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Premarital Sex is a Mortal Sin – Of this we must be clear and insist on repentance as the...
Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 9/15/2014 | Msgr. Charles Pope

Posted on 09/16/2014 2:24:50 AM PDT by markomalley

MarriageAmendmentinNorthCarolinaWe live in times when many call good or “no big deal” what God calls sin. This is especially true in the area of sexuality where whole sectors of our society not only tolerate, but even celebrate sexual practices that the Scriptures call gravely sinful, and which will lead to hell if not repented of. Acts of fornication (pre-marital sex) and homosexual acts cannot be considered acceptable by any Catholic, or any person who sincerely accepts the Scripture as the Word of God. And even for those who do not share our faith, acts of fornication, and homosexual acts can be plainly seen to cause great harm in the manner in which they spread serious disease, harm marriage and family, lead to abortion, a for the children who do survive abortion, subject them to single motherhood, absent fathers, and a lack of the best environment which they are due.

I want to focus today on the terrible and mortal sin of fornication and present the clear biblical teaching against it. Tomorrow I will do the same regarding homosexual acts. Sadly, many Catholics say their pulpits and classrooms are silent about these issues. The hope in this post today is to present a resounding and biblical trumpet call to purity which leaves us in no ambiguity as to the sinfulness of sex before marriage. Scripture is clear, fornicators will not inherit the Kingdom of God. That is to say, fornication is a mortal sin and those who do not repent of it will go to Hell.

The usual conditions for mortal sin apply (grave matter (which fornication is), sufficient reflection, and full consent of the will). However, we ought not lightly conclude that these conditions are seldom met. I have met with many couples preparing for marriage who are sexually active and I have never found them to be surprised that I rebuke them for this. They know it is wrong. The voice of God stills echoes in their conscience. And as for consent of the will, it I can be admitted that some fall occasionally in a weak moment. But consistent fornicating, with no measures taken to prevent it, is not “weakness” it is sinful neglect of prudence and common sense.

We are in a very grave and sinfully confused cultural setting where many either celebrate or make little effort to avoid what God calls a very serious sin. The Church cannot lack clarity and pulpits and classrooms have often been silent. Such silence has led to parents being silent. And silence has been taken for approval.

But fornication cannot be approved. It is sinful, and may well exclude many unrepentant sinners from heaven. Our charity for souls must compel our clarity about the grave sinfulness of premarital sex and cohabitation.

Let us turn our attention to the biblical text.

The quotes that follow from the New Testament are passages that clearly condemn fornication and other unclean or impure actions. Again, fornication is the most common biblical word for premarital sex. The gravity and clarity of such condemnations are helpful in the sense that they help us to take such matters seriously and steer clear of them. However, the condemnations should not be seen in isolation from God’s mercy who never fails to forgive those who come to him with a humble and contrite heart. God hates sins but he loves sinners and is full of mercy and compassion for them. But this mercy must be accessed through repentance.

With this in mind read the following passages from the New Testament which mention the condemnation of fornication and other forms of sexual impurity:

THAT THERE IS A PRESCRIPTION TO GENERAL SEXUAL PURITY - Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or crude joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No fornicator, no impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with worthless arguments. These are sins that bring God’s wrath down upon the disobedient; therefore, have nothing to do with them. (Ephesians 5:3-7)

THAT UNREPENTANT FORNICATORS ARE EXCLUDED FROM THE KINGDOM -

1. The one who sat on the throne said to me, “See I make all things new!” Then he said, “Write these matters down for the words are trustworthy and true!” He went on to say: “These words are already fulfilled! I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone who thirsts I will give to drink without cost from the spring of life giving water. He who wins the victory shall inherit these gifts and he shall be my son. As for the cowards and traitors to the faith, the depraved and murderers, the fornicators and sorcerers, the idol-worshipers and deceivers of every sort – their lot is the fiery poor of burning sulphur, the second death!” (Revelation 21:5-8)

2. Happy are they who wash their robes so as to have free access to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates! Outside are the dogs and sorcerers, the fornicators and murderers, the idol-worshipers and all who love falsehood. It is I Jesus who have sent my angel to give you this testimony about the Churches. (Rev. 22:14-16)

3. No fornicator, no impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph 5:5)

4. I warn you, as I have warned you before: those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God! (Gal 5:21)

THAT SINS OF THE FLESH CRUSH THE SPIRIT WITHIN USMy point is that you should live in accord with the Spirit and you will not yield to the cravings of the flesh. The Flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh; the two are directly opposed. This is why you do not do what your will does intends. If you are guided by the spirit you are not under the law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, bickering jealousy, outbursts of rage, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I have warned you before: those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God! (Galatians 5:16-21).

