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7 Deadly Sins Chariteach Topic August 5, 2012 Sunday, August 5, 12

7 deadly sins and 7 virtues

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Know the 7 deadly sins which are root sins that give rise to other sins. Be aware of the different forms these sins take in our lives and learn how to fight them with the 7 heavenly virtues.

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Page 1: 7 deadly sins and 7 virtues

7 Deadly SinsChariteach Topic

August 5, 2012

Sunday, August 5, 12

Page 2: 7 deadly sins and 7 virtues

7 Deadly Sins

• Many different sins such as murder, adultery, stealing, rape, drug abuse, prostitution, etc.

• These have root causes like “pride”

• Pride was the devil’s great sin for he wanted to be like God and rebelled.

• 7 basic kinds of sins that lead to all others

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St. John says...• “For all that is in the world, the lust of the

flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of this world.” 1 John 2:16

• 3 basic groups of sins:

• lust of the flesh - gluttony, lust, sloth (physical wants)

• “lust of the eyes” - greed

• “pride of life” - pride, envy, anger

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Lust• Lust is not just about sexuality.

• Sensuality - craving pleasures of all kinds such as too much partying, too much wanting beautiful things, drug abuse

• Focusing on the “sensory experience” - how something affects our senses

• Lust denies our spiritual nature and makes us slaves to our physical attachments.

• We try to make a heaven on earth, but instead create something fake or artificial.

• We see people as objects to be used, a means to an end.

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Chastity combats LustChastity moderates desire for sexual pleasure, the body’s most imperious passion, according to principles of faith and right reason.

Chastity opposes acts or thoughts that are inconsistent with Church teaching about the use of our reproductive powers to prevent defilement of the soul.

St. Paul added, 1 Cor 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.”

The practice of chastity is control of our thoughts and discipline of our senses, especially the eyes. It is greatly assisted by modesty and purity.

But as in lust, chastity does not pertain only to sexuality. Chastity also talks about the purity of our mind, our speech/conversation (no green jokes). It is respecting our dignity and that of others as human beings.

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Greed• "He who loves money never has money enough" Sirach 5:8

• "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17

• Forms

• Greed for Power - An obsessive desire for more and more material wealth and the power that goes with it. (Money is a means to get more power -- rooted in a fear of helplessness or losing control.)

• Greed for Fear - Hoarding, a fearful need to store up surplus goods (placing our trust in material things); Fear of “running out”

• Greed of Acquisition and Enslavement - Wanting more earthly goods for their own sake. (eg. We collect everything from toys to gadgets to cars, jewelry, etc.

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Generosity combats Greed

Spirit of generosity for a proper and worthy charity that may involve the donation of our time, our money, or other possessions.

Stewardship

Trust in the Lord and avoid too much attachment to material things. "But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my God. -- Psalm 31:14

Practice charity.

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Gluttony• Gluttony does not only pertain to food.

• Some people can't have enough toys, television, entertainment, sex, or company. It is about an excess of anything.

• In Ancient Rome wanted more pleasure, so they threw up after the meal and then ate more. This allowed them to enjoy eating more at the cost of health (and dignity)

• Delicacy - another form of gluttony; when we always want to have things exactly our own way. A person becomes difficult to (My, myself and I)

• Demanding too much of people. (A needy person who always wants to be the center of attention);

• People-pleasing in order to get people to like you even when you know your actions are no longer truthful

• Giving in to depression and self-pity

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Temperance combats Gluttony

Temperance controls the desire for pleasure.

In particular, temperance (pagtitimpi, “everything in moderation” is the obverse of fortitude.

Temperance keeps our desires in moderation. When we think of going on a shopping spree, or an all you can eat buffet dinner, if we have temperance, we are able to control ourselves from going to extreme spending (materialism), or “pigging out” which is an abuse of our health.

Remembering that we do not need half the things that we think we do.

Streamline our needs and see what we can do without. Think about the less fortunate and share what we have with others instead of getting all for ourselves.

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Envy• A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy

rots the bones, Proverbs 14:30

• Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, 1 Corinthians 13:4

• For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. James 3:16

• Envy is perverted because it "loves" what other people possess, rather than what is good, beautiful and True.

