Porn addiction is becoming increasingly prevalent in our sex saturated culture.  Active Catholics—including seminarians—are not immune from the allure of pornography.  The problem is that it can be hard to avoid.  It arrives, unsolicited, in our email in boxes.

The Catholic Herald has a feature article, Satan should hold a party when we die, about one man’s struggle against pornography. Matthew Frad discovered pornography when he was just eight years old.  He has overcome his addiction and now helps others to win the battle. But it isn’t an easy one to win.

Excerpt:

“From his own experience struggling against pornography Fradd recommends fasting and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as well praying the rosary.

“If I can’t say no to that next slice of pizza or that next cup of coffee, how on earth will I say no to a temptation to look at pornography?”

He adds: “Prayer without fasting is like boxing with one hand tied behind your back, and fasting without prayer – well, we call that dieting.”

Fradd is a riveting, charismatic speaker, even on the phone. But he also seems quite sensible and down to earth: he is careful not to hold himself up as a model of virtue, and is scrupulously humble about his efforts.

Essentially, he says, the point is not about looking, or not looking, at pornography; it’s about trying to be holy.

“We want to be the kind of men that, when we’re dead, Satan throws a party. He says: ‘Thank God he has gone, he caused my kingdom too much damage.’ That’s the kind of man I want to be. And I think that’s the kind of man most men want to be.” Read more here.