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 TOPIC 32.1
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2331-2400

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-32-the-sixth-commandment/

 THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not commit adultery

Sexuality is an integral part Vocation Chastity:

of man’s vocation to love & communion to Chastity A Positive Virtue

Means The principal sins Some serious consequences of the

to live chastity against chastity vice of lust
 In God’s creative plan for man,
sexuality is an integral part
of man’s vocation to love
and communion

“God created man in his own image,

male and female he created them.”
Gen 1:27

• “God is love and in himself he lives in a mystery

of personal loving communion.”
CCC 2331

• being male or female is a gift God gives man

to perfect himself/herself in the divine image

• It affects all aspects of man’s being

as a unitotality of body and spiritual soul –his/biological, affective,
spiritual
 In God’s creative plan for man,
sexuality is an integral part
of man’s vocation to love
and communion
• “Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God,
with equal dignity, though in a different way.”
CCC 2335
• as husband/wife, father/mother, son/daughter, brother/sister, grandfather/grandmother,
uncle/aunt, etc.

• Human sexuality is both gift and responsibility.

• Everyone should accept his/her identity as male and female,
recognizing its importance for the whole person, for families, and for society.
Cf. 2332-2333

The tradition of the Church has always understood

the sixth commandment –”You shall not commit adultery”–
as encompassing man’s responsibility for the whole of his/her sexuality
 The calling to make of oneself
a sincere gift to others
brings with it the vocation to chastity
• “Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person,
and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being.”
CCC 2337

• Inasmuch as this successful integration is in keeping with human dignity

(i.e., not being enslaved by passions, instincts and feelings), it is called holy purity.

• “There are only two ways to live on earth:

either one lives a supernatural life or an animal life”
Christ is Passing By, no 98
St. Josemaria

• Inasmuch as it requires self-mastery and self-renunciation

to combat the disorder brought about by original sin, it is called chastity.

• “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.
Well, I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others,
I myself should be disqualified.”
1 Cor 9:25
 “To defend his purity,

St. Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow,

St. Benedict threw himself into a thorn bush,

St. Bernard plunged into an icy pond…

You…, what have you done?”

The Way, 143
St. Josemaria

Living chastity is a life-long,

exacting work, a training in freedom
 Chastity is not a “negative” virtue,
but an eminently positive one
if lived with charity and humility.

Holy Purity is a “joyful affirmation of love”

St. Josemaria

• It is a necessary condition for the flourishing

of all the virtues at play in being a true friend to others, whether of the
same or of the opposite sex –selflessness, generosity, spirit of service,
respect for the feelings
of others, responsibility, discretion, maturity of judgment

• “It is through chastity that we are gathered together

and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into
multiplicity.”
St. Augustine
Cf. CCC 2340.

• All the baptized are called to live chastely,

each according to his/her state in life: married, widowed, single, those
engaged to be married,
those committed to a life of apostolic celibacy.
CCC 2349
 Means to live chastity

Prayer, the help

The grace of God. Temperance in food, drink,
of the sacraments, Self-knowledge
St. Augustine’s experience entertainment, social media
devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Custody of the heart, Modesty and decorum

Avoiding the near occasions
and of the external in dressing, conversation,
of sin
& internal senses. Sin of David and behavior
 The principal sins
against chastity
Adultery, masturbation, fornication,
pornography, prostitution,
rape, and homosexual acts

◦ All are expressions of the vice of lust

◦ Lust
the disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment
of sexual pleasure.

◦ sexual pleasure is morally disordered

when sought for itself, outside of marriage,
and isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes

◦ it is always gravely sinful to directly seek

venereal pleasure outside of the marital act

Sexuality is a central dimension in human life

and touches the most intimate core
of the human person
 Some serious consequences
of the vice of lust

Blindness Weakening Attachment Even hatred

of the mind of the will to earthly of God
goods, whom the lustful person sees as
the greatest obstacle
to the satisfaction
of one’s sexuality
forgetting
the eternal ones
 TOPIC 32.1
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2331-2400

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-32-the-sixth-commandment/