• Envy eats away at the heart of the envious person.

• Envy takes away gratitude. Envious people close themselves off to the grace of God.

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Brotherly Love combats Envy

Brotherly love is happiness in response to another’s success. God commanded Lev 19:18, Mt 22:39 that we love one another. We are to treat even our enemies Mt 5:44 with brotherly love because we are all children of the same heavenly Father.

Jn 13:34 “Love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

When we see a friend getting more of what we want -- better grades, more friends, maybe a handsome boyfriend-- when envy threatens us, let us pray to God for the grace of brotherly love.

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Anger• Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to

judgment", Matthew 5:22

• "A mild answer calms wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." - Proverbs 15:1

• The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. Psalms 145:8

• My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. For mans’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James 1:19-20

• Some say we can't control our emotions, but we "choose" our emotions from our "emotional toolbox." If anger is in our heart already, the smallest thing can trigger it. If we ask God for peace, our reaction will reflect this peace. We may respond to offenses or accidents with humor, kindness and patience, because that is what is in our heart.

• When we are angry, we hurt people with words that we

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Meekness combats Anger

Meekness is a form of temperance that controls every resentment towards another’s character or behavior. We approach meekness by cultivating patient thoughts.

Mt 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3: 4

Humility and patience are also good remedies for anger.

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Pride• "The Devil, the proud spirit, cannot endure to be

mocked." St. Thomas More, 16th Century

• "God is stern in dealing with the arrogant, but to the humble He shows kindness." Proverbs 3:34

• "Hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary to the love of God ..." - The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2094

• Too much pride, arrogance (yabang), haughtiness (thinking of yourself as being better than everybody else)

• Vanity, fussiness, delicacy (being a “perfectionist”)

• Most of the time we think we are humble. We see pride in other people and think that we are not like them. This is a good indicator that we are in fact the proud, self-righteous one.

• False modesty is veiled pride.

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Humility combats PrideThere are three ways to destroy Pride, and they must all be taken together:

Be grateful to anyone and everyone. Treat even the things people are expected to do as great gifts. Be grateful for your food, your change at Burger King, rain, life itself. Thank everyone.

Beg forgiveness of God for the sin of Pride. Go before Him in prayer every day or every few hours and implore His mercy. The more this offends you, the more Pride you have.

Ask God for a spirit of Humility and Gratitude. Read Philippians 2:3-11 and imitate it. Understand that without God's Grace, we will never cast away our illusions. Ask God to break your pride and vanity using whatever it takes: illness, loss of friends, loss of family, public humiliation. In the end, all but true love for God is lost, so count all else but God as loss now.

The capital virtue that recognizes our total dependence on God. The capital virtue that recognizes our total dependence on God.

A humble person considering his own defects has a lowly opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God’s sake.

Humility is also opposed to immoderate self-abjection, which fails to recognize God’s gifts and use them according to His will.

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Sloth• "His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I

harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?" Matthew 25:26

• "If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks." Ecclesiastes 10:18

• Most people think of sloth as laziness, not doing much of anything, but just sitting around doing nothing. Many people stay busy most of the time but don't do the things they should, putting them off for later. They may be staying busy so they have an excuse.

• Sloth (or acedia) is a kind of spiritual laziness (as opposed to mere physical fatigue or depression). It means not making it a priority to do what we should, or change what we should in ourselves.

• Being content with “Pwede na yan.” or work that is low quality is a kind of sloth. Not being involved in things that affect your community such as voting or learning more about candidates before you vote.

• Relying on someone else to solve your problems rather than you trying to solve them is also escaping your problems.

• Proscrastinating is a form of sloth/laziness.

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Diligence combats Sloth

Diligence is the decision to fulfill all of the responsibilities in our vocation or state in life.

We each have a vocation in life and we are responsible for the fulfillment of this vocation or mission. (Eg. student, father, mother, teacher, etc)

Mother Teresa said that if we cannot be faithful in the little things (or the little tasks that we ought to do, we cannot be faithful with the big tasks.

St. Jose Maria Escriva’s Opus Dei --- finding God in everyday tasks. They urge followers to use each task no matter how ordinary, in service of God.

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