Part 6

All sin is a violation of God's Commandments, and God is a righteous Judge Who will call every man to account for what he has done; but not only _will_ He do so, He _does_ so now; and in this present life, to some extent, does punishment come on the man who sins. We see this in actual life, how that certain acts do bring with them their condemnation and their chastisement on the doer of them.

We see the same in nations that transgress God's laws. God visits it upon these nations, and brings them down, till by suffering they have come to recognize their guilt.

3. Sin _alienates_ from God. God hates sin, and he who is in sin is at enmity with God, is separated from God, and God's favour is withdrawn in a large degree from him. Jesus Christ, by His merits, brought us into reconciliation with the Father, blotting out the handwriting of offences that was against us. The merits of Christ's atonement were _applied_ to us at our Baptism. Then we who were aliens were made nigh by the blood of Christ. Every sin after Baptism separates us from God, darkens the light that shines on us, checks the flow of Divine grace that nourishes our spiritual life.

4. We can, indeed, _return to the favour of God_, through the merits of the death of Christ; but every return from mortal sin is a revival from the dead, a special call back out of the state of transgression into which we have thrown ourselves, into the way of salvation. To obtain this we must _realize_ that we have sinned, _repent_, be sincerely sorry for what we have done, and _resolve_ never to do the same again. Then, and not till then, does God for Christ's sake forgive us. No repentance is sufficient that has not the character of recognition of the gravity of the offence, sorrow for having offended God, and sincere desire for amendment.

When there is true repentance, then God _pardons the guilt_, but He does not remove the consequences of the act. The punishment must still be undergone. Thus, a man may have ruined his constitution by his excesses, or squandered his patrimony. He may bitterly deplore his sin, and sincerely resolve to avoid all occasions of sin for the future, but, though God on his true repentance blots out his iniquity, He does not restore robustness to his constitution, nor does He return to him his wasted patrimony.

Fifth Saturday in Lent.

_THE EFFECTS OF SIN._

(CONTINUED.)

We will now further consider the effects of Sin, and these the particular effects.

We live three lives; as we are made up of Body, Mind, and Soul, each has its special life. The Body lives an animal life, the Mind an intelligent life, and the Soul a spiritual life.

Sin produces a disturbing and poisoning effect on all these lives.

1. _The life of the Body._ God made man healthy, vigorous, and immortal. The introduction of Sin into the world has produced disease, infirmity, and death.

Sin is the cause of hard and exhausting toil, of the many hardships, privations, troubles to which we are exposed in this life, and it is the cause of the separation of soul and body in death, and of the corruption that ensues in the grave.

Sin has a certain deteriorating effect on the body when indulged in, at all events those sins which are sins of the flesh, such as drunkenness, gluttony, sensuality. They bring their condemnation with them on the body that sins.

2. _The life of the Mind._ The true illumination of the mind is God. An intellectual life is willed by God. No man may lawfully neglect to cultivate his understanding by neglecting to acquire knowledge, or his reason, by neglecting to use his rational power. If man does, he sins, he is wasting a precious gift of God, and the light that is in him is darkened, he becomes a prey to superstition, ignorance, stupidity. The life of his mind becomes stunted and extinguished. Sin acts on the mind as well as on the body, it distorts its perception of the truth, narrows its view, and leads it to mistake falsehood for truth.

3. _The life of the Soul._ This is the most important life of all, and it is the life usually least regarded. This is the life that is divine in us, the breath of God. It has a double aspect (_a_) as to God, and (_b_) as to man. That is to say, it lives in two relations, one to God, the other to man.

This spiritual life is the life of the spiritual faculty in man which enables him to see God, to delight in His presence, to love and to fear Him, to find pleasure in prayer and in meditation on the things that are invisible. It enables him to look beyond time into eternity, and to desire those things that God has promised.

Sin, when it has touched the soul, weakens its faculties. Its power of vision is affected. "Blessed are the pure in heart," said our Lord, "for they shall see God," but impurity is like a film over the eye, clouding its vision. As the soul ceases to see God, it ceases also to love Him, it takes less delight in prayer; the body, or the mind, gains advantages over it, the compound life is no longer maintained in due balance, but one factor or other overlaps, and chokes the spiritual life.

Again, the spiritual life is the life of the spiritual faculty in man which enables him to observe God's law, and Sin lames and weakens man's moral powers. As long as the spiritual life is healthy, man's moral life is also healthy, for indeed the moral life is only another aspect of the same divine life in man. But if man delivers himself up to Sin, then this moral power in him is weakened, it ceases to speak distinctly, it becomes confused, and finally ceases to speak altogether.

It is possible by continuance in sin to extinguish the spiritual life altogether. If the mind be not employed, then it sinks into inertness and death of the rational and intellectual faculties, and unless the soul be allowed to grow and expand, it also will languish. And if by continuance in Sin the soul be subjected to wound after wound, and its voice be never listened to, then finally it will die.

Fifth Sunday in Lent.

_THE DEADLY VICES._

1. Certain Vices go by the name of Capital or Deadly Vices, because they lie at the head or source of all sin; and because they mortally affect the soul.

