In my search for truth about my freedom from addictions and the inclination to evil; I found what I have been searching for. Our Catholic Faith has always had the answer to overcoming addictions.  If we understand Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and Sacred Magisterium; then we will fall totally in love with Jesus in the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and our Holy Father. My prayer is pursuant to reading this; you will fall in love with the Bride of Christ; the Catholic Church.

 

 

Why do we struggle in the Christian life?

 

We must first understand Genesis 2; the beginning of mankind. Adam and Eve were created and lived in the Garden of Eden. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reveals to us that the "mastery" over the world that God offered man from the beginning was realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. The first man was unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the triple concupiscence that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses, covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of reason (CCC 377). Adam and Eve were created with the Grace of Original Justice & Holiness and Perfect Harmony.

 

What happens next in Genesis 3? Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent (or the devil if you will) and they ate the forbidden fruit; the one commandment by God their Creator that instructed them not to eat of the forbidden tree. God loved His creation so much He gave them Free Will. Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image - that of a God jealous of his prerogatives. The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man. Because of man, creation is now subject "to its bondage to decay". Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the ground", for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history (CCC 399-400).

 

The consequences of Adam's sin for humanity

 

(CCC) 402 All men are implicated in Adam's sin, as St. Paul affirms: "By one man's disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners": "sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned." The Apostle contrasts the universality of sin and death with the universality of salvation in Christ. "Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men."

 

(CCC) 405 Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence". Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.

 

And so I found a truth I had never known before; a truth that would change my view on temptation, addiction and why I relapsed.

 

A hard battle. . .

 

(CCC) 407 The doctrine of original sin, closely connected with that of redemption by Christ, provides lucid discernment of man's situation and activity in the world. By our first parents' sin, the devil has acquired a certain domination over man, even though man remains free. Original sin entails "captivity under the power of him who thenceforth had the power of death, that is, the devil". Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of education, politics, social action and morals.

 

(CCC) 428 Whoever is called "to teach Christ" must first seek "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus"; he must suffer "the loss of all things. . ." in order to "gain Christ and be found in him", and "to know him and the power of his resurrection, and (to) share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible (he) may attain the resurrection from the dead".

 

These paragraphs explained to me the spiritual warfare that had taken place in my life. I understood at that point that the battle would never end either. It would be a life long task. Then, I read these paragraphs relating to the “Creed”:

 

One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins

 

(CCC) 977 Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved." Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life."

 

(CCC) 978 "When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them.... Yet the grace of Baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil "

 

This gave me a new meaning of praying the Creed. I now must remember I will be in spiritual combat for the rest of my days. What followed on concupiscence under the Sacrament of Baptism is this:

 

(CCC) 1264 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, "the tinder for sin" (fomes peccati); since concupiscence "is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ." Indeed, "an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules."

 

After reading this I found my Hope in what I read on the Eucharist and on the Sacrament of Penance.

 

THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

 

(CCC) 1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

 

(CCC) 1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."

 

(CCC) 1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.

 

(CCC) 1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."

 

Why a Sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism?

 

(CCC) 1425 "YOU were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has "put on Christ." But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." and the Lord himself taught us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses," linking our forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us.

 

(CCC) 1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.

 

(CCC) 1496 The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:

 
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;

- reconciliation with the Church;

- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;

- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;

- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;

- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

 

Here were my answers to freedom from concupiscence. I knew at this moment I had a chance for eternal salvation. I recognized I need to live a Sacramental life in Holy Mother Church. The Catechism would then explain in the section “”LIFE IN CHRIST” which focused on the Beatitudes, the Virtues, formation of our Moral Conscience, and the Decalogue or the 10 Commandments on how to be one with Christ through total obedience to His teachings.

 

Saint Paul the Apostle wrestled with Concupiscence; he writes about it to his letter to the Romans:

 

Romans 7 :4-25 / In the same way, my brothers, you also were put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions, awakened by the law, worked in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, dead to what held us captive, so that we may serve in the newness of the spirit and not under the obsolete letter. What then can we say? That the law is sin? Of course not! Yet I did not know sin except through the law, and I did not know what it is to covet except that the law said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, finding an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetousness. Apart from the law sin is dead. I once lived outside the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive; then I died, and the commandment that was for life turned out to be death for me. For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it put me to death. So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did the good, then, become death for me? Of course not! Sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin, worked death in me through the good, so that sin might become sinful beyond measure through the commandment. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin. What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if (I) do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin.

 

CONCUPISCENCE consists of three elements:

 

Pleasure of the Senses:

Alcohol intoxication

Drug induced intoxication

Eating Disorders

Carnal Lust

Pornography

Gambling

 

Covetousness for Earthly Goods:

            Materialism

            Desire for earthly possessions

            We live in a country where money and wealth are the measure of  all things

 

Self-assertion; Contrary to the Dictates of Reason:

The act of asserting oneself or one's own rights, claims, or opinions contrary to the teachings of Jesus      Christ and the Magisterium

 

These examples are just to name a few to illustrate “concupiscence”. The only way to combat the inclination to evil in the spiritual warfare is to understand the two things that can cost us our salvation; Concupiscence and Satan. CONCUPISCENCE CAN MANIFEST ITSELF INTO ADDICTIONS OR BAD MORAL HABITS.

 

Jesus died on the Cross for our redemption because we are all made sinners from the time of our birth. Jesus started one Church upon Saint Peter (Mathew 16:18), One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Jesus instituted seven Sacraments so that we may find our salvation through Him. Because the Church is Apostolic, only a priest can absolve your sins here on earth through the Sacrament of Penance (John 20:20-23 / 2 Corinthians 5:17-20).

 

God sent forth His only begotten son Jesus who taught us the Beatitudes, re-defined the Commandments, Instituted the Sacraments, founded the One Church (His Bride), gave us our first Pope (Saint Peter), gave us the Prayer of Prayers; the Our Father, gave us the purest example of the woman (the new Eve); Our Blessed Mother, all the Angels and Saints, and the greatest form of love when He died on the Cross.

 

Romans 5:1-21 illustrates perfectly our Faith and Hope.

 

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access (by faith) to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come. But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person's transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many. And the gift is not like the result of the one person's sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal. For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous. The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

 

This is why the Catholic Church has the answer to overcoming addictions. This is why every Catholic should read the Holy Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. My prayer is all Catholics do.