Sin: The Reason Why We Need God

Sin

Offense against God, reason, truth, and right conscience that creates the hardness of heart

Sin of Commision

Sin that is a direct result of a freely chosen thought, word, or deed

Sin of Ommision

Sin that is a direct result of a failure to do something required by God’s moral law

Venial Sin

Cracks the relationship with others and God, does not contain serious matter, healed through the Penitential Rite at mass or prayer

Mortal Sin

Breaks the relationship between God and others, contains serious matter, healed through individual confession

Social Sin

Sum of countless sins and omissions located in social structures

Collective Blindness

Situations and actions which promote or facilitate greed, oppression, selfishness, suffering, pain, and division

How Do We Change Structures of Social Sins?

Valuing each person as an image of God, making the preservation of human dignity the highest priority, ensuring that essential human needs are met and rights are protected

Vice

Character weakness that encourages us to sin

Virtue

Character strength that encourages us to do good. Ex: faith, hope, charity, prudence, temperance, and justice

Gluttony

Overindulgence or overconsumption. Associated with Bielzebub

Greed / Avarice

Desire for money, objects, and wealth through hoarding because the person does not feel safe. Associated with Mammon.

Sloth

Spiritual apathy/ joylessness, failing in loving God with all one’s heart, and extreme laziness. Associated with Belphegar

Envy

Desire for someone else’s traits, status, ability or situation and resents another person’s good fortune. Associated with Leviathan

Wrath (Anger)

Uncontrolled feelings of hatred and a desire for revenge. Associated with Satan.

Lust

Obsessive desire for another person but treating someone as an object. Objectifying, self-centerted sexual craving. Associated with Asmodeus

Pride

Vanity or self absorbed attitude and believing we do not need God because we are better than him. All other sins arise from pride. Associated with Lucifer.

Luciferic Impulses in Humans

Represents false light, lacks awareness, overstimulates senses, encourages hedonism, and tempts excessive indulgences

Gluttony is replaced by…

Temperance (self control and balance)

Greed is replaced by…

Love and charity (sharing what one has)

Sloth is replaced by…

Diligence (developed work ethic)

Wrath is replaced by…

Patience (composure and rational thinking)

Envy is replaced by…

Kindness

Lust is replaced by…

Chastity (purity of motive and desire for genuine connection/union)

Pride is replaced by…

Humility (realistic and truthful)

Conscience

Inner sense that something is right or wrong and an inhibiting sense of what is prudent.

Conscience needs 2 things to function properly:

Freedom and Knowledge of the Good

Conscience must be…

Educated, molded, and developed

Conscience is not just…

An inner voice, taught by upbringing alone, or a feeling

Conscience involves…

Knowing God’s truth, studying and reflecting on our actions and desicions, and making moral judgements based on knowledge of right and wrong

Lax Conscience

Conscience is ignored or underemployed

Erroneous Conscience

Judges something incorrectly because of ignorance

Callous Conscience

Lack of empathy, compassion, and concern for others which is prone to wrongdoing

Scrupulous Conscience

Excessively concerned about sin and guilt, sees sin when it is not present

Informed Conscience

Educated and developed through constant use and reflection

Desensitized Conscience

Viewing sin as normal because of prolonged exposure. Violence, verbal abuse, disrespect, pain, sexual promiscuity, and lying may become ‘normal’.

Politics without Principals Examples

Election fraud, power games, staying in power at all costs, partisan politics, lobbying, and bribes

Wealth without Work Examples

Not working and profiting from others, playing the stock market, gambling, and sweat shop slavery

Pleasure without Conscience Examples

Living for the next thrill, hunting for fun, drugs, dangerous games, sexual pleasure overstimulation, and overindulgence

Knowledge without Character Examples

Keeping knowledge to themself and an education that ignores character building

Commerce without Morality Examples

Imitation products, ignoring people to make maximum profit, price gouging, cheating, lying, cheap slave labor, and when profits matter more than people

Science without Humanity Examples

Waging unjust wars, creating weapons of mass destruction that harm people long term, GMOs, gene mixing/cloning, and AI

Worship without Sacrifice Examples

Public show of worship, reducing religion to meaningless practices, and not living by religion