Lex Cordis Caritas - The law of the heart is Love

In my series on the seven deadly or capital sins, so far I have discussed acedia (also called sloth), greed and anger. Today we will look at the deadly sin of lust, which, like the other capital sins, can be a simple yet powerful drive remaining and festering in our heart, but it can also manifest itself in some pretty rotten behavior.

Forty-five years ago, on July 25, 1968, Pope Paul VI issued his landmark encyclical letter, Humanae Vitae, (On the Transmission of Human Life.) It is a magnificent description of the "most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator." He described this role of parents as being a "source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships."

Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline, is a book written in 1996 by the late Robert H. Bork. Bork served as a Yale Law School professor, Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The title of the book is in reference to the biblical city of Gomorrah, which God destroyed along with Sodom for their wickedness (see Genesis 19). According to traditional interpretation, the sin of Sodom was homosexuality, which is therefore known as sodomy.

For the second year in a row, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will conduct a "Fortnight for Freedom" a two-week period of prayer and action beginning on June 21, the vigil of the feasts of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, and culminating on July 4, Independence Day. The purpose of this effort is to issue a nationwide call to defend religious liberty and to urge the laity to work to protect the first freedom of the Bill of Rights.