THAT EVEN OUR THOUGHT LIFE IS SUMMONED TO PURITY -

1. You have heard the commandment “You shall not commit adultery.” What I say you to is, Anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his thoughts. If your right eye is your trouble, gouge it out and throw it away! Better to lose part of your body than to have it all cast into Gehenna. Again, if your right hand is your trouble, cut it off and throw it away! Better to lose part of your body than to have it all cast into Gehenna. (Matthew 5:27-30)

2.From the mind stem evil designs – murder, adulterous conduct, fornication, stealing, false witness, blasphemy. These are the things that make a man impure. (Matt. 15:19-20)

3. Wicked designs come from the deep recesses of the heart: acts of fornication, theft, murder, adulterous conduct, greed, maliciousness, deceit, sensuality, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, an obtuse spirit. All these evils come from within and render a man impure. (Mark 7:21)

THAT SEXUAL IMPURITY IS A FORM OF WORLDLINESS AND IDOLATRY - Put to death whatever in your nature is rooted in earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires and that lust which is idolatry. These are sins which provoke God’s wrath. (Colossians 3:5-6).

THAT MY BODY IS NOT MY OWN TO DO WITH AS I MERELY PLEASECan you not realize that the unholy will not fall heir to the Kingdom of God? Do not deceive yourselves: no fornicators, idolaters, or adulterers, no sodomites, thieves, misers, or drunkards, no slanderers or robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you have been washed, consecrated, justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. Do you not see that your bodies are member of Christ? Would you have me take Christ’s members and make them members of a prostitute? God forbid! Can you not see that the man who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? Scripture says, “The two shall become one flesh.” But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun Lewd conduct. Every other sin a man commits is outside of his body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within – the Spirit you have received from God. You are not your own. You have been purchased at a price. So glorify God in your body. (I Cor. 6:9-11, 15-20)

THAT THE CALL TO CHRISTIAN PURITY IS NOT MERELY A HUMAN OPINION IT IS GOD’s DECLARED TRUTH. FURTHER, SEXUAL SIN IS A FORM OF INJUSTICE - Now my brothers, we beg an exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, even as you learned from us how to conduct yourselves in a way pleasing to God – which you are indeed doing – so you must learn to make still greater progress. You know the instructions we gave you in the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you grow in holiness: that you abstain from sexual immorality, each of you guarding his member in sanctity and honor, not in passionate desire as do the Gentiles who know not God; and that each must refrain from overreaching or cheating his brother in the matter at hand; for the Lord is the avenger of all such things, as we once indicated to you by our testimony. God has not called us to sexual immorality but to holiness; hence whoever rejects these instructions rejects, not man, but God who sends the Holy Spirit upon you. (I Thess. 4:1-8).

THAT FORNICATION AND OTHER SEXUAL SINS ARE NUMBERED AMONG THE MORE SERIOUS SINS - We know that the Law is good, provided one uses it in the way law is supposed to be used — that is, with the understanding that it is aimed, not at good men but at the lawless and unruly, the irreligious and the sinful, the wicked and the godless, men who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, fornicators, sexual perverts, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and those who in other ways flout the sound teaching that pertains to the glorious gospel of God — blessed be he — with which I have been entrusted. (I. Timothy 1:8-11)

THAT FORNICATION AND ADULTERY DISHONOR MARRIAGE - Let Marriage be honored in every way and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.” (Heb 13:4)

Therefore do not be deceived: fornication is a serious sin. It is a mortal sin. It is a sin which excludes one from heaven, who does not repent of it. It offends God, harms children and family, spreads disease, encourages abortion, is an injustice against children and society, dishonors marriage and merits strong punishment, as God’s word declares.

Do not despair of God’s mercy, but do repent. Mercy is accessed only by repentance. Little more needs to be said, It is wrong, seriously wrong to fornicate. Repent at once and without delay.


