Seven Deadly Sins. A lesson given by Sister Zenka (sp?)
The Devil is strategic, he studies us first. Then he attacks our predominate vice...
Pride- An untrue opinion of ourselves. To be humble is to see yourself as God sees you. Those guilty of pride will lower themselves to get others to praise/ raise them. "oh i look fat in this" "oh, no you don't." Correcting a proud person leads them to anger or depression. Obedience is a virtue. Religious sisters have been called "pure as angels...proud as devils."
the virtue of Humility~ Christ stays under the appearance of bread, even when He knows He will be mistreated.
Sloth- To neglect duties. Basically cowardliness. Idleness is the mother of all vices. There is spiritual Sloth and physical Sloth. Are we not good Christians because a Christian life is "too intense?" Don't be lukewarm. We all knows what happens to those who are lukewarm. Right now, souls are being loss because we are not doing anything.
Greed-is being in the middle of water and dying of thirst. You are never satisfied with what you have. It is an inordinate love of a good. Anything can be an attachment. A three corded heavy-duty rope and a piece of fishing line can keep a bird from flying. My friend Brian says it doesn't matter if you have 10,000 dollars that you're attached to, or a single dollar bill that you wont let go of, it is greed.
Give! The combating virtue is generosity. "Many will give things. Some will give time, few will give themselves. A handful will live radically for Christ." What group are we in?
Lust- Pleasures contrary to Purity. Trying to deal with this vice on your own is like walking in a swamp... the more you try to free yourself, the deeper you sink. Impurity is the first sin you fall into when you stop attending Holy Mass routinely. (I can agree 100%.) And to lead another into sin is Scandal. This is so much worse. If a guy tries to get a girl to notice him in an impure way he has committed sin! We are supposed to help girls. If our goal isn't to lead a girl to salvation by our actions then we are in trouble. And vice versa. (Girls, please stop doing what you do best. Thanks.) We must do penance. We may not like it, but it is the only thing that can chastise our defected senses.
What does a Christian "I love you" mean? It means "I want you to never die. You will never die. I want you to have eternal life, because I care about your soul. Heaven is your end." When we have sex, there is a union of Body and Soul. You cannot separate the two! You surrender your whole being to your partner, be faithful to your future spouse. If marriage is your calling, then they are out there now, imagine that!
Envy- Follows Pride. It makes you hate your equals because they are your equals, it makes you hate your inferiors because the may one day surpass you, and you hate your superiors, because they are greater than you. Give thanks to God for the gifts in others. Pray these words..."God, thank you for so and so's virtue of _________, talents of _______, strength in _________."
Gluttony- The inordinate love of eating and drinking. This makes us lower than animals, because animals will only eat until they are satisfied. (Maybe not Franklin, my dad's cat, those are not mini hedge loppers.) We become poor slaves of our body. We give in at the most minimal urge in your body. Satisfy me, satisfy me, satisfy me! NO! Have order. (I would recommend 2 small meatless meals and a third regular meal a day for Lent coming up soon. And nothing in between. Think that is hard, try St. Rose of Lima's diet.)
Anger-We become a puppet in the Devils hands. Let Christ become the Master of the heart. Anger is the violence to despise whatever displeases us. Get over it, invoke mildness. (Think about being in the stable on the first Christmas night, and then try being angry.)
Sister Zenka then filled in what brother David could not get to in the Discerning the Spirits.
The Devil acts like a false lover. He doesn't want you to share your dirty little secrets with your confessor. He is weak if you are strong, but he is strong if you are weak. CUT HIM OFF. Do not even flirt with dialogue with Lucifer.
Yours in Christ,
St. Rose of Lima, Pray for us.
St. Blaise, pray for us.
up next... closing thoughts...
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