St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr

The Works of the Flesh

• Conduct contrary to purity and faithfulness

  Conduct against purity and faithfulness follows bodily appetite outside the order of faithful love established by God. St. Paul calls such conduct a work of the flesh because fallen desire, rather than grace and right reason, is allowed to govern the person.

• Disrespect for purity and personal boundaries

  Disrespect for purity and personal boundaries treats another person’s dignity, commitments, or rightful limits as obstacles to appetite. It belongs to the works of the flesh because desire is separated from charity, responsibility, and reverence for the person.

• Reckless indulgence that dishonors God’s gift of the body

  Reckless indulgence is the deliberate abandonment of moderation in bodily pleasure. It dishonors the body by making immediate satisfaction rule over reason, duty, health, and the spiritual purpose for which human freedom is given.

• Indulgent gatherings that cast aside modesty and self-control

  Indulgent gatherings are social occasions ordered toward excess and the abandonment of modesty or self-control. Their fault is not celebration itself, but a shared atmosphere that encourages participants to set aside reason, purity, and responsibility.