Editor's Note: The views of this columnist are his own and do not reflect the theological views of PJ Media as a whole.
While praying the rosary, I meditated on something I read in a book by Fulton J. Sheen called The World’s First Love, a treatise on the Blessed Virgin Mary that absolutely socked me in the proverbial jaw. I was praying the Joyful Mysteries, particularly the Annunciation — when the Angel Gabriel visited the Virgin Mary — when I recalled something Sheen mentioned in a reflection on that moment in Mary’s life.
The Blessed Mother was, of course, a virgin at the time of Gabriel’s announcement. That is why, after he revealed that God had chosen her to be the Mother of God, she asked how such a thing could happen, since, according to Catholic theology, she had taken a vow of virginity. What makes this truly remarkable is that she willingly gave up the prospect of having physical children of her own and did so joyfully. Most people would see this as a massive sacrifice or even a tragic waste, but Mary did not.
The vast majority of human beings feel a strong, almost irresistible pull toward marriage, marital intimacy, and procreation, fulfilling God’s command to be fruitful and multiply. For most of humanity, this is the default path. But Mary — and St. Joseph as well — was different. Her heart and soul burned so intensely with love for God that physical intimacy held little pull for her, if any at all. She found complete and total satisfaction in the love of God. That love brought her pure ecstasy, which she experienced frequently, unlike sexual love, which passes quickly.
Because love for God consumed her, she found ultimate joy and pleasure in His presence. Nothing else compared. That love empowered her chastity. Some, especially within the Protestant world, struggle with the idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity, largely because they hold a very low view of virginity as a means of drawing closer to God. They find it inconceivable that Mary and Joseph could love each other deeply and passionately without engaging in sexual relations. And yet, Christian tradition clearly teaches exactly that — because both of them lived fully consumed by love for God.
One could unpack much more from this, but as a man who once struggled deeply with lust and pornography addiction — sins from which Christ has since freed me, to my immense gratitude — the fruit of this meditation struck home. Developing a deep love for Christ, allowing that love to consume you, serves as a powerful and necessary weapon in the battle against the lust of the flesh.
The more I cultivate love and passion for Jesus, the more I desire to do what He asks of me. That desire includes staying far away from pornography and other inappropriate material. I do not experience this as an oppressive rule imposed from the outside. I love Jesus, and I want closeness with Him. Lust and other sins pull me away from what I desire most. Because of that, they have to go.
The world holds virginity in low esteem and often mocks men and women who choose to wait until marriage, preferring instead to celebrate promiscuity, inflated body counts, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Yet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph all lived as virgins, and none of them suffered from FOMO — “fear of missing out” — because they gave up sexual intimacy to draw closer to God.
If you constantly battle lust and repeatedly fall into temptation, chances are your love for God burns only as a small flame that needs fanning into a blazing fire. Daily prayer, reading Scripture, attending Mass, going to confession, reading solid spiritual books, and serving others all help deepen your relationship with God and make it more personal.
I have found that daily prayer of the rosary has most strengthened my love for God. The Blessed Mother’s mission is simple: to bring souls to her Son. When you meditate on the mysteries of Christ’s life and ministry, you gradually come to see the depth of His love for you, and that vision naturally increases your love for Him. Mary, your Mother, waits for you to call on her in the midst of your battles against the flesh. Pray the rosary. Trust in God.