But they are not in themselves acts, but principles or springs out of which sins issue.

They are reckoned as seven in number, but neither does Scripture indicate this number, nor has the Church come to any decision on this point. It is rather common sense, and common observation, that have led to this classification, and it is a classification simple and intelligible, and of practical use.

These seven Capital Vices are seven mothers who, when taken into the heart, settle there, and produce large families of sins. They are _Vices_, that is to say, they are dispositions towards evil, disordered inclinations left in us by original sin, whence spring up in us, _by the consent of the will_, large crops of bad actions, _i.e._, of sins. Vice is a habitual disposition towards evil. Sin is the action produced by this disposition when it has seduced the heart into giving consent to it. Vice may exist without sin, and sin can exist without vice. That is to say, there may be a vicious inclination which cannot manifest itself in act, because the opportunity is wanting. A sin may be committed without vicious inclination, out of carelessness, or against the inclination which is towards good, through the weakness of the nature and debility of the will.

Everyone has, more or less, the roots of vices in him, though in some they are far stronger than in others, and in some individuals certain vicious propensities are stronger than other vicious propensities. One man may have a natural proclivity towards pride, and this very inclination towards pride may neutralize in him the inclination towards indolence.

2. The seven Capital Vices are:--

1. Pride. 2. Avarice. 3. Luxury. 4. Envy. 5. Gluttony. 6. Anger. 7. Indolence.

Of these Pride, Avarice, and Envy, are vices of the soul; Luxury, Gluttony, Anger, are vices of the body. Indolence is a vice of the soul and of the body.

Of Pride it is said, "Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord." (Prov. xvi. 5.) "God resisteth the proud." (James iv. 6.) "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth do I hate." (Prov. viii. 13.)

Of Avarice it is said, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God," and S. Paul says that among these are "the covetous" who "shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." (1 Cor. vi. 10.) "No covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God." (Eph. v. 5.) David speaks of "the covetous, whom God abhorreth." (Ps. x. 3.)

Of Luxury, there are many and strong denunciations in Scripture, it is one of those conditions which, like avarice, shuts out from the Kingdom of God. (1 Cor. vi. 10.) S. John saw the luxurious shut out from the gates of the New Jerusalem. See also Gal. v. 19.

Of Gluttony, that is of indulgence to excess in eating and drinking, the same is said. "The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these--drunkenness, revellings, and such like, of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." (Gal. v. 21.)

Of Envy it is the same, "Envyings," are included among the works of the flesh.

So also is Anger.

Indolence is the torpor of the soul and body, which will not exert itself to do what is right, or to resist what is wrong. It is a state of indifference to the true ends for which man has been made, and in Scripture is called sleep--"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead."

Fifth Monday in Lent.

_IN WHAT THE VICES ARE ROOTED._

The soil in which the Seven Vices find their root is Self-love, or rather in an undue and disordered love of Self. If we really loved ourselves we would seek to mortify and kill all the vices in us; but it is through undue and irrational self-love that the vices find root and opportunity to grow and flourish.

1. Self-love is not in itself sinful. God has planted in every man a love for himself. It is part of the nature of every man and of every intelligent creature to take care of self, and seek those things which conduce to its welfare. God has even set self-love as the measure to us of the love we should bear to our fellows. (Matt. xix. 19.)

2. Self-love becomes sinful when it is excessive and unreasonable. When, for instance, the love of self makes a man disregard another's need or comfort. When, moreover, it becomes a dominating passion in the soul, obscuring and even extinguishing the love of God. When it seeks wrong ends for self, the indulgence of selfish pleasures, selfish comforts, passion, glorification. Then self-love is sinful. When a person takes no interest in any subject but what concerns self, has no talk save of what touches self, sees everything in the light in which it affects self, then self-love is unduly great.

Moreover, self-love may be disordered when it seeks for its end apart from God, in its pleasures, in its self-glorification, in its self-righteousness. Some people dethrone God and set up self in His place, and make self-interest their only law, and self their only law-giver. Again, self-love becomes sinful when it sees good where good is not, and takes the appearance for the reality.

Self-love is disposed to self-delusion whenever it is allowed to consider itself too highly.

3. Self-love once excessive and unreasonable, draws on to pride, avarice, luxury, gluttony, anger, indolence, because it shows man his supreme good in honours that flatter, riches and pleasures that puff up and indulge self-love, revenge against such as offend self-love, and that neglect of duty which comes so easy to those who give way to self-love. All the Seven Vices minister to self-love, pamper and feed it, assist in its growth, and tend to make it take the place of God in the heart.

Self-love is harmless so long as it does not encourage the growth of these noxious vices. We must therefore be very watchful of ourselves, and hold our love of self under severe control, never allowing it to become a soil in which vices may luxuriate, but seeing that it be a garden plot in which Christian graces spring up, which it well may, for the same soil that grows weeds will grow flowers.

