit some error, let alone, sin.

            But yes, we have to learn how to say no to temptations,

how to discipline our weaknesses, how to be clever as serpents, as we

are told in the gospel, in order to smell and discern the cunning ways

of the world and the devil. This is how we can handle the burden of

our built-in concupiscence.

            That is why we need to submit ourselves to a lifelong and

daily program of sacrifices and mortification. Christ himself told

this is to us very clearly. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny

himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mt 16,24)

            We should do whatever is necessary to be faithful to

Christ, no matter what it takes. “If your hand or your foot causes you

to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to

enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and

be thrown into eternal fire.” (Mt 18,8)

            We should realize that whatever we seem to give out and to

lose in the struggle is more than amply rewarded not only in the end,

but even at the moment of the struggle.

            Remember Christ telling us clearly, “Whoever wants to save

his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find

it.” (Mt 16,25)