Thursday, 02 February 2012 14:19

‘Be patient’ in a battle against pornography, priest says in the first of a series of messages
Father Ken Van Haverbeke says living chastely allows us to live like Christ and not to be in the bondage of sin.
In the first of a series of video presentations about chastity, the director of the Spiritual Life Center, Wichita, says the talks will provide simple and followable steps to help a person free himself from the bondage of pornography.
“There is no one silver bullet that will eliminate this cancer from your life,” he says in the first presentation. “It will be a multipronged attack. Be patient with yourself and be humble. Patience and humility will drive the devil away.”
Father Van Haverbeke then explains seven steps to help a person begin to live chastely: Eliminate the temptation; limit access to the internet; find an accountability partner, use filters, or unplug the computer; go to confession weekly to the same confessor; pray unceasingly; increase your desire to be holy; and be wary of sinning against the virtue of hope through presumption or despair.

In a previous interview on the topic, Father Van Haverbeke said pornography and other sins against chastity are subjects priests are often hesitant to speak about it.“They are reluctant even though we hear about it in the confessional almost all the time. It is a difficult sin to confront.”
He said pornography cannot be dealt with alone. “Satan wants you to think that you can but you really cannot – you need the help of a spiritual advisor.”
Fr. Van Haverbeke added that pornography is pervasive. “We are so in tune with all this technology – it makes it so available, so accessible. And any time a near occasion of sin is so accessible it’s going to be a problem.”

How to contact a priest for help
Those who need help for sins against chastity may email “ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .” Father Ken Van Haverbeke will reply with contact information for a priest in your area of the Diocese of Wichita.
Video series available at website
The Catholic Advance is producing a series of video presentation with suggestions about overcoming pornography by Fr. Van Haverbeke. The first presentation is now up at the diocesen YouTube site: youtube.com/dioceseofwichita, and at the Spiritual Life Center’s home page http://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/slc.