The scourge of impurity

REMEMBER that in the 60s, during my high school days in

the province, I never heard, much less, seen pornography. And the sin

of self-abuse was practically unheard of. If ever, there only were

very occasional and very hushed mention of them among the ‘naughty’

boys who were, of course, my friends.

          I started hearing about these things more often and more

openly when I began my college studies in Manila in the late 60s and

early 70s. It was a period of drastic changes in my life, reflecting

very vividly the many changes I experienced in my own body and those

I’ve seen in the environment.

          Truth to tell, I experienced what St. Paul described in his

Letter to the Romans: “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am

carnal, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do

not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…

          “For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I

see in my member another law at war with the law of my mind and making

me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man

that I am! Who will deliver me from this body death? Thanks be to God

through Jesus Christ our Lord!...” (7,14ff.)

          I was most thankful that in those years, I also discovered

my vocation that somehow shielded me to a large extent from the

enormous pressure of the temptations outside and inside. Those were

tumultuous times that occasioned in me the strengthening of my faith,

my piety, my hope, my charity and the whole gamut of the virtues.

          The lesson and insight I learned from those years was that

God allows us to get dirty in difficult if not impossible situations

in order to purify us, to prod us to really grow in the virtues in

their genuine state and not just their appearance or caricature. He

never leaves us and is always there to help, but we have to learn to

turn to him.

          Our problem usually is that we tend to ignore him. And

that’s when what is already bad becomes worse. But if we go to him in

our weakness and even in sinfulness, he will always be there to help.

I believe that’s what St. Paul meant when he said:

          “But he (Christ) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for

you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast

all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may

rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses,

in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I

am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12,9-11)

          Thus, we should not worry too much, much less plunge into

despair when we are caught in a seemingly helpless and irredeemable

situation because such situation can actually occasion a marvelous

change and improvement in our life through God’s grace and mercy.

          Somehow, with Christ we can echo these reassuring

experiences of St. Paul who said: “We are afflicted in every way, but

not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not

forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body

the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested

in our bodies.” (2 Cor 4,8-10)

          God can always derive good from evil. He allows, not causes,

evil to befall on us so that a greater good can be made. We should

always bear this wonderful truth of our faith in mind, always asking

for his grace so that we can also do our part to correspond to his

loving grace and mercy by praying, sacrificing, etc., as we tackle the

challenge of the scourge and epidemic of impurity.