Good morning Father Angelo.
I would like to begin by thanking you from the bottom of my heart for this publication, which I found only recently, but I am sure will prove very useful to clarify any doubts.
My name is S. and I am 29 years old. Every morning, before I go to work I collect myself in prayer, and I go to mass fairly regularly.
Unfortunately however I have a big problem with masturbation. It does not happen every day, but it is something that I do struggle with. I feel as if I were locked in a prison.  This gives me a deep sense of shame before the Lord, and I always imagine what he may think of me in those moments.  This weighs on me quite a lot. I wanted to ask if you could give me some advice on how to address this problem so that I may succeed in removing it from my life for good.
Thank-you.

Priest’s answer

Dear friend,
1. In many of my responses I have tried to give some advice on how to overcome this problem, which torments many adolescents, as well as older people.
For this I refer you to the search engine that you can find in the home page of our website.

2. However I do want to give you one word of advice. Let me quote the first of the 5 steps that Saint Thomas Aquinas suggests to avoid the pitfalls of impurity.
He says that “the first and principal remedy is keeping the mind occupied in the contemplation of things divine and in oration”.
Contemplation consists in keeping “a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2724).
Try and live through these five steps. It won’t be long before you will feel inebriated by grace, peace, purity, self-control.

3. I emphasize in particular the silent love by which you receive Jesus who is giving himself to you with his person, his merits, his grace.
In turn you give yourself to Jesus and will feel one with him.
A young man your age can be asked to have this experience.
Only by tasting joys that are immensely superior and long lasting than carnal pleasures, that last an instant and only leave a sense of inner desolation, can you find the strength to repel the temptations that deprive you of such great goods.

4. In order to keep your head and your heart free of other thoughts and other realities, take some time to read some passages of the Gospels. Here you will find “the armor of God that will help you that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground” (Cf. Eph 6,13).
Clothe yourself with “righteousness as a breastplate” (Eph. 6,14), which is to say: always stay in the state of grace.  With God’s presence and with his work you can win.

5. Always try to “hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the Evil one” (Eph. 6,16), that is to say: try and stay always in the presence of God.  Only if you remain in the presence of God can you extinguish the most violent temptations of the evil one.
Speaking of flaming arrows, sometimes the ancient warriors used to wrap the head of their arrows with tow dipped in tar, which they would light up on fire prior to shooting them.  Those were therefore incendiary arrows. Those fiery arrows would however extinguish themselves upon hitting a shield. When we commit ourselves to always remain in the presence of God it is like wielding a great shield that extinguishes the fiery arrows of the Evil one.

6. Finally, “take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6.17). The helmet of christians is the hope of eternal Life, which can be lost with any mortal sin.
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, as Saint Paul himself says. It is more piercing than a double edged sword.

7. But all this is not yet enough if prayer is lacking.  Prayer is the most powerful weapon to overcome the temptations from the evil one.
One can’t forget what Christ said to his own prior to being arrested on the Mount of Olives: “Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.” (Mark 14,38). With prayer you make Jesus Christ present and at work in your life.
Alone you can do nothing.
Whereas, with Christ present and at work you can win all battles. All the strength in a christian comes from God, from his presence and his omnipotent strength.
That’s why Saint Paul says: “With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones” (Eph. 6,18).

8. In conclusion, commit yourself at a predetermined time during the day to let Christ enter your life, make him present and at work with his Word.
You will soon feel yourself clothed with strength. Those thoughts will almost magically go away.
Above anything else you will experience such a great joy that you will feel at peace, fulfilled, so much so that you will have disgust for the pods that pigs feed on, to use the language of the Gospel (cf. Lk 15,15).As I wish you to go from victory to victory and from joy to joy, I bless you and I gladly remember you in my prayer.
Father Angelo

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