Finding St Anthony Among the Lost Items

Martina Purdy writes, About four years ago, I received a telephone call from a priest who invited a friend and I to a meeting. The priest didn’t actually say what the meeting was about – he just wondered if we might be interested in learning about his mission. We travelled to the Donegal border, and the priest introduced us to a man who told a remarkable story. He was a life-long Catholic, a weekly-mass goer, who was married with a family and for years had appeared to be living a good life. But he had a dark secret, a silent addiction, which had enslaved him for a long time: he could not stop himself looking at pornography. He said he would go to confession and receive absolution but the compulsion always got the better of him. Eventually he went to a particular priest who warned him that he was on the road to hell. This frightened him and he turned to prayer. The priest’s comments were not unlike Pope Francis’ warning last month when the Pontiff called pornography a work of the devil. He warned humanity to reject this form of evil, so easily accessed via the internet: “Any cellphone”, he said. “has access to this brutality, this language of the devil”. Indeed, anything objectifying another human being is vile – and pornography is no victimless pastime: someone, often vulnerable women and children, is being abused. Here are three Bible passages to help you as you fight the Evil One: Ephesians 6:10-11 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." 2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."