It seems every time I go on the computer, I’m offered another quiz: “I’m Miss Piggy! What Muppet are You?” Today I was surprised to see, “My sin is envy! What’s killing you?” The post went on to say that countless souls have been damned for succumbing to one sin or another – and offered to tell me which of the seven deadly sins would send me there, should I fail to change my ways.
I didn’t take the quiz, but I do think it’s helpful to review the seven deadly or capital sins as part of an examination of conscience. This Lent I’m taking them one at a time, allowing my examen to stretch over a week and adding them as intentions when I pray with the Penitential Psalms. [It’s less complicated than it sounds – you can download instructions here: Praying-the-Penitential-Psalms-download.pdf]
The internet is full of questions to use if you need help, just type in “examination of conscience, seven deadly sins” and find a set you like. What I’m going to do is spend time reading what the Bible has to say about these sins, choose a few verses to meditate on and ask the Lord to examine my heart and bring things to mind. If you’d like to join me, I’ll post a few verses each Monday following the Penitential Psalm I’m praying with.
Are you with me? Here’s the first:
Week 1: Psalm 6 — “From the sin of pride, O Lord, deliver me…”
Pride is the first of the seven capital or “deadly” sins we’ll look at. Pride with a capital “P;” the “mother of all sins,” it has been called.
Because of pride, Lucifer fell from heaven to hell in a moment, never to rise again (see Isaiah 14:12-14).
Pride is deadly because it leads to hatred of God. According to the Catechism 2094, pride “is contrary to love of God, whose goodness it denies, and whom it presumes to curse as the one who forbids sins and inflicts punishments.”
We all know that “pride goes before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). But why? What does pride look like? Consider some of the following in prayer, noting what you learn. In what ways are you guilty of pride? Bring anything you find to God for healing as you pray with Psalm 6:
* * * * * * *
Read my post on praying with the Penitential Psalms for Lent here.
Studing Genesis we find that Pride is considered the first sin because Lucifer would not bow down and adore God, he wanted to be like God, so he and one third of the angels were cast out of heaven and became Satan and his demons (evil spirits). Then Satan the snake in the garden used that very sin to tempt Eve and we know what happened. Pride was the first sin to enter the world. Envy or Jealously killed Abel and became the 2nd deadly sin.
Dona, thanks for your comment!
It’s interesting that you link pride and envy. Dante (in the Purgatorio) grouped the seven deadly sins into categories: Distorted, Defective, and Excessive love. The sins of pride and envy and anger all fall under “distorted love”- distorted or twisted because their love is ingrown. It’s turned toward themselves and loves evil against others instead of loving God and neighbor. “Defective love” is sloth (it doesn’t love good enough!). The other three – avarice, lust, and gluttony, are types of “Excessive love,” for obvious reasons.
Thank God for his love, shed abroad in our hearts, which instills the heavenly virtues and conquers these sins!
thank you for that insight.