Sin is an affront against God, and a challenge to His Divine Authority. Sins fall under different categories. There are sins of commission, committed in full knowledge, and sins of omission, committed in full or partial ignorance.

But, even a single sin of omission can send someone to Hell fire as the unnamed Rich Man discovered, to his chagrin, for neglecting the plight of poor Lazarus.   

In addition, there is the acquired or congenital original sin, inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve, and the baggage of committed sins for which we are individually accountable.

No living individual is absolutely sinless. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Even the Pope, in spite of being infallible in his official actions and decisions under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has his own human shortcomings.

As the Bible states in 1 John 1:8, “If we claim that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” That is the reason why every Holy Mass begins with the general penitential rite of openly acknowledging our most grievous fault in doing what we are not expected to do, and failing to do what we are expected to do, thus requesting for the temporary reprieve of both sins of commission and omission in order to make ourselves worthy to participate in the liturgy. 

However, individual visit to the confessional is mandatory for full absolution of sins, and for participation in the Eucharist. All sins are evil and keep us away from the favour of God. Sin is sin, regardless of its lightness or gravity, and an accumulation of minor sins amount to a major one. But the deadly sins are capable of destroying both body and soul. 

The deadly sins were first identified in the 4th Century AD as ‘eight evil thoughts’ by Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 AD), a Christian monk who added ‘sadness’ as the eighth. Pope Gregory the Great, in the 6th Century, enumerated the seven deadly sins, otherwise known as the seven capital or cardinal vices, in order of increasing severity (from the least deadly to the most deadly) as follows: Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.

Then in the 13th Century, Thomas Aquinas (later canonised on 18 July 1323 by Pope John XXII) theologised on the cardinal sins, and the nature of sin in general. The deadly sins are so called because they are the sources and origins of other grave sins closely associated with them. In other words, they are root evils which branch out into larger foliage of evils that invariably lead the perpetrators to Hell fire.

 

Lust, otherwise known as lechery, leads to fornication, adultery, rape, homosexuality, bestiality, masturbation, and other unbridled and unwholesome sexual desires. In this context, it is the exact opposite of love. 

 

Gluttony is over-consumption of anything edible or potable (i.e. drinkable). Derived from the Latin word ‘gluttire’ (meaning to gulp down or swallow), gluttony is excessive intake of food and drink to the point of waste.

It is a sin because it is a selfish act which diminishes the ration for others, leaving the poor and the vulnerable hungry. Aquinas lists five different categories of gluttony: Eating too expensively, eating too daintily, eating too much, eating too soon, and eating too eagerly - all are different forms of abnormalities pertaining to eating and drinking. Thus drunkenness is a branch of gluttony. 

 

Greed leads to avarice, an insatiable acquisitive tendency. The greedy wants to acquire virtually everything he or she sets eyes upon. Of course, stealing, kleptomania, embezzlement, money laundering, corruption, and other forms of larceny, are the branches of this evil root.

Even materialism, the obnoxious desire to worship wealth and other inanimate objects, is an offshoot of greed. As the saying goes, money is the root of all evils. But, it is not money per se, but excessive craving for it. Greed feeds on the limitless human wants, as against the limited human needs. 

 

Sloth is best described as habitual laziness, perpetual lack of enthusiasm or zeal to exert oneself and utilise one’s God-given talents. A slothful person can also be phlegmatic, slow in responding to any situation. In Proverbs 6:6, Solomon says “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.” Imagine the anthills which compete with skyscrapers built by man. The ant colony is even better organised than the human society.

While the queen ant is protected for procreation, the soldiers and the workers diligently perform their naturally assigned roles. Sloth results in a drawback, not only for the individual, but for the community as a whole. It is, therefore, a sin for a parishioner to deny the parish of the talents that God has given him or her to advance the Church. 

 

Wrath is choler, excessive show of anger, which manifests through violence and aggression. It proceeds from lack of patience and understanding and the absence of neighbourly love, Taken too far, wrath can lead to accidental murder.  

 

Envy, the sixth capital sin, is one of the most deadly. Envy is jealousy taken too far. This is different from healthy jealousy - a harmless desire to achieve the feat performed by someone else. The moment you are depressed or saddened by the achievement or advancement of a friend or colleague, you are becoming envious, and set to commit a deadly sin.

Envy leads to hate or aversion, which may result in premeditated murder. The first murder, in which Cain killed his brother, Abel, proceeded from envy.

 

Pride, the seventh deadly sin, is certainly one of the deadliest. It results in haughtiness, arrogance, boastfulness, and a hollow feeling of self-importance. Pride goes before a fall, so goes the adage; and the fall of the proud is often calamitous. In Jeremiah 9:23-24, the Bible says, “Let not the mighty man boast of his might…”; rather he should boast of his knowledge of God. The extra cardinal vice which is on the list of Evagrius Ponticus is Sadness, that pervasive feeling of hopelessness, despair, and grim resignation.

Although there are those inevitable moments of depression in human life, a true Christian should not remain in sadness for long. Perpetual sorrow is a manifestation of lack of faith in God, lack of appreciation of the eternal sacrifice that Jesus has made for our redemption. The knowledge that Mother Mary is always there to intercede on our behalf should be sufficient to dispel any feeling of sadness.

 

All the deadly sins are sins of the flesh, committed largely against our neighbour. The ultimate cure or prevention for them is to obey the two fundamental commandments: love and devotion to God; and love and service to humanity.