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00:00Music
00:30Okay, so we're back to the final part of our lesson today. To talk a little bit about the topic of temptation, we've already seen that the law only limits us and tells us where the area of grace ends and from there on we begin to walk in the area of sin.
00:53But I would like to address now the topic of how this process occurs, which is what we know as the process of temptation, which is the means by which the devil, taking advantage of our weakness, seduces us and achieves his goal of leading us to death.
01:12To illustrate this more clearly, let me step away from the Pauline letters for a moment and use the letter of the apostle James, which expresses this situation in man very clearly.
01:26I would like us to go to the text of James, chapter 1, verses 14 and 15.
01:35At the end of your Bible, we find James and we are located in chapter 1, verses 14 and 15.
01:43It is therefore clear that the determining factor is our passion, which exerts a continuous pressure on us that ends up dragging us along.
02:13Note the term "drag." It's something done against a person's strength. We drag a piece of furniture, we drag a person.
02:23It means that I might be defending myself, but he's dragging me down. It turns out the one who drags is stronger than the one being dragged.
02:35However, while at first it governs our will, over time this ceases to be forced and a process of falling in love, of seduction, begins.
02:49in which the soul gradually becomes convinced, sometimes without us even realizing it, we become convinced and begin to let go.
03:01We stop resisting the one who is dragging us along and a process of seduction begins.
03:08We begin, as in Genesis, to open our ears to the seductive words of our passions,
03:18to this demon who from the outside is constantly feeding us so that we gradually give in to temptation.
03:28Words come and go, arguments for and against multiply, but the senses continue to act as mediators and passion grows.
03:41And each time the devil will give better arguments for why he should act.
03:48This will lead to a new process, which is conceiving of sin.
03:53Let's let go, let go of the restriction now.
03:58We are now going to enter a growth process.
04:05Desire and action will grow within us.
04:09Now it becomes delightful to us, and now we conceive of sin.
04:17It will now only be a matter of time, but there is no going back.
04:23Sin will only grow within us.
04:27The decision has already been made.
04:30The will resists, but only like the dying man, the poison is already effectively acting on the heart of man.
04:40The time will come when she will give birth.
04:43The sin will be consummated and this will result in death.
04:48If you look closely, they are processes.
04:54These are sometimes imperceptible processes, which are not noticeable if we do not have a clear vision of them.
05:00We don't realize how it first drags us down.
05:04You are a Christian person, you go to mass, you confess, you take communion.
05:09You want to serve the Lord.
05:10And then comes temptation.
05:13And at first it pulls you in and you feel like it's pulling you in.
05:16And little by little you stop resisting.
05:21Little by little, if you are not well-versed in the path of grace, you cease to resist.
05:26And little by little the resistance decreases, less and less.
05:29And the infatuation begins until finally sin is conceived.
05:37And now you're in love.
05:44You are ready to sin.
05:45It will be a matter of time.
05:46Some scholars of spiritual life say that only a miracle, once sin has been conceived, once we have stopped resisting it, will cause us to be irrevocably dragged down.
06:03We will already be led willingly into sin and death.
06:08"Only a miracle," he says.
06:09That's why the important thing is to resist.
06:12These are processes that, if not avoided, will make it virtually impossible to avoid sinning.
06:23One of St. Paul's pieces of advice on this subject is in the letter to the Romans.
06:31Let's see what Paul tells us in chapter 13, verse 14.
06:35Let's go back a little in our Bibles.
06:37Saint Paul says, rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
06:52Look how interesting.
06:55Provide.
06:57To provide is to feed.
06:59In other words, don't feed the passions.
07:04Avoid anything that might feed them.
07:08Words, conversations, programs, companies, etc.
07:14If passion is nurtured, it will grow stronger and it will be very difficult to avoid it, even with grace.
07:29It will be very difficult to stop her, even while living in grace.
07:35Do not feed your passions, says St. Paul.
07:40He's a real expert at this.
07:42This letter to the Romans really needs to be absorbed completely, focusing on the topic of sin.
07:52We can see this clearly again in the text of Genesis.
07:57In it we read how sin acted upon them.
08:01In chapter 3, verse 6, it says
08:04The woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good to eat—seduction, you see?
08:10And it was good to eat, he enjoyed it, his mouth watered.
08:14and that it looked good, rich, delicious, appetizing.
08:21It was desirable in order to acquire wisdom.
08:24And so, since there is no longer any restriction, since we have completely forgotten what God had said,
08:34Now the fruit is within reach.
08:37So he took the fruit and ate it.
08:43Once sin is conceived, it gives birth to death.
08:49The woman let herself be carried away by her passion.
08:55He was feeding it the whole time he was talking to the snake.
09:00And so his desire grew.
09:04Principi is
09:05Obsta
09:06Principi is
09:10Obsta
09:11Detelo at the beginning.
09:15You start talking to your desires, to your temptations.
09:19You're talking to Satan.
09:21You are talking to the one who led Eve to break her relationship with God.
