The ninth commandment: you shall not covet your neighbour's wife

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The ninth commandment you shall not covet your
neighbour's wife
ANGELICO, Fra Annunciation 1430s Panel, 195 x 158
cm S. Maria delle Grazie, S. Giovanni Valdarno

• 53

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Compendium of the Catechism

• 527. What is required by the ninth commandment?
• 2514-25162528-2530
• The ninth commandment requires that one overcome
  carnal concupiscence in thought and in desire.
  The struggle against such concupiscence entails
  purifying the heart and practicing the virtue of
  temperance.
• 528. What is forbidden by the ninth commandment?
• 2517-25192531-2532
• The ninth commandment forbids cultivating
  thoughts and desires connected to actions
  forbidden by the sixth commandment.

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Introduction

• The disorder caused by original sin brings with
  it a selfish claim for sexual pleasure that
  ignores the order established by God. Holy purity
  is a virtue acquired by means of Gods grace and
  personal struggle.
• To keep our hearts pure it is necessary to rid
  them decisively of impure thoughts and desires.
  As our Lord said
• Blessed are the pure in heart, because they
  shall see God (Matthew 58)
• Encouraged by this assurance, though aware that
  it can be hard to keep our hearts pure, we know
  that purity is a wonderful gift.

REMBRANDT (1606-1669) David and Uriah Oil on
canvas, 1665 50 x 46 inches (127 x 117
cm) Hermitage, St Petersburg
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Main ideas
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1. Concupiscence

• When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they not only
  sinned but also opened the gates of sin
  concupiscence is the inclination to sin which
  remains even in a baptized person.
• Saint John wrote about a triple concupiscence
• the lust of the flesh
• the lust of the eyes
• the pride of life
• (cfr. 1 John 216)
• Concupiscence in itself is not a sin, but it
  inclines man to sin.

PATENIER, Joaquín Temptation of St Anthony c.
1515 Oil on panel, 155 x 173 cm Museo del Prado,
Madrid
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2. Purification of the heart

• To combat the tickling of our passions, we have
  to look for the root of sin. And the root of sin
  is in the heart.
• Jesus warns his disciples
• From the heart come evil intentions murder,
  adultery, fornication (Matthew 1519)
• Therefore, the fight against concupiscence begins
  with the purification of the heart, because God
  wants us to be pure and chaste first and foremost
  in our hearts.

UNKNOWN MASTER, Flemish The Offering of the
Heart c. 1410 Tapestry Musée de Cluny, Paris
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3. Fighting against temptations

• Temptations against chastity are not sinful in
  themselves, but only incitements to sin. They are
  sinful if the will indulges them.
• They should not surprise us and, without getting
  obsessed, we have to pray to be strong to reject
  temptations promptly.
• If when confronted with temptations we are able
  to say that we did our best to keep them away,
  then there is no reason to lose our peace and joy.

CRANACH, Lucas the Elder Samson's Fight with the
Lion 1520-25 Panel Kunstsammlungen, Weimar
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4. Decorum and modesty

• Decorum forms part of the virtue of temperance
  and is a safeguard of purity.
• It is related to the virtue of modesty, which
  governs gestures and body movements it also
  helps us keep silent when speaking would only
  satisfy morbid curiosity.
• Decorum protects personal intimacy and helps us
  behave with gentleness and sensitivity.

BOUGUEREAU, William (1825-1905) Modestie
Modesty Oil on canvas, 1902 63 1/8 x 28 1/2
inches (160.5 x 72.5 cm) Private collection
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5. A campaign for purity

• Christians must struggle to cleanse the morally
  polluted environment of todays permissive
  society.
• Christians, all the more, have to make every
  effort so that the means of entertainment are
  clean and do not offend God.
• The effort to promote chastity and purity means
  helping men and women to be more human and to
  purify and elevate social mores.

UNKNOWN MASTER, French Crusaders 12th
century Mural Chapel of the Templars, Cressac
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6. How to improve in chastity

• We can obtain and improve interior chastity with
  prayer. We ought always to pray for purity, with
  rectitude of intention, seeking to do the will of
  God in everything.
• In order to resist indulging in impure thoughts,
  we have to guard our imagination and eyes, and
  the other senses as well.

EL GRECO (1541-1614) The Virgin of the Immaculate
Conception and St John Oil on canvas, 1585 93 1/4
x 46 3/8 inches (237 x 118 cm) Museo de Santa
Cruz, Toledo
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Resolutions for Christian life
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Resolutions to move forward

• Promptly dispel impure thoughts, using the proper
  natural and supernatural means.
• Think about what could be done in my family and
  social surroundings to promote a morally pure
  environment.
• Practise decorum and modesty.