LUST
For Older Boys and Girls
This talk is intended mostly for the older children. It is about Lieutenant Lustful. Lust means impurity of any kind. Lieutenant Lustful, you can imagine, is a very important member of Satan's crew. Is it possible to commit a sin by thought alone? The answer is, yes.
The world is full of war today. Does anyone know the name of a battle in which the American soldiers captured a forest? The Argonne forest. . . . Yes. During the battle of the Argonne, countless shells were fired on both sides. More than twenty years later on May 15, 1938, a forest fire swept through the Argonne forest. Several firemen fighting the flames were severely injured, not by fire, mind you, but by shells which exploded from the heat. They had been buried in the forest since the World War. The forest fire had set them off.
So it is with impure thoughts. They are hard to forget. That is the way we are made. It is the result of original sin that impure thoughts stick in our imagination. The thing to do is to guard your imagination as best you can. The imagination is a snake in the garden of the mind.
Some of you have the habit of telling or listening to impure stories. The difference between one who speaks impurely and one who listens is that the devil sits on the tongue of one and in the ear of the other. There is a danger in that. They are very hard to get out of your mind. They will remain buried in your mind like the shells left over from the World War in the Argonne forest. Under the fire of future temptation they will explode. You are playing with gunpowder and that's dangerous.
Our Lord's favorites on earth were those who were pure in mind and in deed. His Mother, St. Joseph, and St. John, were among his favorites. He loved little children because they were so pure. Purity is an angel's life on earth. It is more pleasing than any other virtue. The words of Christ, during the Sermon on the Mount, are
worth remembering always: "Blessed are the clean of
heart for they shall see God."
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For Older Boys and Girls
This talk is intended mostly for the older children. It is about Lieutenant Lustful. Lust means impurity of any kind. Lieutenant Lustful, you can imagine, is a very important member of Satan's crew. Is it possible to commit a sin by thought alone? The answer is, yes.
The world is full of war today. Does anyone know the name of a battle in which the American soldiers captured a forest? The Argonne forest. . . . Yes. During the battle of the Argonne, countless shells were fired on both sides. More than twenty years later on May 15, 1938, a forest fire swept through the Argonne forest. Several firemen fighting the flames were severely injured, not by fire, mind you, but by shells which exploded from the heat. They had been buried in the forest since the World War. The forest fire had set them off.
So it is with impure thoughts. They are hard to forget. That is the way we are made. It is the result of original sin that impure thoughts stick in our imagination. The thing to do is to guard your imagination as best you can. The imagination is a snake in the garden of the mind.
Some of you have the habit of telling or listening to impure stories. The difference between one who speaks impurely and one who listens is that the devil sits on the tongue of one and in the ear of the other. There is a danger in that. They are very hard to get out of your mind. They will remain buried in your mind like the shells left over from the World War in the Argonne forest. Under the fire of future temptation they will explode. You are playing with gunpowder and that's dangerous.
Our Lord's favorites on earth were those who were pure in mind and in deed. His Mother, St. Joseph, and St. John, were among his favorites. He loved little children because they were so pure. Purity is an angel's life on earth. It is more pleasing than any other virtue. The words of Christ, during the Sermon on the Mount, are
worth remembering always: "Blessed are the clean of
heart for they shall see God."
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