Post-feast of Pentecost; our Venerable Father Simeon of the “Mountain of Wonders” (596)
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Romans 1:28-2:9; Matthew 5:27-32
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Women everywhere are joining the ‘Me too Movement’ and are standing up against the disturbing growing trend of sexual assault and rape culture. They are striving to bring awareness, education and stricter laws to prevent future abuse. Our society in general sympathizes with these women as victims of abuse, but at the same time blindly accepts the contradicting sex industry in all its perverted forms.
Today the Lord gives a solution to our chronic problem of lust. The root that needs to be cut off, the source of the problem is not in the externals, but rather is found in the interior life of the heart. The Lord strictly forbids lust in all its forms whether in deed, word or thought. This divine deep wisdom teaches that sin has a movement from the interior to the exterior. The more we accept lustful thoughts the more we will move toward acting on them in words and deeds.
We feed men a steady dose of lust by accepting pornography and prostitution. How then can we be surprised at the outcome of their behaviour? If we want men who value and respect women as human beings, and not as objects meant to be used and thrown away, we must teach them to control their desire, which start in the heart. This teaching is directed to both genders equally. It extends to those who participate in becoming objects of lust for gain, in whatever form that may take, for this adds to the growth of this moral crisis of our time. Both men and women must control their sexual desire by bringing it to the Lord. We must also reject and refuse to become an object of sexual desire. Only then will our society begin to heal and change for the better. Only then will we as a society return to the road of salvation. For lust leads to adultery and adultery leads to hell.