Slaves of Pleasure

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Yesterday we heard Jesus begin his public ministry with the message, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” And today we celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul. I was reflecting on my need for deeper conversion as I was working out in my gym in my garage when two mice joined me. They refused to wear masks in my gym, so I set two traps with peanut butter one next to the other. Now I am certain the mice didn’t run out at the same time and get killed. Clearly one was caught before the other but there they were – dead - side by side. I thought, surely when the second mouse came to the bait, he saw his buddy dead. Wouldn’t he think, “Hey I don’t want to end up like him, so I better not go for the peanut butter.” Nope, the allure of the pleasure of eating that peanut butter overcome its instinct to danger, the mouse had no power of resistance against temptation, and snap – that was all she wrote. Then I thought – you know – we are exactly the same – we know the danger we face with temptation and what will happen when we sin, but we do it anyway- snap and that’s all she wrote! And why? Because we are slaves to pleasure – we have no power of resistance! We can’t seem to help ourselves like those two dead mice.

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Sin destroys happiness. My sin ruins my happiness and it prevents those around me from reaching happiness. If we all want happiness, then why do we sin? We sin because we want pleasure for pleasures sake. Now pleasure is not bad. God designed pleasure and He designed it to be good - when it is the fruit or result of a good action. God wants us to enjoy eating a good meal because we need nutrition. But to eat simply for the pleasure, or just because it tastes so good or to alleviate boredom or anxiety or stress is bad.

In every sin we seek some pleasure apart from the result of a good action.

Our pursuit of pleasure and comfort is in large part at the root of our sin. We could say that we are slaves to comfort and pleasure and it is right there that conversion, a breaking free must take place. 

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So how can we be set free from slavery to the disordered desire for pleasure?

We need to strengthen our power of resistance against temptation - build up our resistance muscles. We do that when we Practice saying no to legitimate desires so that when illegitimate or evil desires come along you build up your resistance muscles. We call this mortification. Mortification is resistance training. We can practice mortification by saying no to the second helping of food when your satisfied; choosing water when you prefer a coke; resisting the desire to stay up for no good reason and go to bed on time and then get up on time when you have the desire to stay in bed; choose to talk with someone or pray or exercise or read a good book when you want to veg in entertainment. Practice saying no to legitimate desires to strengthen the soul to resist evil desires.

Fasting is one of the best ways to build up our resistance muscles. You can fast by not eating. An 18 hour fast say from 6pm to noon the next day is good for you spiritually and physically. Or you can fast on bread and water. Or fast from foods and drink that is not good for you. Or as a I mentioned a few days ago – fast from your screens for two hours every day.

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Avoid temptation - We must avoid the near occasion of sin

We must prepare by resistance training and choosing good, but we must also not put ourselves into the occasions of temptation. We must prepare for war but not seek it out. To do this we need to be aware of our vices, weaknesses and common sins. Then be aware of what situations lead to sin and avoid those situations.

If every time we walk down a dark alley we get mugged, pretty soon you’d think we would learn and take a new route.

If a certain person causes you to gossip – avoid that person. If a situation or routine leads to pornography – break that routine at the start. It is especially necessary to exercise vigilance over the sense of vision, according to the axiom: What the eyes do not see, the heart does not desire. Or Out of sight out of mind. Know the situations in which you fall into sin and make the choice to stay away from them the best you can.

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Let’s end by making sure you have the right vision for life. Pleasure, when it is the fruit of a good action is good. In fact, God made us for pleasure. He made us to delight in the good, in other words, He made us for Joy – really these three, pleasure, delight and joy mean the same thing. Thomas Aquinas wrote: Joy is the response to something experienced as good, and it invites repose in that good.[1] We were made for joy, not for sorrow. We have the capacity for delight so that we can rest in the good, and perfect rest in the perfect good – perfect delight – is the ultimate purpose of human existence. Heaven, the ultimate joy, is also described by the fourth chapter of Hebrews as simply entering into God’s rest.

So don’t get the wrong idea that pleasure is bad. Think and speak and do what is good and enjoy it, have the joy of the pleasure that comes from what is good. God meant it to be that way.

But to delight in the good that is all around us we must slow down and practice enjoying in the good we experience in each present moment. The time in silence with God, the meal we are eating or the cup of hot black coffee we are sipping (you know how much I love coffee), the conversation we are in, the goodness of the person we are with, the beauty of the nature we are walking in, the goodness of our intellect, will and physical abilities we experience in the work we do. The good we have around us is endless – but it is useless unless we learn to delight in that good in each present moment and resist the temptation to seek pleasure for pleasures sake.

[1][1] “pleasure is the repose of the appetite in good.” ST, I-II, q. 34, a. 2, ad. 3.