The thought occurred to me, when did pride become a good thing?  I mean, it’s one of the Seven Deadly Sins, right?  The worst of all!  You never see an advertiser state, baked with sloth, or loaded with lust!

What’s the deal?

Sloth however, when considered from a spiritual perspective, has a much deeper meaning.  In Latin the word “sloth” is “acedia,” which is derived from the Greek “akedia.”  Akedia means “absence of caring.”  So sloth is much more than just laziness, it’s an overall spiritual listlessness.  If a person doesn’t approach life with some measure of excitement about God’s creation, or approach each day as an opportunity to joyfully use his or her gifts to the fullest, then that person may suffer from some degree of sloth.

We all have different personalities.  We’re not all called to show tremendous zeal in everything that we do.  Some of us are more enthusiastic than others.  Still, it is virtuous to be diligent and zealous in the use of our gifts, and it’s sinful to walk through life with a spiritual apathy.

The corresponding virtue to wrath is patience. I’m much more familiar with a lack of patience. For some reason, my mind moves a million miles per second. I make decisions quickly. Tasks that I decide to focus on are completed very fast. I like things done that way — efficiently.  In my own mind, I’ve got the best way figured out to do just about anything.  Just ask me.  Your method may work, but it’s just not as good as mine.

Of course when I step back and think about all of this, it sounds ridiculous.  I’m not perfect.  I’m not the best at anything.  There are lots of people better at just about everything that I enjoy doing.  But when I get in one of those impatient, self-serving moods, I can get very frustrated and angry when things don’t go my way.

Fortunately, I’m becoming more aware of personality traits like this.  I’m becoming more and more patient as time goes by.  Trying to have complete control of everything, and then taking out frustration on loved ones, is definitely not the way to show your love.  And love is really what this life is, or should be, all about.

Think of all the ways in which we consume to excess. Just considering food alone, there are several ways. The proof is in our waistlines. We eat meals that are much too large for our sedentary activity levels. Most of us eat out at restaurants more often than we should, which costs us substantially more than preparing these same meals at home.

Our houses could be considered gluttonous too. I imagine that our grandparents never dreamed of having houses as large as ours, and with all of the wonderful conveniences. Cross over the border into Mexico for a couple of hours, or just stand on the U.S. side and take in the sights for awhile. I think that many of the people who live in third world countries such as this would find our living conditions to border on gluttony.

How many vehicles does the average American family own? Two? Many have three or more. How large and thirsty are these vehicles? What about recreational vehicles — those used for nothing more than our own entertainment? We spend more money just to get from here to there without having to come into contact with other than people in many other cultures could ever imagine.

What about our electronics? Most families that I know of have a wide array of televisions, computers, cell phones, gaming machines, etc. We find these things necessary for our comfort.

Most of the above leads to a gluttonous use of energy. Our dependency on large temperature-controlled houses, multiple fuel-inefficient vehicles, and an excess of computers and gadgets, causes us to spend an inordinate amount of money on electricity and gas — a far greater amount than our parents and their parents before them.

While we are certainly entitled to a little bit of relaxation in our off time, and we should enjoy an occasional feast, our lives are built upon consumption. For many of us, this means that we don’t do nearly enough to share our abundant wealth with the less fortunate. We spend so much that we can’t afford charitable causes.

Most of us could do well to practice a little temperance in at least a few areas of our lives. Our preoccupation with the consumption of worldly things is distracting us from our heavenly goal. We need to work harder to store up treasures in heaven, rather than here on Earth.

That something doesn’t have to be a material object, it can be jealousy of a job, a spouse, athletic ability, or social standing. The envious person actually feels sorrow because he or she perceives some sort of loss or failure because of another person’s success.

Envy is a grievous sin because it is completely counter to the necessary Christian virtues of charity and kindness. It’s impossible to behave with the greatest of love toward God and our neighbor, if we are suffering with a longing for something that they have. We should instead give thanks to the Lord for all of the gifts that we have, and be happy for the success of others.

If someone has something that we desire, something truly worth having, such as an exceedingly good character attribute, then it may be wise to desire the same for ourselves. There is nothing wrong with emulating the behavior of others — such as the Saints, or some other holy and righteous person — if it is for the virtuous desire to become more holy ourselves. But this is not envy. Emulation of someone holy is just good sense. Envy is toxic to our souls.

First of all, I’m not referring to fleeting feelings of lust. Feelings are natural occurrences over which we may have little control. In some instances, when we are exposed to temptation, the first feelings that come over us may be feelings of lust. The lust that I’m concerned with is the lust that comes next — the lust which is an action.

Lust and love are both actions. Lust is all about selfishness, while love is all about selflessness. If we are exposed to something immodest, or we have some brief romantic thought, we have little control over the physical feelings that occur within us. What we do next though, is not beyond our control. What do we say? Where do our eyes go? Do we continue to stare? Do we let our minds linger in fantasy, or do we instead turn our minds toward thoughts of purity? These choices are well within our control.

Why does any of this even matter? For several reasons. Lust is selfish. It involves nothing more that pleasing oneself. Lust leads to other behaviors that are anything but wholesome. Masturbation, pornography, adultery — these are all self-indulgent behaviors rooted in lust — behaviors which may provide short-term pleasure, but which are bound to provide long-term disappointment.

But who is it hurting? Come on. Who does the pornography industry hurt? Everyone involved. Who does adultery hurt? Everyone involved! We are a culture that has become desensitized to lustful behavior — wrongly thinking that we’re not hurting anyone. We live in an era of broken marriages and complicated families — an era of medicated children and school shootings. Self-indulgent behavior such as lust must be at least partly to blame.

