19 Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
James 2: 19-20
I would love to hear a series of sermons on each of the Deadly Sins and the Holy Virtues. A nearly forgotten feature of Catholicism is to make us fit for Heaven by moral reformation in this Vale of Tears. In the name of a misbegotten tolerance the worst sort of behavior thrives. Christ preached a moral reformation, and His Church should do likewise and in the same manner He did. A good place to start is with the Sevens and contemplating whether our behavior comports with our profession of Faith. I have found such an honest look in the mirror is hard to do personally but is absolutely necessary.
The List should be memorized. #3 and #7 are the ones I need to watch out for.
I have noticed in Christian – particularly Catholic – circles that when the topic of the Seven Deadly Sins arises, pride, anger, and lust are almost always cited, but rarely is gluttony discussed, yet here in America an exceedingly high percentage of our population is obese, and in the majority of such cases, that obesity is caused by gluttony. I write those words as a person who has succumbed to the sin of gluttony, the predictable result of which being heart attack and diabetes. In December of 2022 I weighed 240 lbs at 5 feet 10 inches tall, and had to use a cane in order to walk. Because of my failure to take care of the only body which the good Lord has given me, seven stents were installed in four cardiac arteries. Fortunately, our Blessed Lord allowed me to survive a second heart attack (obviously the first was an insufficient warning). My blood sugar was north of 200 mg/dl and my A1C was 10+. Triglycerides and cholesterol readings were likewise dangerously out of specification. All this was due to one thing: GLUTTONY! So my physician told me that if I failed to do what he directed, then I would become impotent and have another cardiac event. Neither of those options was acceptable. So I began a program of dieting (no carbohydrates; no bread, no potato, no rice, no pasta, no candy, no pie, no cookies, no cake, etc.) and exercise (I started by daily walking 2 miles using my cane).
A screen capture of my current exercise regimen is attached. I spin in the morning, lift weights at lunchtime, and row or fast-walk in the evening (due to knee joint issues, my days of running are sadly over). I have (due to necessity) become very disciplined in letting God control my dieting and giving me the strength to row one more kilometer, walk one more mile, and lift one more repetition off the bench. I am now 195 lbs with an A1C of 5.1 and a daily blood sugar average of 100.3 mg/dl. Though I am a 66+ year old diabetic cardiac patient, I can row 8 kilometers in 38 minutes, spin the stationary bike 25 kilometers in 37 minutes, walk 6 kilometers in an hour, and push 200+ lbs off my chest on the bench. While I won’t post a photo of this, but my abdominals are now visible, and I am no longer ashamed that my wife sees me without clothes in the bedroom (whoopie! God is good!). All this is due to the simple act of turning my gluttony over to God and asking for help. My AA sponsor told me to do that years ago!
Another thing to give further perspective: December 18th last month was my semi-annual physician’s visit. As usual I provided all my trend graphs in Microsoft Excel as only a nuclear trained person would: heart rate exercise data, daily blood glucose trends, etc. My current doctor (who like my wife is a Filipina) said that I am her A1+ patient. And because of some positive feedback I had previously given her earlier in the year for her wise counsel on exercise and dieting (which I actually followed – hard to believe, I know), she gave a Christmas present consisting of a Filipino treat which she (of course) forbade me to eat because of its sugar content (being a Filipina, she got it for my wife since my wife’s encouragement and emotional support have been indispensable). I did not expect any of that, and I am grateful, most of all to the good Lord for giving me a physician who really cares about her patients’ well-being and is helping me to get healthy and strong.
Conclusion: obesity is optional. My AA sponsor had sent me to Overeaters Anonymous because of this defect of character. So if you got a problem with gluttony (and like me, most of you do), then go to http://www.oa.org. You don’t have to be a fat pig if you don’t want to be one. (1) Do what your physician tells you to do, (2) give your physician some positive feedback, and (3) thank the good Lord that you’re still on this side of the grass (or snow as the case may be) this New Year.
In my nightly examen I list 8 complementary virtues and sins (adding gratitude/self-pity to the list) and give myself a grade for the day; usually B, often B-, occasionally, C or C+, haven’t reached B+ or A’s yet.
What Dr. Kurland wrote in taking his daily inventory (or examination of conscience, or AA’s 10th Step) is exactly how to deal with these Seven Deadly Sins (all my favorite defects of character). This takes real work, not some pious platitudes of self-righteous sanctimony. I recall well when I had issues with lust and my AA sponsor recommended http://www.sa.org. The rest is not rated PG, but suffice it to say that only the 12 steps worked me (I am hard headed).
Anger is a perpetual issue. Lucius Annaeus Seneca wrote a whole book on that –> De Ira. My copy is all marked up (example is displayed below). It’s perhaps the least favorite book in my collection, but if he were still alive, my 2nd sponsor from when I was getting sober years ago would tell me that that is the one I need to read, study, and practice the most. PS, the underlined text says:
Pugna tecum ipse: si vis vincere iram, non potest te illa. Incipis vincere, si absconditur, si illi exitus non datur.
Fight with yourself: if you want to overcome anger, it cannot [overcome] you. You begin to win if it is buried, if it is not given an outlet [exit].
I miss my 2nd sponsor’s wisdom. Bottom line: any of those Seven Deadly Sins can get me drunk or high again. Right now the battle is with gluttony, and as my 2nd sponsor always said, I lost the battle, so I had better let my Higher Power win it.
My conclusion: don’t wait for a priest to start preaching the hard stuff from the pulpit. Donald’s wish for sermons on the Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Holy Virtues, while desperately needed, likely won’t happen at any parish near you (there are of course happy exceptions). Sadly, in today’s Novus Ordo milquetoast homilies, you’ll only get stuff that tickles the ears (1st Timothy 4:3-4). No priest wants to offend his congregation by saying, “Stop looking at internet porn! Stop eating like pig! Stop acting like jerk! Men, love your wives and children! Women, obey your husbands as the Church is supposed to obey Christ!”
We all know what to do, and Dr. Kurland’s example is best. For me, that means a daily 10th Step – continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. My 2nd sponsor always added, “And when we were right, we promptly shut up,” because no one likes a self-righteous alcoholic.
[…] & Catholic Exorcists – Donald R. McClarey, J.D., at The American CatholicThe Sevens – Donald R. McClarey, J.D., at The American CatholicHow Barnes and Noble Made a Comeback by […]
Thank you for posting this. Many know the Seven Deadly Sins, but I surmise (even having completed 14 years of Catholic schooling the tail end of last century) far fewer, including myself until today, know the Seven Holy Virtues. In particular, numbers 2 and 5 are not simple antonyms.