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Posted on January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope And Admonition Against Lust From the Book of Proverbs There is a marvelous chapter in the Book of Proverbs that ought to be studied by every young person who must live in this lustful world. It sets forth plainly the stance that any son or daughter of God should have regarding the lust so often celebrated by this age.Many preachers and teachers wince at the Book of Proverbs on this topic since it tends to portray seduction and lust as coming from women.However it must be recalled that...

The Twelve Steps of Pride Msgr. Charles Pope • March 12, 2018 • If you think the idea of “Twelve Steps” is new, go back and see how the Greeks put it, or in this case how the medieval Latins put it. St. Bernard of Clairvaux identified twelve steps up the mountain of pride in his 12th century work The Steps of Humility and Pride.In today’s post, we focus on the twelve steps of pride, and tomorrow we’ll tackle the twelve steps of humility. The list below is from St. Bernard, but the commentary is mine.Notices how the twelve...

The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust Msgr. Charles Pope • February 28, 2018 • The word “lust” is most often used to refer to excessive or disordered sexual desire. However, because it is rooted in the Latin word luxuria (which refers to extravagant, excessive, or even riotous behavior), we sometimes hear it used in other ways. For example, someone may be said to have a “lust for power.” In the realm of moral and spiritual theology, though, we have come to restrict the word to sexual matters. This is especially because we have specific words to describe such excesses gluttony...

The Seven Deadly Sins: Anger Msgr. Charles Pope • February 27, 2018 • The deadly sin of anger is defined as the inordinate and uncontrolled feeling of hatred and wrath. Unlike righteous anger, the capital sin of anger is understood as the deep drive to cling to hateful feelings for others. This kind of anger often seeks revenge.The consideration of anger as an experience, passion, or feeling requires some distinctions, however. Not all anger is sinful nor necessarily a deadly sin. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus manifests quite a lot of anger and issues many denunciations, often accompanied by the...

The Seven Deadly Sins: Envy Msgr. Charles Pope • February 26, 2018 • There is a picture of envy in First Book if Samuel: Upon David’s return from slaying Goliath, the women sing a song praising him. Saul should rejoice with all Israel but instead he is resentful and envies David: Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought, “They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.” And from that day on, Saul looked upon David with a glaring eye. Saul discussed his intention of...

The Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth Msgr. Charles Pope • February 25, 2018 • One of the more misunderstood of the cardinal sins is sloth. Most see it merely as laziness, but there is more to it than that. Let’s take a moment and consider some aspects of this cardinal sin.The Greek word we translate as sloth is ἀκηδία akedia (a = absence + kedos = care), meaning indifference or negligence. St. Thomas Aquinas speaks of sloth as sorrow for spiritual good. By it, we shun spiritual good as too toilsome (cf Summa Theologica II-II 35,2).Some modern commentators describe sloth...

The Seven Deadly Sins: Greed Msgr. Charles Pope • February 22, 2018 • One of the more underreported sins is greed. It is easy to conclude that greed is something manifested by “that other person,” who has more than I do. Yes, that rich guy over there, the one who earns a dollar more per hour than I do; he’s greedy, but I’m not.Honestly, does any one of us ever come to a point in our life when we say, “I earn more than enough money. I’ll just give the rest away”? Not on your life!Almost never would such...

The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride Msgr. Charles Pope • February 21, 2018 • Pride is a sin that is so pervasive, runs so deep within us, that we often don’t even sense it is there. Not only is it a sinful drive in itself, it also plays a role in every other sin we commit. Pride is the sin we most share with Satan and the fallen angels. Satan refused to serve God or to submit to His plan; these are strong tendencies in every human person as well. Satan planned his strategy well as he tempted Eve. You...

Envy Illustrated Msgr. Charles Pope • January 17, 2018 • The Deadly Sin of Envy, Hieronymus Bosch (1480)In the reading at daily Mass for Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time, we encounter an envious Saul. Upon David’s return from slaying Goliath, the women sing a song praising him. Saul should rejoice with all Israel but instead he is resentful and envies David:Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought, “They give David ten thousand, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.” And from that day on, Saul...

The Seven Capital Sins: Lust (Week 1)Fr. Michael gives advice on how to overcome the sin of lust in our lives. This is the first of a seven-part series on the Capital Sins. by Fr. Michael Sliney, LC | Source: Catholic.net My weekly message for the next seven weeks will be focused on the 7 Capital sins with some practical tips on how to conquer them in your daily lives. The first one is more of an issue for men and teenage boys, so the focus will be in that direction. I sincerely hope that this will be helpful....

Featured Term (selected at random): SOURCE OF SIN The principle or root of all sinful human actions. Two sources are commonly found in revelatin, deriving from the two sides to every sin, the turning to transient satisfaction, and the turning away from everlasting good. As regards the first, the principle of all sin can be called lust, lust in its most general sense, namely, the unbridled desire for one's own pleasure. As regards the second, the principle is pride, pride in its general sense, the lack of submission to God. Lust and pride in this pervasive sense may also be...

Featured Term (selected at random):CAPITAL VIRTUES The seven principal virtues that are contrary to the seven capital sins, namely: 1. humility (pride), 2. liberality (avarice), 3. chastity (lust), 4. meekness (anger), 5. temperance (gluttony), 6. brotherly love (envy), 7. diligence (sloth). All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Envy A Capital Sin When we Catholics begin our instruction in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we learn about and are given warning to be on guard against the Seven Deadly Sins, which are pride, avarice, lust, anger, envy, sloth, and gluttony. I am going to discuss the capital sin known as “envy”. Let me begin, by giving a definition of the word “envy”: wanting what somebody else has; the resentful or unhappy feeling of wanting somebody else’s success, good fortune, qualities, or possessions. Also, here are a few synonyms for envy as well as...

Understanding God's Anger Compline, Anger, and God What, then, are we to say of anger ... particularly God's anger? Is not anger one of the Seven Capital Sins? How can we, then, ascribe this to God Most Holy? We are perplexed by references to God's anger, most often dismissing them to the cultural peculiarities and obscure literal nuances of Jewish literature evident, most notably, in the Old Testament, where, we are told, God was simply misconstrued as a "God of wrath" --- unlike His Son Who revealed Him in terms of love. But even in the Son we find,...

Featured Term (selected at random):DEADLY SINS Another name for the seven capital sins. They may be called deadly because they are tendencies to those basic sins which, if deliberately and fully consented to, deprive a person of the supernatural life of God in the soul. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

May 26, 2008 Impossible to Man's Powers, But Not To God's All PriestIn recalling the holiness of Saint Philip, it occurs to me that it was essentially this: he was all priest. He was always and everywhere a priest. His priesthood suffused his very being, making him incandescent with the fire of the Cross and of the altar. As we prepare to observe the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests on this coming Friday, June 30th, Saint Philip Neri makes his appearance to stimulate our generosity, and to show us what happens when a priest surrenders to...