The fourth in my series on the Deadly Sins for Lent 2026

Four of the seven deadly sins are sins of the flesh: Greed, Gluttony, Sloth and Lust. Three are sins of the mind and heart: Envy, Pride and Wrath. We feel most guilty and ashamed of the sins of the flesh because they involve a lack of self control and the shame we feel is connected with our self esteem. These sins make us feel bad about ourselves, but do we understand the true nature of these sins and WHY they are sinful or are we simply ashamed of ourselves and perhaps afraid we will be found out? There is nothing wrong with feeling shame, guilt and fear for these sins, but the church teaches that this is an imperfect form of contrition. Why? Because they are simply our own self interested emotions about the sin–not true understanding and horror of the sin itself.

We all know the specifics of Lust: all the things that break marriage: pornography and masturbation, prostitution and human trafficking, adultery, fornication, homosexual activity, child abuse and entertaining lustful fantasies and imaginings. Thinking about Lust brings us to reflect on the nature of desire. Desire is always, in one way or another, the inbuilt longing for what is beautiful, good and true. Even when we desire the lesser goods, within that desire is the desire for the greater and ultimate good (even if we do not recognize it) and the greatest good is Love–and ultimately the Divine Love.

Lust is sinful because it is, in some way a distortion, a degradation or a destruction of love. Disinterested and unconditional love is to truly desire the best for another the other. Erotic attraction or romantic feelings are a natural part of love but they are only natural instincts that are drawing us on to a good relationship of love that truly honors the other person and to a love that draws us beyond our human loves to the Divine Love.

Lust becomes deadly when the jealousy that accompanies lust drives a person to violence or it becomes deadly when it descends to sad-masochism, mutilation, rape and murder. However, lust is also deadly in a more subtle way. Lust is deadly because it destroys, distorts and degrades love–which is life.

Dante is not dogma, but remember he puts the sins of lust in the top (and less serious) circle of hell because it is a distortion of love whereas other more serious sins are actually betrayals of love and of the natural order.

The virtue that counters the vice of lust is, of course, chastity. Chastity is required of all the baptized, but should be distinguished from celibacy. Celibacy is a special vow of priests and religious to remove themselves from all sexual activity. Chastity is the obligation to be faithful within marriage. The rule is simple: if you are unmarried you are required to be celibate. If married sexual activity remains within your marriage for the loving union of husband wife and the procreation of children according to God’s will.

A final sober reminder about the difficulty of chastity. Pope St John Paul II said, “Chastity is the work of a lifetime.”