09:31In this sad episode, we see how Eve ends up being a victim of her appetites.
09:41I saw the fruit.
09:44He felt like it.
09:47The desire to eat her was growing within her.
09:50She could no longer find a reason not to eat it, if God ultimately lies.
09:55It was now a good time to eat.
09:59And this ultimately leads her to disobedience, to breaking the law given by God, and with it she brings about all the consequences prescribed by the law.
10:11You will die.
10:15You will die.
10:18In a wonderful passage from Paul in his letter to the Galatians, in chapter 6, verse 7, he says
10:25Don't be fooled.
10:28No one mocks God.
10:32For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
10:38For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption.
10:45But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
10:53Don't sow for meat.
10:56Don't feed your passions.
10:59That's why it's so important what you listen to, what you see, what friends you have, what conversations you have, and what shows you go to.
11:10In other words, all of this is what ultimately causes our lives to fall apart.
11:19It is therefore necessary to continually encourage spiritual life.
11:23Acquire everything that can nourish it and avoid everything that can destroy it.
11:32Let's not think that we can sin and there will be no consequences.
11:40This is a serious mistake.
11:44Sin always has consequences.
11:48If you sow to the flesh, you will reap destruction in your life.
11:55Saint Paul's thesis then leads us to assert that sin ends up paying with death.
12:04This will be the theological consequence of sin.
12:08However, in reality this translates into dissatisfaction, sadness, and a loss of peace.
12:16and finally with the loss of the happiness offered to man by the death of Christ.
12:22Sadly, modern man thinks he can sin and that this will have no consequences in his life.
12:30However, he is wrong, as we saw in the previous point,
12:34because every sin always has consequences.
12:39If you sow in the flesh, you will reap.
12:43Sowing, harvesting.
12:46What did you sow, brother?
12:47I planted corn.
12:49And what will you reap?
12:51I want to harvest now, I want to harvest beans.
12:55You can't.
12:56You planted corn.
12:59If you sow, if you feed your passion, what you will reap is sin and with it death.
13:07This statement makes it perfectly clear that sin will always have consequences.
13:12and that these can ultimately separate us from the salvation obtained by Christ.
13:17It is therefore essential that we do not forget this statement of Paul, which is fundamental if we truly want to lead a life of peace and harmony.
13:29above all, to aspire to possess eternal life with God.
13:34How sad that because of a serious, consented, desired sin, we can lose the fullness with Christ in heaven and lose happiness in this world, bringing so many evils upon ourselves and our families.
13:52Sin must be avoided.
13:56And well, before we finish, just a few words to help us on our path, knowing that as sinners we can hardly live completely apart from it.
14:11We must always remember that God loves us, that God loves the sinner, hates sin, but loves the sinner.
14:22God deeply loved Adam, and He loves all sinners, and therefore He seeks with all His strength to prevent man from being seduced by sin.
14:34But if we fall, we must know that God's mercy is much greater than any sin we may commit, and that there is no sin, however grave, that cannot be forgiven.
14:48God says through the prophet Isaiah, in chapter 1, verse 18, it says
14:54Though their sins be like scarlet, so horrible red, they shall be as white as snow.
15:04Even if they are as red as crimson, they will turn out like white wool.
15:10Brothers, brother who is watching me, God's mercy is forever and never runs out.
15:19One of the most beautiful texts on this is Psalm 136, where we see the people remember that God's mercy endures forever.
15:29And that there will be nothing, nothing we do that cannot be forgiven by the inexhaustible love of our loving God.
15:38We must therefore have confidence and, as the letter to the Hebrews says, approach the throne of mercy, the throne of God's love.
15:50Therefore, let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
16:00After Christ's resurrection, no one can despair and feel lost, for the blood of Christ has covered all our sins.
16:11I conclude this chapter by reviewing chapter 7 of the letter to the Romans, where Paul summarizes in a few verses the tragedy of man,
16:21who, deprived of grace, has no possibility of living a holy life and appropriating the love of God.
16:29However, the final verses of this chapter summarize the reality of man and his desperate cry for happiness.
16:39and not be dominated by the sin that continually attacks us.
16:44It says at the end, in verse 24, in this text from Romans 7,
16:51I am a poor wretch, who will deliver me from this body of death?
17:00And verse 25, an epic to the love of God, God alone, to whom I give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.
17:13Yes, brothers and sisters, only God with His infinite power, for through Christ, we have received the power to overcome the power of sin that enslaves us.
17:24and that it is necessary to contain in order to be able to enjoy the full life offered by Christ to his followers.
17:32You sin, you sin, have faith, approach the throne of mercy, you will find it in the sacrament of reconciliation
17:42through the Father's absolution, mercy, and forgiveness, which will restore you to communion with the Lord.
17:52Okay, let's leave this topic here and we'll be back in our next video next week.
18:00To continue with a truly interesting topic, the Church.
18:07Meanwhile, may the Lord bless you, and may Our Blessed Mother accompany you.
18:12And beware, sin is always lurking, resist it.
18:17Blessings, until next time.