Rev José Mario O Mandía
jmom.honlam.org
Capital sins or capital vices are like the source or root of other sins and vices. Saint Thomas prefers to call them “vices” because they are not acts, such as sins are, but habits – bad habits. Hence, they are opposed to virtues, which are good habits. Following St John Cassian and St Gregory the Great it has become customary to classify them as follows (cf. CCC 1866): (1) pride and vainglory; (2) avarice or greed; (3) lust; (4) envy; (5) gluttony; (6) anger; (7) sloth or acedia.
St Thomas, however, excludes pride from the list because he says that pride is the root of all sin (S Th I-IIae q84 a2). He quotes Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 10:15: “Pride is the beginning of all sin.” He thus lists vainglory as the first of the seven (S Th I-IIae q84 a4).
If we examine the seven, we will find that they are related to the three concupiscences that St John talks about: “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (I John 2:16). The lust of the flesh gives rise to lust and gluttony; the lust of the eyes to avarice and sloth; the pride of life to vainglory, envy and anger.
Pride, in Saint Thomas’ terms, is a disorderly desire for one’s excellence. This means that there is such a thing as an orderly desire for one’s excellence. In fact, God wants us to be holy, to be like Him, and that is a desire very much within the order that God has planned. It becomes disorderly when we desire excellence without God. However, every single thing we have comes from God, so in the end, a proud man ends up in emptiness. It reminds us of Saint Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” (I Corinthians 4:7)
A great little booklet that I read once a year (The Seven Capital Sins) explains: “Pride is the greatest of sins because it is the summit of self-love and is directly opposed to submission to God. It is, therefore, the sin most hated by God, and the one He punishes most severely.… Pride is likewise the greatest sin because it is the fountainhead of the self-love in which all other sins take root: ‘From pride all perdition took its beginning.’ (Tobit 4:14)”
It is pride that makes us want to be noticed by others, to be appreciated and praised by them. Pride makes us touchy, leads us to vanity. Pride makes us intolerant of others’ opinions, overbearing, critical, inconsiderate, quarrelsome. It makes us resentful or suspicious of others, magnifies the hurts we receive, nurses the grudges we have against others. Pride makes us want to control every situation, makes us insist on having things our own way. Pride can make a man scrupulous over minute things while neglecting more important matters. Name any sin and you will find pride in it.
What to do? First of all, pray to the Holy Spirit for his light, ask him to show us the truth. Someone once asked Saint Josemaría: “How do I know that in my prayer I am speaking with God?” He replied, “If you see the shadows in your life.” When we stand before God who is Truth and Light, right away we see what is wrong with us and our self-righteousness melts under his gaze. Saint Teresa of Avila said that humility is simply the truth – knowing ourselves and knowing God. This is why Saint Augustine prayed: “noverim me, noverim te” – let me know myself, let me know you.
Secondly, meditate on the example of Jesus Christ, meek and humble of heart. In Bethlehem, on Calvary, in the Blessed Sacrament, his actions only speak of humility and love. No complaints, no desires of revenge, only forgiveness.
Third, take advantage of humiliations, because they are the way to humility. We can be humiliated by certain situations or events, or by people. God is speaking to us through them.
Fourth, frequently seek forgiveness from Jesus, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To kneel and ask forgiveness is a humbling act, and humility attracts grace.
Let us end with this prayer written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X:
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
(Image: geralt@pixabay.com)
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