The primary reason for us to avoid lust though, is because we Christians are called to live holy and righteous lives, attempting to live more like Christ each day. For this reason alone we must try to avoid lust. We must instead attempt to live in chastity. What? Chastity?

Chastity is not the same thing as celibacy. Chastity applies to clergy and lay people, single and married people. It’s about using the gift of sexuality in a loving and temperate manner. In some cases that may mean abstinence or celibacy. Rather than abusing our gift of sexuality by indulging in lust, we must cherish it and use it appropriately — within the confines of marriage. I know. That’s so old-fashioned. If old-fashioned was good enough for Jesus, then it’s good enough for me.

Avoid lust entirely. It is completely self serving, and completely against the teachings of Christ. It will have long term consequences.

In evaluating my own greedy tendencies, I sometimes feel a false sense of relief when I look at others who appear on the surface to be even more greedy. Justifying my own poor behavior by pointing to the bad behavior of others is a bad habit for me. I don’t own more cars than I really need, or an excessively lavish home. I have no boats, RVs, motorcycles, or snowmobiles. I’ve given a little bit more to charity this year than I did last year at this time. Others are much more materialistic and greedy than me, so I’ve got nothing to worry about – right?

While I’m not as monetarily greedy as I once was, and I’m perhaps a little less so than some other people, I still have plenty of room to grow. When I stumble into some excess money, the first thing that I think about is not what I can do for others with my new-found treasure. When I think about retirement (far in the future for me), I do think about putting myself in a place where I am able to help others, but those thoughts come well after I have spent much time fantasizing about traveling, beaches, relaxation time, horses…you know…selfish stuff!

The greed that I am most plagued with though, is the greed of time. While I spend a fair amount of time volunteering at my parish, and I certainly don’t neglect my family, I truthfully long to spend a great deal of my time alone. I dream of having more time to go on solo fishing trips, hiking adventures — things like that. I look for every opportunity to stay home rather than going places with family. A certain amount of this can be attributed to my personality. I just enjoy quiet time for reflection and relaxation. Unfortunately, this can become, as greed is, excessive. I can get really frustrated when I don’t have the amount of time to myself that I feel I have earned.

We are called first and foremost to love God with our entire being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22). As I have reflected on in the past, I believe that this love must be much more of an action than a feeling or an emotion. This love, or charity, is the counter virtue to the vice of greed. Since my greed and selfishness seem to come in cycles, I work to recognize them during routine examinations of conscience. The most devout Saints have recommended a daily examination of conscience. While I usually fall short of that, I still do a fairly thorough examination a couple of times per week.

Once I’ve recognized my failures, I work to do simple acts of charity to move myself toward virtuousness and righteousness. Simply taking out the trash, emptying the dishwasher, or playing a board game with my children rather than switching on the computer, picking up a guitar, or heading out to the shop, can help me to move away from sin. I’ve always found that investing my time and money with someone else rather than myself tends to improve the way that I feel dramatically. Moving the focus from myself to those around me always helps to reawaken in me awareness of the most important relationships in my life. Even though I don’t always notice, I also know that this charitable behavior is often seen by others. There is no telling when my simple attempts to live the Gospel will affect someone else in a positive manner.

While many of us may feel an inordinate attachment to our money, I’m inordinately attached to my time. Either way, these vices can be overcome by recognizing them, confessing them, and by performing small penitential acts designed to help us realize the greatest commandment — love.

“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity–greedy, dishonest, adulterous–or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

This Pharisee, quite proud of his own holiness, is not unlike many of us today. Prosperity comes fairly easily in our culture, and we have a tendency to pat ourselves on the back with each new accomplishment. We are very quick to point out our successes, and very slow to mention the source of all the good that comes to us.

In addition, it’s very unpopular today to admit our own faults. We’re all individuals today, free to do as we wish, with no objective moral standards. There is no right and wrong. We Catholics, many of us prideful and self-righteous ourselves, rarely go to Confession where we can humble ourselves before God.

So what’s wrong with a little pride? Often the word pride is used to indicate that someone tries their best at something. “He shows pride in his work.” If someone is working to the best of their ability in order to make the best use of their God-given gifts, and in order to glorify God, I wouldn’t call that pride. I would call that an inspirational act of good faith. On the other hand, if an individual strives to do their best work in order to receive personal accolades, or to try and merit a promotion, or for an ego boost — that would be prideful.

Pride, even in small doses, leads to a self-centered view of life. It takes our focus from God and places it on ourselves. We like the feeling of self-satisfaction that comes with a little pride, and so we often continue to grow more prideful. Pride can be a grievous sin. It cuts us off from the grace of God. It’s an ugly side of our fallen humanity, a side that is more evident today than it ought to be.

Humility, the virtue in which one must grow to become less prideful, is not easily achieved. Look for the small things in life. When something stumps you or confuses you, look at that as an opportunity to recognize your shortcomings, but be grateful for all of the other areas in your life where God has gifted you. A penitential practice of withholding your opinion once in awhile can lead to humility. Recognizing that not everyone needs to hear everything that you have to say is a very humbling experience. Becoming a gracious loser is a difficult, but rewarding act of humility. Work to be truly happy for your opponent even when you’d prefer to come out on top.

Pride is the ultimate source of all the other Deadly Sins, and one to be avoided. Look at yourself honestly. Have you been prideful? Visit your local priest for the healing grace of God, found in the Sacrament of Reconciliation!

If you look at each of those words, they’re pretty good adjectives for American culture today. In the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a closer look at each of them — how they are seen in our culture, the ramifications, and what we can do to avoid them.