A Reflection on the Seven Deadly Sins

Eques

The Church entreats us for the well-being of our souls and selves to “turn from sin and cling to the Gospel.” In the secularized world in which we live and act, it is very difficult for us even to know when we sin. The world frequently encourages us to “sin,” pointing out the alleged benefits of this or that “sin.” It does not of course call it sin. Very little is forbidden. Although our secularized culture is not monolithic, if it were, it would be totalitarian in nature. Most morality is legalistic. What is not prohibited by law is generally acceptable or approved. Nothing is malum in se. Some things are malum prohibitum. For public ethics, God is largely discounted. For the individual some personal notion of God is relevant; however, the individualized notion of God, a designer God, does not result in a moral consensus for the culture at large. God is what “I” believe he/she/it is. In effect, the individual creates God. Genesis has been inverted. The result is an individualized notion of good and evil. Man is now the measure of all things the promise of Original Sin moral kaos is fulfilled.

This moral kaos is reflected in the media saturated culture that is always selling more than is advertised. The world encourages us in almost every advertisement to pamper ourselves, to acquire this or that thing and to maximize our sexuality to attract the super model (or partner of our choice). If we purchase this car, these clothes, and this cologne, we will be so attractive that we will be “chick magnets.” Restaurants often advertise all you can eat specials and super portions. Television programs and movies often present “get even” plots. It seems at times that our entire socio-economic system is based on “get all I can for me and the He*& with everyone else.” While it encourages us to do only what we absolutely need to do as if idleness is the ultimate achievement, “oh to be able to do nothing.”

In reality, that is reality in relation to God, all these things are temptations leading to the Seven Deadly Sins, sins that truly have the potential to deaden our souls by separating us from our true selves and form God. It seems the Seven Deadly Sins no longer terrify us. They are so common that we may not even be aware of them. They have become so much of our “post Christian” culture that they present themselves as “virtues” rather than self-destructive vices. (We assume that Christianity no longer informs our culture. We now live in a secularized or “post Christian” culture.) Perhaps it would be well for us to review the Seven Deadly Sins and their contrary Virtues that will help us courageously confess them and combat them in our daily lives. This is no esoteric exercise. The Seven Deadly Sins are truly deadly to our spiritual lives. They are extremely self-destructive. We can observe this in the wasted lives of many young people who have been incarcerated or who wonder our streets homeless, addicted, and exploited by those who prosper from their misery.

We believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ has by his death and resurrection conquered this world and the evil one. We are not afraid, because His grace is available to us powerfully in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. We are His by virtue of our Baptism, which makes us members of the body of Lord Jesus Christ. For the Christian the origin of morality is found in this membership. We are no longer our own, by Baptism we belong to Christ, our bodies are members of his body, and so we are called to act accordingly.

We are to live in the light and not the darkness. Yet, the darkness is alluring to our “fallen nature.” Something in us because of Original Sin makes us susceptible to its dark charms. To overcome the darkness we must name the darkness. To name the darkness is to have power over it. If we know sin for what it really is, we are empowered by God’s grace ultimately to conquer it in our own lives and to help one another to do the same. This is truly an adventure of faith, hope, and love worthy of the Christian.

Therefore, we name the darkness, the Seven Deadly Sins, without fear. They are Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, and Sloth.
The contrary virtues are Humility, Kindness, Abstinence, Chastity, Patience, Generosity, and Diligence.

The first of these is PRIDE. Pride is the root of all sin. In fact, it is the Original Sin of Adam and Eve; as such, it lurks behind every sin. Adam and Eve believed the serpent who told them that if they ate from the tree of knowledge they would be like God. They would know for themselves what is good and evil and therefore could decide for themselves what would be good and evil, without reference to God. This is the ultimate sin of PRIDE. All sin finds its purchase in our desire to decide for ourselves what is right or wrong, good or evil. Perhaps PRIDE is the sin that is most characteristic of our age. Our “post Christian” culture emphatically proclaims that there is no absolute truth, no absolute good, or evil. This renders God irrelevant. “I” will decide for me what is sinful and what is not. We claim this prerogative of God for ourselves. This has actually become a duty, a modern right of passage. Young people in their formative years are encouraged to decide for themselves what is right and wrong. They are not encouraged to discover the truth, which is to be found in the eternal verities, rather than in their fleeting emotions or passions. In Paradise Lost, Milton rightly characterizes the sin of Lucifer as pride. The formidable “Non Serviam” of Satan echoes from eternity through history and is found in the essence of all deadly sin.

Guided by faith reason comes to know the truth, which is Jesus Christ. Faith allows us to have a high degree of confidence in the Church founded by Christ on Peter and the Apostles, which teaches and proclaims an ethic based on His truth. Ps 34:2 “My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.”

