Seven deadly sins still path to man’s downfall

Last week I talked about my experience of going back to St. Joseph Abbey for the Holy Week Services. I also talked about the paintings in the Abbey Church by Fr. Gregory deWit, O.S.B. Over the sanctuary of the church is his painting of God’s creation. In the nine arches over the windows he painted the seven deadly sins plus two others – the devil and gossip.

Today I want to discuss the traditional seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride) issued by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th Century AD. Next week, we will look at the “new ones.”

Lust deals with excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature.

Jesus told us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:27-28) Lust would include looking at pornography or fantasizing about sexual realities that are not within a marital relationship. Modern advertising often uses lust to sell products.

Gluttony deals with the over indulgence and over consumption of any food or drink including alcoholic beverages. In the Christian context, part of the sinfulness involves not sharing our goods with the needy.

Greed (or avarice) is an excessive desire to have more and more things or wealth. Jesus said, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15) He also taught us to have our priorities in order and to be thankful for what we have.

Sloth: More than other sins, the definition of sloth has changed considerably since its original inclusion among the seven deadly sins. Originally, sloth was characterized by sadness, apathy, and joylessness. (Joy is often described as the infallible sign of God’s presence.)

Today we look at sloth as a failure to use one’s talents and gifts. We have to push ourselves in life if we want to be the person God wants us to be. Sloth is a sin of laziness or indifference, a reluctance to care or to try.

Wrath may be described as excessive state of being angry. We distinguish this from the emotion of anger, which like all emotions is neutral. Jesus became angry when he drove the money changes out of the temple. He also became angry with the Jewish leaders over their hypocrisy.

This emotion of anger is not a sin. The state of wrath or anger takes place when someone becomes an angry person. This usually occurs because a person was hurt in life and has failed to let go of the hurt. Instead of forgiving, they usually seek revenge and want to do harm to others.

Envy and greed are both characterized by insatiable desires. They differ, however, in two ways. First, greed is largely associated with material goods, whereas envy may apply more generally in all types of situations. Second, those who commit the sin of envy desire something that someone else has which they perceive as lacking in themselves.

Pride is considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and the ultimate source from which the others arise. Proud people consider themselves more important than others, they look down on others, they fail to give compliments to others when they deserve them, and they have an excessive love of self. They also fail to give God credit for their giftedness. Today we also use the word pride in a good sense: the recognition of our own God-given goodness.

The parallel virtues to the seven deadly sins are chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility.