I got an interesting question recently:

Hello,

I am frustrated in my attempts to grow in holiness, and I was hoping you could help me out.

For some reason, I feel that I have stagnated in my spiritual growth and can’t seem to figure out why. I go to Mass almost every day, pray the Rosary regularly, and try to make time for reading the Scriptures on a regular basis. I also perform works of charity and volunteer at my parish as much as I am able. I try my best to follow the 10 Commandments and go to confession at least monthly. Also, most nights I invite some entertainers into my house whose performances oftentimes include taking off all their clothes and simulating having sexual relations.

Can you give me any advice on what I am doing wrong? What can I do to move forward in the path of holiness?

Okay, I admit it: I made this question up. I did it to highlight what I think is a serious problem among many practicing Catholics today: watching movies and television shows with sex and nudity without any realization of how horrible they are to the spiritual life. Even many Catholics who are aware of the dangers of pornography on the Internet don’t think twice about watching “mainstream” movies and TV shows which include gratuitous scenes of sex and nudity (and the amount of sexual content in movies and on TV is only increasing ^[1]).

The problem is desensitization: we have become so used to what passes for acceptable in our culture that our own bar of acceptability has adjusted as well. If a movie has a great plot, good production values, is well-received by critics, and has but a single sex scene, how many of us would refuse to watch the movie for that one scene? But if the scenario I mentioned above actually happened – live performers came into your house and simulated having sexual relations – would you not be shocked and extremely offended?

So why allow it when it happens in a box in your living room?