HUMILITY is the antidote to pride. HUMILITY is the virtue that we can exercise little by little to overcome pride the root of all sin. What is HUMILITY? HUMILITY is truth. It is seeing ourselves as God sees us. It is not self-degradation; it is not a denial of our gifts and talents. It is recognizing that all the good in us is from God, to whom we are grateful and all evil in us is from us, which we pray God to assist us to defeat in the spiritual combat. HUMILITY grows like a muscle. The more it is exercised the stronger it becomes, if properly feed by prayer and the sacraments.

ENVY the Second Deadly Sin is closely allied to pride. ENVY finds its roots in pride, because it desires the status or abilities of others so that it may be greater then they. ENVY cannot stand the subordinate position. It cannot tolerate the achievements of others. ENVY is a zero sum vice; it views every success and achievement of others as an insufferable failure and loss for itself. It therefore harbors and nurtures resentment and revenge. The other must be minimized so that ENVY may be maximized. ENVY is never satiated. The other is always a potential threat.

KINDNESS and humility can overcome envy. A truly humble person rejoices in the accomplishment of others and looks for ways to assist others in their search for perfection. KINDNESS anticipates the needs of the other. A humble and kind person is free to enjoy their own successes and achievements as well those of the other without resentment or jealousy. A humble and KIND person is joyful. He knows who he is before God and rejoices in God’s kindness to him. He is thus empowered by grace to be KIND to others.

GLUTTONY in food and drink is the Third Deadly Sin. GLUTTONY has its stomach as its god. Those who are blessed with abundance can misuse and abuse it ruining their physical and spiritual health. There are countless examples in our over indulgent culture of addictions to food and drink. The GLUTTONOUS have lost their ability to manage the quantity and quality of the food and drink they consume. They have perverted what was intended to sustain life and make it pleasurable. The secular culture encourages us to indulge in all sorts of culinary and liquid delights. Food and drink is necessary for our physical wellbeing. Dinning with friends is socially beneficial and nearly sacramental. Jesus himself performed his first public miracle at a wedding reception turning water into fine wine. John 2:9-10” When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now."
The abuse of the good characterizes many deadly sins.

ABSTINENCE is the virtue that can counter the abuse of food and drink that is gluttony. Temperance is an aspect of ABSTINENCE. From time to time for the good of the soul, abstaining from certain food or drink may strengthen the will, promote temperance, and enhance their proper and healthy enjoyment. There is a growing awareness in our culture that “gluttony” known by a gentler name “over eating” is a health risk. Many products come with warnings concerning their consumption. These changing attitudes in our secular cultural is neither the recognition of the vice of gluttony nor of the virtue of ABSTINENCE, but rather a result of our cultures “worship” of the physical body. It is a purely secular movement to improve our health and make us more attractive. It is not intended to assist growth in virtue or holiness. The goal of “body worship” for some is to become more desirable as objects of the Fourth Deadly Sin.

LUST according to Jesus himself is certainly a deadly sin. Mt 5:28 “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
In our culture, this saying of Jesus has become a joke. However, Jesus was deadly serious. It is well to remember that according to Jewish Law in the time of Jesus adultery was a sin punishable by death. Jesus wants us to be aware that LUST leads to spiritual death. We can easily recall the story of the women caught in adultery who Jesus saved from being stoned to death, forgave her sins, and told her Jn 8:11 “Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."
St Paul warned the Corinthians, 1Cor 6:9-11 do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Our secular culture deceives many into thinking that LUST is to be encouraged and gratified. Paul lists sins of gluttony and greed as cohabiters with LUST. Where there is LUST, the other Deadly Sins are not far behind. This vice has become a way of life in our culture. It is common to find “couples” living together and “enjoying” the privileges of marriage without being married. Fornication (pre-marital sex) has been discounted as sin. Euphemisms take the edge off sin. Couples are no longer “living in sin,” they are simply “living together.” To have a “boy friend” or a “girl friend” often means to have a willing sex partner. Virginity no longer means abstaining from sexual relations (for the sake of the kingdom of God), it means limiting sexual relations to oral sex, mutual masturbation, and all forms of sexual activity other than vaginal penetration. It is arguable that those who desire to live according to the teachings of Jesus in this age find it more challenging than in any previous age. One of the myriad reasons for this is the Internet. The internet has the potential for tremendous good and proportionally tremendous evil. The vicarious gratification of LUST is only a website way. The sites dedicated to enabling masturbatory activities are as numerous as the stars. What is a Christian to do in the midst of this world of “available” flesh?

CHASTITY has become a discredited virtue. Some contemporary thinkers consider CHASTITY “unnatural.” They characterize it as a negation of our “natural” impulses, instincts, and desires. What has been forgotten is original sin, which disorders our desires. All sin flows from the effects of original sin, because our bodies created “good” by God are no longer properly ordered to our minds. Our minds are no longer properly ordered to our wills, and our wills are no longer properly ordered to the will and design of God. Remember pride is the original sin. Adam and Eve by this original sin of pride declared their independence from God. We now are likewise tempted to decide what is right and wrong, good and evil for us. There is perhaps nowhere that this decision is more evident than in our own self-designed individualized sexual morality. 2Tim 4: 3 “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” CHASTITY is properly understood as that virtue that empowers us to follow God’s design and will for our sexuality, and the sake of the kingdom of God, our spiritual growth, and development, and for the sanctification of husband, wife, and children in the CHASTITY of marital fidelity. This virtue grows like all virtues by exercise. Every time a lustful thought is resisted, every time a lustful temptation is restrained, we grow in CHASTITY and in grace. St Paul and many other saints such as St Augustine, St Francis, St Thomas Aquinas, St John Bosco, and the teenage St Dominic Savio, all understood that without CHASTITY there is no spiritual growth. Lust truly deadens the soul.

As St Paul wrote (1Cor 6:9-11 above) many deadly sins accompany lust, pride, envy, gluttony, and sloth are all fellow travelers. At times, they even prepare the way for lust. Abuse of drugs and alcohol often lead to lust in thought, word, and deed. Sometimes these other vices are the purposeful means to the lustful end.

Christians, however, are called to a different “Way.” Rom 13:12-14”The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh (NIV has “sinful nature”).”

In the medieval spiritual classic The Quest for the Holy Grail, the Knights of the Round Table are admonished and advised by the white monk that unless they live Chaste lives and receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist often that they will not achieve the Grail the object of their Quest.

In Rom 13:12-14, we again see St Paul associate other Deadly Sins with sexual immorality; one, “dissension” is related to ANGER the Fifth Deadly Sin. ANGER or WRATH is that vice that prefers fury to love and forgiveness. The emotion of ANGER or WRATH is not the sin. Rather the preference for fury or the acting out of this ANGER in a violent or destructive manner is. ANGER is capable of consuming and even destroying the one who is ANGRY as well as the object of the ANGER. All too many so-called reformers are actually proud, envious, and ANGRY people, who in their self-righteousness demand the pound of flesh of The Merchant of Venice. They will not be deterred from their revenge forgetting the word of the Lord. Rom 12:19 “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

We are familiar with the modern Star Wars saga. A reoccurring and unifying theme through out the episodes is the necessity to resist the “Dark Side,” the ANGER. Anakin Skywalker gives into the “Dark Side” and becomes the personification of evil, Darth Vader. While his son Luke Skywalker eventually resists the Anger, the “Dark Side” and by the virtuous use of the “force” saves himself and his father. The perfect example of not giving into ANGER, even when “justified” is Jesus Christ our Lord Himself who despite all of the ANGER and WRATH directed against him during his public ministry climaxing in his scourging and crucifixion refused to curse His enemies. Instead, He prays Lk 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Jesus saves the world by not giving into ANGER. His infinite patience with his persecutors and with all of us sinners makes our salvation possible and gives us an example of the remedial virtue.

PATIENCE empowers us to withhold our anger and wrath. “Patience is a virtue,” says the oft-quoted proverb. Pr 19:11 “A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”
God does this for us always, so that we may do the same for each other. The parable of the impatient and greedy servant who had no patience with his fellow servant, although his master was patient and forgiving with him is instructive. Mt 18:28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.”
The consequence of his impatience and greed was his punishment by his master. We can also nurture PATIENCE by little steps. Thomas a Kempis the author of the spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ counsels that the man who can control his tongue will have control over his whole body. PATIENCE begins with managing our tongues. Keeping quite when we would like to lash out at others is an excellent ascetical practice that can lead to growth in the virtue of PATIENCE. Note that the evil servant in the quote from Matthew above had no PATIENCE with his fellow servant because of his GREED the Sixth Deadly Sin.

GREED, AVARICE, or COVETOUSNESS puts material acquisition and consumption ahead of all spiritual considerations. A very common expression of GREED in our avaricious culture is the excuse “I do not have time to go to church on Sunday because I have to work.” There may be legitimate and necessary reasons to work on Sunday morning, but since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has made it increasingly easier to Worship by providing masses on the eve (Saturday) and the night (Sunday) of the Lord’s Day. Despite this fewer people attend Mass on a regular basis now than prior to the Second Vatican Council. This is not the fault of the Second Vatican Council, but rather the result of the overriding demands of our materialistic culture. The secular culture in the last fifty years has lead to “liberalized” laws permitting trade on Sunday. The secular culture is no longer, as it once was, interested in our spiritual welfare. Its laws now encourage us to be less attentive to Sunday as a day of rest set aside for God and family. This was the case for nearly two millennia. Our lack of historical and spiritual perspective has allowed revolutionary changes to occur in our culture with very little notice. There is a new priority; it is no longer the Kingdom of God, but rather the kingdom of man on earth. Wealth is pursued for the sake of wealth. GREED has become a part of our culture. We reward it, “The one who dies with the most toys wins,” reads an ironic bumper sticker. The one with the biggest house, the best cars, and the fattest wallet is now encouraged to think of himself as the best man. We are no longer judged as Martin Luther King, Jr. hoped by the content of our character but by our degree of wealth and celebrity status. However, there is still a noticeable cultural cross current. The best of secular culture promotes philanthropy, but in a non-biblical way. We all are encouraged to give form our surplus. Giving from our surplus is considered praise worthy and honorable. Jesus had a very different idea however of giving. He proclaimed a contrary virtue to GREED that demonstrates a dependence on God not on our wealth, but on our poverty.

GENEROSITY is the virtue that combats greed. Jesus taught that those who gave from their need, their poverty, were GENEROUS, while those who gave from their wealth, their surplus were barley fulfilling their duty. They were full of pride, because they believed themselves GENEROUS, when in fact they were stingy and miserly, because they had so much more to give. Mark 12:41-44 “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But, a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on."

Noblisse Oblige, nobility has its obligations. Wealth itself is not evil, but with wealth comes enormous responsibilities to those in need. It is here where vice and virtue wait. The wealthy man cannot feel himself justified before God because he has given from his surplus. Rich and poor are called by virtue of their Baptism to give in a sacrificial manner.

Maurice Keen in his significant book Chivalry names and explains five qualifications or characteristics of nobility or knighthood. A knight by definition is noble but not all nobles were knights. These in the order he presents them are 1) Princely Recognition, 2) Vocation, 3) Wealth and Life Style, 4) Virtue, 5) Descent of Blood, Lineage.

The third quality Wealth and Life Style of a medieval knight included “liberality” that is GENEROSITY to a self-sacrificing degree. Some noble knights were so GENEROUS as to drive themselves into poverty, foolish in the eyes of the world, perhaps saintly in the eyes of God.

If this all sounds like a great deal of work, it is. Holiness is a difficult Quest, but no life-altering Quest is easy. The Quest that does not lead to ultimate transformation of the self that does not lead to holiness is not worth pursuing. The vice that can stop this journey before it begins is the Seventh Deadly Sin.

SLOTH physical or spiritual laziness or inertia is truly deadly because it prevents us from taking that very first step on the Quest for the Holy Grail, which is of course the Quest for holiness. SLOTH binds us so firmly to the world, the flesh, and the devil that we cannot commence our spiritual journey and we are in fact dragged backwards into sin. “Non progredi regredi est” (not to progress is to regress). If we are too tired to get out of bed on Sunday morning to go to church because we spent Saturday night involved in those behaviors St Paul warns us against, then we are truly SLOTHFUL. Again, you will notice that this deadly sin is enabled by others. Gluttony in food and drink can produce such stupor in our wills that we cannot motivate ourselves to do what is good for our souls such as pray and participate in the Eucharist. SLOTH and PRIDE can combine to keep us from the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They can also turn a potentially worthy confession into the grave sin of sacrilege by preventing us from courageously and honestly acknowledging and confessing our sins. With the grace of God, we can overcome SLOTH and all its deadly relatives. We need only ask God for the grace. If we cannot ask for it, perhaps we can only want to ask, God will still and readily grant it to us. DELIGENCE is the conqueror of SLOTH.

DILIGENCE, DETERMINATION, or PERSEVERENCE, is the beginning of our journey. To be holy we must be determined with God’s grace to be holy. We must desire it above all “things.” It must be for us the pearl of great price. We must be willing to sacrifice everything to achieve our Quest. We will be continuously tempted to comprise, to take the easier road, to do only the minimum. These are signs of sloth encroaching on our efforts. DILIGENCE, PERSEVERENCE to the end is required. 2Tim 4:6-8 “I am already being poured out like a libation (NIV has “drink offering”), and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

The Good News is that we do not run this race, or take up this Quest alone or unaided. 2Cor 12:7-10 “To keep me from becoming conceited…, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. However, he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, and then I am strong.”

All Christians are so empowered by the grace of God through the infinite merits of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. These graces are available to us for the asking, especially in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist. They enable us to overcome our laziness and our pride, to live according to our Baptismal promises that we renewed in our Confirmation to reject Satan and all his works. With Diligence and humility we put way the deeds of darkness Rom 13:13 “orgies and drunkenness… sexual immorality and debauchery… dissension and jealousy.” Rom 13:12 and “Instead… put on the armor of light!”



Induamur Arma Lucis
Eques

Note: Scriptural quotes are generally taken from the
New International Version as found in the Crosswalk Concordance http://bible.crosswalk.com any changes is noted.

Note: Some of the information above is taken form the
The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition; 2003, Thomas Gale, in association with
The Catholic University of America; Washington, D.C.