Post published by dudeface

I learned today, that the priest who set me on the journey to getting help with my pornography addiction, has passed away. I am forever grateful to him for not only granting me absolution for my sin, but for also calling me out and challenging me to set it aside. May god grant him pardon and peace. Pleased pray for the repose of his soul.
MaGRaM more_vert
MaGRaM
May he rest in peace. May the Lord"s eternal light shine on him.
Saskia Simone likes this.
JoeinUSA more_vert
JoeinUSA
And, in honor of this priest and so that his ministry will extend even beyond yourself still and beyond his time of passing, can you share what his thoughts and advice were for helping with porn addiction? Praised be Jesus Christ! + Eternal rest grant onto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him; may he rest in peace. +
Saskia Simone likes this.
dudeface more_vert
dudeface
He had no special advice, beyond what I'm sure we all have heard. But when I had confessed PMO a couple of times he asked me what I was doing to try and stop. I didn't have much at the time. So he encouraged me to seek help. He asked if I were willing to meet and talk with him about it. He gave me the number of a fellow who worked with folks struggling with this addiction. I took thankfully and proceeded to never use it.
dudeface more_vert
dudeface
Truth be told the thought of joining some sort of support group terrified me at the time (still does in a way). So I redoubled my efforts to try and set the sin aside. Father was a bit disappointed I think that I was unwilling to join the support group, but he agreed to meet with me regularly himself. This in and of itself was a boon. Also the threat of having to go to a support group always hung over me like a Sword of Damocles
dudeface more_vert
dudeface
I started keeping a calendar, and I started focusing on trying to stretch the amount of times between failures. Whenever I would fail, father would not let simply confess, he would ask what happened, encouraged me to find my triggers, to observe myself and figure out. He set me on the rosary, at the time I only prayed one decade a day.
dudeface more_vert
dudeface
At the time he left my parish to take on his own, I had been clean for 12 weeks, and during this whole time it would typically be 6+ weeks between failures, even then it was usually a slip, not a slide. A single image or two, before I shook things off. He called me out on that slide thing too, saying that just because I had failed once did not mean it was acceptable to go hog wild, that a single sin does not justify more sin. He encouraged me to take confession quickly after a failure as quick as I could and to get myself back on track.
dudeface more_vert
dudeface
So like I said, he didn't do anything special. In fact, his approach was very similar to that of nofap. But he was there, and he encouraged me to try and to do something. He also wouldn't accept my excuses. Thanks to him, I realized I can do this, with Gods grace, I can absolutely be set free from this sin. But I also realized I needed help, from God absolutely, but also from other people, from the church. There is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian. For that, I will be forever grateful.
dudeface more_vert
dudeface
After he left, I soon began having trouble again, I tried to keep in touch with him but his new parish was kind of far away and being an old fart, he didn't do online communication very well. :) So, I decided to come here. And the rest, is in my journal. :)
Saint Benedict more_vert
Saint Benedict
@dudeface It is not possible for us to be completely free from temptation. Our job is not to eliminate them, but to withstand them. If you try to eliminate them it will make your life worse.
dudeface more_vert
dudeface
@Saint Benedict Oh I know that (apart from a very special grace) I will never be free of the temptation to PMO or at least lust. I meant that I could live free of PM itself.
Deleted Account likes this.