Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are six (6) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the Ninth Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2529.
The Ninth Commandment, ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife’ warns us against “concupiscence of the flesh.” The Latin terms concupiscentia/concupere are translated as eager or strong desire.
Saint Augustine (+430) addresses concupiscence in his Confessions where he acknowledged the lack of moderation in his mental activity but gave into unholy desires which were unchaste and how as a miserable young man he even begged God for the gift of chastity “but not yet” still a slave and sick with concupiscence of the flesh (cf. II.2; VIII.17). In his volumes On Marriage and Concupiscence (I.1, 5–6, 8–10, 12, 15–16, 18–21…) and On the Grace of Christ and on Original Sin (II.38–39, 43–44) Saint Augustine treats the nature of concupiscence, especially as a consequence of original sin, a tendency to sin. In this we see concupiscence of the flesh as tendency to sin with the body, as with gluttony and drunkenness and sins of lust. The chaste love of husband and wife reduces carnal lust in favor of the good purposes of Marriage.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP (+1274) addresses concupiscence in general in the Summa Theologiae I-II Q. 30, to the effect that concupiscence is a craving for that which is pleasant. That there are three causes of sin mentioned in 1 John 2:16, one of which is the “concupiscence of the flesh” is addressed by Saint Thomas in I-II Q. 77, A. 5, such that the inordinate desire for the good(s) of human sexuality disregard the purpose, namely the preservation of the species. Concupiscence as related to the vice of lust is treated by Saint Thomas in II-II Q. 154 to the effect that while both sins of lustful desire(s) and sins of lustful deed(s) are both sins desires acted out are more disfiguring and grievous. Sexual pleasure of thought, desire or deed, apart from Holy Marriage open to the generation of children is disordered and irrational.
The Jesuit Father John Hardon (+2000) defined concupiscence of the flesh as an inordinate love of sensual pleasure, to which fallen man is naturally prone. Inordinate pleasure is sought as an end in itself and apart from its divinely intended purpose: to facilitate the practice of virtue and satisfy one’s legitimate desires.
Saint John Paul II (+2005) addressed concupiscence of the flesh in his Theology of the Body 39, 41, 43, 108, 124, to the effect that such a disorder separates the matrimonial significance of the body especially by depersonalizing the other, seeking primarily the satisfaction of instinct not the communion of persons willed by the Triune God. God’s grace helps us to overcome our tendency to sin with our bodies, with our desires. Grace helps us to be chaste.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr