|
Chris,
A very good question. Let's first
look at the data. The following three
passages are taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The first
relates to the act itself while the
other two relate to the moral culpability
of the agent (the one consenting
to the act):
2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.
|
2352 [. . . first paragraph . . .]
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
|
— along with —
1735 Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors.
|
So we must begin with the fact that
the act itself is grave matter, or
gravely wrong and disordered. If
there is full knowledge and deliberate
consent, it constitutes the guilt
of mortal sin, which must be forgiven
through the Sacrament of Confession
in order to be reconciled to God
and His Church.
But as CCC 2352 states and CCC 1735 confirm, moral responsibility could
be diminished or even nullified depending
on those factors (stated above) relating
to knowledge and free consent.
In my opinion, however, one should
never assume, unless one's conscience
is absolutely certain, that there
is no guilt of sin after performing
something that is grave matter. When
one is not certain, it is always
better to be safe than sorry, and
hence I would highly suggest taking
this to the sacrament of Confession
each time it occurs. By doing so
you would be asking God's forgiveness
for the degree that you are guilty
for cooperating with this disordered
impulse; and you can receive the grace needed
to combat this sin.
Also remember, receiving Holy Communion
without going to Confession first,
while being aware that one might
be in mortal sin, would be sacrilegious.
As for pastoral advice, it is a good
thing to continuously divert your
eyes from sexual images and your
mind from sexual thoughts, for the
physiological response of sexual
tension often begins with the brain.
Also, resume conjugal relations as
soon as possible in order to avoid
any unnecessary tension.
Paul
|