TOPICS: Catholic
KEYWORDS: fornication; homosexualagenda; moralabsolutes; msgrcharlespope
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Full title: Premarital Sex is a Mortal Sin – Of this we must be clear and insist on repentance as the only way to be saved.
1 posted on 09/16/2014 2:24:50 AM PDT by markomalley
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To: AllAmericanGirl44; Biggirl; Carpe Cerevisi; ConorMacNessa; Faith65; GreyFriar; Heart-Rest; ...

Msgr Pope ping


2 posted on 09/16/2014 2:25:35 AM PDT by markomalley (Nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good -- Leo XIII)
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To: markomalley

One does not need any religious perspective to see this one thing, sex outside marriage, as the source of massively compounding social ills. However, one needs a religious perspective (even if one claims otherwise) to ignore the social ills and their source.


3 posted on 09/16/2014 3:15:38 AM PDT by Tax-chick (No power in the 'verse can stop me.)
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To: markomalley

What about the issue of the disappearance of it after marriage?


4 posted on 09/16/2014 4:06:14 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: VanDeKoik

All hope is lost!


5 posted on 09/16/2014 4:14:00 AM PDT by urbanpovertylawcenter (the law and poverty collide in an urban setting and sparks fly)
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To: markomalley; Tax-chick; GregB; Berlin_Freeper; SumProVita; narses; bboop; SevenofNine; ...

Ping!


6 posted on 09/16/2014 4:18:11 AM PDT by NYer ("You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears." James 4:14)
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To: VanDeKoik
What about the issue of the disappearance of it after marriage?

HAHA. But actually, I think you mean DURING marriage. Been there, done that.

Fortunately, there has been lots of great post-marital sex, though.

7 posted on 09/16/2014 5:23:24 AM PDT by Maceman
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To: markomalley

Perhaps a contingent marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade under their own banner? How about it, Timmy?


8 posted on 09/16/2014 5:29:38 AM PDT by Oratam
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To: markomalley
Premarital Sex is a Mortal Sin
What about post-marital sex?
Ya' know, the kind pro-abortion Andy Cuomo practices - who the Catholic Church STILL hasn't excommunicated.
9 posted on 09/16/2014 5:34:19 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: markomalley

Pope Francis doesn’t seem to agree


10 posted on 09/16/2014 5:38:55 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: VanDeKoik

Yeah, what is it with men? They say they want nothing more than to be with you all the time ... but then it’s the office, the gym, Facebook, this vacation and that one ... might as well just go to bed with the cat.


11 posted on 09/16/2014 5:44:46 AM PDT by Tax-chick (No power in the 'verse can stop me.)
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To: GeronL
"Pope Francis doesn’t seem to agree."

I believe that is loose talk that discourages the just and damages the church --- and it is unfounded in fact.

Pope Francis does everything he canto encourage fornicators to turn away from fornication and get married.

Here is Pope Francis' homily to the couples and congregation (remember that it is based on this Sunday's readings for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The first reading was about Moses' making a bronze seraph serpent and putting it on a pole to cure people of their snakebite; after they'd been bitten as a punishment for their sins, and the Gospel reading relates this to the Cross):

"Today’s first reading speaks to us of the people’s journey through the desert. We can imagine them as they walked, led by Moses; they were families: fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, grandparents, men and women of all ages, accompanied by many children and the elderly who struggled to make the journey. This people reminds us of the Church as she makes her way across the desert of the contemporary world, reminds us of the People of God composed, for the most part, of families.

" This makes us think of families, our families, walking along the paths of life with all their day to day experiences. It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational support, relationships developing as family members mature, the sharing of joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the "bricks" for the building up of society.

" Let us return to the biblical story. At a certain point, "the people became impatient on the way" (Num 21:4). They are tired, water supplies are low and all they have for food is manna, which, although plentiful and sent by God, seems far too meagre in a time of crisis. And so they complain and protest against God and against Moses: "Why did you make us leave?..." (cf. Num. 21:5). They are tempted to turn back and abandon the journey.

" Here our thoughts turn to married couples who "become impatient on the way", the way of conjugal and family life. The hardship of the journey causes them to experience interior weariness; they lose the flavor of matrimony and they cease to draw water from the well of the Sacrament. Daily life becomes burdensome, and often, even "nauseating".

