Seven Deadly Sins & Seven Lively Virtues
"The deadly sins are these negative attitudes, these distortions of the spirit that keep us from being alive...all God wants is our flourishing, and all of this self imposed imprisonment [flowing from these sins] keep us away from what God wants."
This week, we will engage in a cross-curricular study of medieval cultural history, Latin American cultural heritage, the literary genre of poetry, and theology, as we join Bishop Robert Barron for a an interdisciplinary study of the seven deadly sins, those great spiritual blocks that inhibit our flourishing in relationship with God and one another. Based on Dante’s writings, the seven deadly sins correspond to the seven stories of Dante’s Mt. Purgatory. Pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, avarice and lust are all presented as patterns of dysfunction within us that lead to unhappiness.
Bishop Barron shows us how to counteract these seven sinful patterns through a conscious process of opposition, known as the “seven lively virtues." These offer antidotes to each sin and help set us on the right path to healing and happiness.
PROGRAM AGENDA
MONDAY: 1. Bishop’s Introduction - 10:47 2. Pride & Humility - 16:09
TUESDAY: 3. Envy & Admiration - 13:27 4. Anger & Forgiveness - 17:13
WEDNESDAY: 5. Sloth & Zeal - 17:23 6. Avarice & Generosity - 12:24
THURSDAY: 7. Gluttony & Asceticism - 12:37 8. Lust & Chastity - 12:36
FRIDAY: At the conclusion of the Bishop’s study we will participate in the Latin American pinata tradition, a Mexican colonial ritual symbolizing “bashing” the seven deadly sins out of our lives.
A BRIEF OVER OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
Pride is the deadliest of the deadly sins. In fact,
all sin is in some way a form of pride because sin elevates our ego ahead of all else. Some of the sins that fall under pride include: - disobedience - boastfulness - hypocrisy - contention - obstinacy - discord - love of novelties |
The antidote to pride is humility. To learn humility is to learn to live in the reality that each of us is a creature of God called to worship God alone and surrender to him and his plans for us.
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Avarice is also called greed or covetousness. It is the excessive desire for riches and possessions. There's nothing wrong with private property or wealth in itself; in fact, according to the Bible, it's not money that's the root of all evil, but the inordinate love of it: thinking that having more money, or more of anything for that matter, will fulfill you or make you happy outside of God. The anecdote virtue is generosity.
Some of the sins that fall under avarice include: - treachury - fraud - falsehood - perjury - restlessness - violence - insensibility to mercy |
The antidotal virtue to combat avarice is generosity. Practicing the virtue of generosity means willingly giving of oneself in a cheerful manner for the good of others. This can be done by praying for others, and through kind words or acts performed to benefit others.
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Lust is the distortion of sensual desire. Lust ignores God’s purpose for marital relations, and uses sex outside of God’s blessing, instead of as an act between a husband and wife, which is the only time God made it for. Church Fathers comment on how the first time the Bible mentions God “blessing” man, is accompanied by marital relations, because it is meant to celebrate God’s gift of allowing man and woman to share in his co-creative power of bringing a new child of God into existence. To use it in any other way, is saying “no” to God, and then stealing his gift of blessing; which makes it inherently evil.
Some of the sins that fall under lust include: - blindness of mind - thoughtlessness - inconstancy - impulsiveness - self-love - contempt of God and his Church |
The antidotal virtue for lust is: chastity, which is not a list of don'ts. Chastity actually is all about actively loving another person based on your state and life and respecting your own sexual purity. In marital relations, it's focused on love: what you’re giving, not what you're receiving.
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Envy is pleasure in the sorrow of another or resentment over their happiness or success. Envy is wishing others not to have something good that they have.
Some of the sins that fall under envy include: - hatred - tale-bearing - detraction - joy at somebody else's misfortune - sadness at another's success |
The lively virtue for envy is admiration for all the gifts God has bestowed on each and every person. Another antidote to Envy is gratitude for what you have and being joyful at the good fortune of others, even if they have something you want and don’t have; and to stop comparing yourself with others.
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St. Thomas Aqunas defines anger as: “The passion for revenge, which goes beyond the control of reason.” Anger becomes a sin when it comes out of an extreme feeling that things aren't going the way you think they should be between people groups or even nation's; worst of all, is when it festers and grows in a person's heart.
Some of the sins that fall under anger include: -indignation and arrogance - belligerence and creating "drama" - taunting and other means of fighting |
The anecdote for anger is forgiveness. This means a willingness to let go of the anger someone has prompted in us, even if it’s going to take a while before the feeling goes away.
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According to St. Thomas Aquinas, sloth is “sorrow or indifference to spiritual good.” Sloth is when a human heart becomes bored with and inert to the things of God. It is not the same as mere laziness and its countervailing virtue is zeal. Sloth is often seen as indifference, lethargy or fear of commitment.
Some of the sins that fall under sloth include: - malice and spite - laziness and cowardice in practicing religion - despair of God's mercy - luke warmness in our spiritual life - aversion to God and his Church - letting our minds wander in sinful thoughts |
Two antidotes to sloth are diligence and perseverance. St. Padre Pio lists perseverance as one of the most important virtues. Practicing perseverance and diligence helps you find your mission and what you're born to do with your life. Doing what you know you need to do offers a sense of meaning, and helps produce the energy
to pursue it. |
Gluttony is an excess of love for food or drink over the love of God. Gluttony may also refer to the immoderate preoccupation with food or drink, either quantity or quality or the timing of eating or drinking; only eating fancy gourmet food, or eating or drinking when a person should be doing other things, for example. Gluttony doesn't necessarily refer to the quantity consumed, but rather the disordered relation to or attitude towards it.
Some of the sins that fall under gluttony include: - disordered obsession with pleasure - overindulgence in things that exclude God - intemperance [including locquaciousness] - laziness towards understanding/discretion |
The antidote to gluttony is asceticism, which creates a “desert environment” within us that helps discipline our lower nature to allow the higher desires to emerge. Instead of making food or another material pleasure more important than it should be, we might try to satisfy pleasure by growing spiritually or focus on the social connections food helps us to nurture, like eating with friends or family.
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