" During such moments of disorientation – the Bible says – poisonous serpents come and bite the people, and many die. This causes the people to repent and to turn to Moses for forgiveness, asking him to beseech the Lord so that he will cast out the snakes. Moses prays to the Lord, and the Lord offers a remedy: a bronze serpent set on a pole; whoever looks at it will be saved from the deadly poison of the vipers.

" What is the meaning of this symbol? God does not destroy the serpents, but rather offers an "antidote": by means of the bronze serpent fashioned by Moses, God transmits his healing strength, namely his mercy, which is more potent than the Tempter’s poison.

"As we have heard in the Gospel, Jesus identifies himself with this symbol: out of love the Father "has given" his only begotten Son so that men and women might have eternal life (cf. Jn 3:13-17). Such immense love of the Father spurs the Son to become man, to become a servant and to die for us upon a cross. Out of such love, the Father raises up his son, giving him dominion over the entire universe. This is expressed by Saint Paul in his hymn in the Letter to the Philippians (cf. 2:6-11). Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus crucified receives the mercy of God and finds healing from the deadly poison of sin.

"The cure which God offers the people applies also, in a particular way, to spouses who "have become impatient on the way" and who succumb to the dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment… To them too, God the Father gives his Son Jesus, not to condemn them, but to save them: if they entrust themselves to him, he will bring them healing by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross, with the strength of his grace that renews and sets married couples and families once again on the right path.

" The love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy of journeying together. This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walking together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become ever more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task of helping her husband to become ever more a man.[My note: this theology of male-female reciprocity is the exact and definitive refutation of the ideology of "gay" "marriage".}

" This is the task that you both share. "I love you, and for this love I help you to become ever more a woman"; "I love you, and for this love I help you to become ever more a man". Here we see the reciprocity of differences.[Heterosexual reciprocity again.] The path is not always a smooth one, free of disagreements, otherwise it would not be human. It is a demanding journey, at times difficult, and at times turbulent, but such is life! Within this theology which the word of God offers us concerning the people on a journey, spouses on a journey, I would like to give you some advice. It is normal for husband and wife to argue: it’s normal. It always happens. But my advice is this: never let the day end without having first made peace. Never! A small gesture is sufficient. Thus the journey may continue. Marriage is a symbol of life, real life: it is not "fiction"! It is the Sacrament of the love of Christ and the Church, a love which finds its proof and guarantee in the Cross. My desire for you is that you have a good journey, a fruitful one, growing in love. I wish you happiness. There will be crosses! But the Lord is always there to help us move forward. May the Lord bless you!"

* * *

He is encouraging them to repent and seek healing as did the Hebrew people in the desert. He is directing them to the Cross of Christ for this healing.

I can't fault him for that.

12 posted on 09/16/2014 7:40:29 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” - Flannery O'Connor)
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To: GeronL

This is the teaching of the Church. I know he agrees.

Did you see the part about repentance up there?

Why are you judging the couples that he married.....it’s their business, not yours.


13 posted on 09/16/2014 7:43:33 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: GeronL

Pope Francis doesn’t seem to agree..

And Aquinas, seems to state that sex within marriage is still a venial sin. I hope you are all confessing these venial sins .........


14 posted on 09/16/2014 7:54:01 AM PDT by barney10
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To: GeronL

“Pope Francis doesn’t seem to agree”

WINNER. Dumbest post of the morning.


15 posted on 09/16/2014 9:26:41 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
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To: barney10
And Aquinas, seems to state that sex within marriage is still a venial sin. I hope you are all confessing these venial sins

link?
16 posted on 09/16/2014 11:05:06 AM PDT by DarkSavant
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To: DarkSavant

http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5049.htm

Article 6, Summa Theologica..Question 49.... When I first was exposed to this by the good Jesuit fathers, there were many, many questions and a lot of disbelief.


17 posted on 09/16/2014 4:04:47 PM PDT by barney10
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To: oh8eleven

He was cohabitating with his girlfriend for a while as well, has that changed. Because living with and having sex with your girlfriend is this wonderful sin known as fornication.


18 posted on 09/17/2014 10:39:48 AM PDT by Morpheus2009
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To: Morpheus2009
He was cohabitating with his girlfriend for a while as well, has that changed?
Nope, still living in (multiple) sin.
19 posted on 09/17/2014 10:52:36 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: Tax-chick

Its when there are twenty cats that it becomes an issue. :-}


20 posted on 09/17/2014 10:58:45 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (Ebola: Death is a lagging indicator.)
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