4. Self-control, self-renunciation, are required of us by Christ. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matt. xvi. 24.) The true love of self has a far eye and looks to eternity, and seeks those things that are above, not the things that minister to self-love below; seeks the salvation of the soul, not the pampering of the flesh and the flattery of pride. And the only way of obtaining the imperishable riches and unfading joys, is by resisting the inclinations of the carnal nature towards such as are for a time, and perish in the using. There is a true love of self and a false love of self; or rather love may be directed towards the elevation of the better self, or to the degradation of the inferior self. It is necessary to distinguish between the elements that make man, Body, Soul, and Mind, and to seek those things which minister to the superior elements--Mind and Soul, not to the animal part of man--Body. Or again, not to serve only the Mind and neglect the Soul, but to seek the welfare of the Soul first of all.

Fifth Tuesday in Lent.

_PRIDE._

1. Pride is the love and estimation man has for himself beyond measure. Every man should have a proper pride in himself as a creature of God, an heir of everlasting life, and so maintain his dignity and self-respect, not degenerating into buffoonery, and making himself a laughing-stock to men.

But Pride must be within due limits. Let no man think more highly of himself than he ought to think.

2. There are five ways in which Pride may become excessive and sinful.

(_a_) When a man is puffed up with self-esteem because of the natural gifts he has received, as though they came from himself, and were not the unmerited gift of God. Thus a girl may become vain and conceited because she has good hair or eyes, and is esteemed a beauty. A man because he has wealth. He becomes purse-proud. Or because he has great abilities. Or because he has great strength and health. This leads to vain boasting, to an insolent demeanour, to great self-opinionativeness.

(_b_) When a man regards what successes he has met with as due to his merits. Success may be, and probably is, due in most cases to frugality, sound judgment, caution at one time and daring at another; but there is ever in it an element of the unforeseen, due to God's ordering. Moreover, the good qualities, the prudence, frugality, and so on, in the man are the growth of good elements implanted in him by God. A man must always acknowledge God as the Giver of all good things, recognize His hand in the inception and the carrying out of whatever succeeds, and must not attribute it solely to himself. The thought of self drives the thought of God out of the mind.

(_c_) When a man boasts himself of what he has not. When, that is, in order to flatter his self-pride before others, he pretends to be, or to have what he is not, or has not got. Thus living under false appearances, living beyond one's income, are due to Pride.

(_d_) When a man despises others. Every man who looks down on, disparages, and regards others as common and vile, is guilty of Pride.

The rich have no occasion to despise the poor, those of one social class to talk contemptuously of those of another, or as being _common_ people, as _Nobodies_. With God nothing is common, and not one of His creatures is a Nobody. Moreover, it is possible to sin through pride if those who have committed no mortal sins despise such as have sinned. Spiritual Pride is the worst kind of Pride.

3. Pride produces a good many children, all bad when overgrown.

(_a_) _Ambition._ The desire to distinguish oneself above others. Harmless when moderate, evil when excessive.

(_b_) _Vain-glory._ The desire to make parade of those qualities one has, and to attribute to oneself qualities one has not. Always bad.

(_c_) _Ostentation._ The affectation of making display of those advantages we possess--wealth, cleverness, knowledge, &c. Always not only bad, but vulgar.

(_d_) _Contempt for others_, leading to disparaging what is good in others, and exaggerating their faults. Never other than bad.

(_e_) _Presumption_, which impels to attempt what is beyond one's powers. It is not wrong to have self-confidence in what one has. It is wrong when one presumes on what _one has not_.

(_f_) _Hypocrisy_, which seeks to show to the world a better face than what one really has, to pretend to be what one is not. Ever bad.

(_g_) _Obstinacy_, which follows self-determination as if that must be right; and a stubbornness which does not suffer a man to give way when his reason has been convinced that he is wrong.

(_h_) _Disobedience_, which follows on self-conceit, making a man follow his own wishes and opinions, and disobey just commands, because he desires independence, or because he despises his superiors and those in authority over him.

Sixth Wednesday in Lent.

_AVARICE._

1. Avarice or Covetousness is a disorderly and unreasonable and excessive attachment to the things of this world, especially to money.

Now the love of the good things of this world is by no means sinful in itself, it is legitimate. God gives them to us to enjoy. God gives to us earthly things to be possessions, to keep, and to enlarge, and multiply. To throw away wantonly what has been given to us is sinful. For instance, it is sinful to squander money in extravagance, in horse racing, in gambling. Riches are a trust, land and houses are a trust, given us from God, and we must not diminish what we have received, in amount and value, but endeavour to make them more. It is a token of gratitude to God for this gift that we appreciate them, and use them profitably.

2. Worldly goods are given to us to satisfy the necessities of life, not only in the matter of eating, and drinking, and clothing, but of our mental and spiritual life also. Our worldly goods are given to us to enable us to cultivate art, and science, and literature, all that goes towards the furtherance of the amenities of life: music, painting, architecture, sculpture, horticulture, &c.

Worldly goods are given to us that with them we may do what we can to mitigate the miseries of the poor and suffering, and to advance God's Kingdom, and enrich and adorn His Sanctuaries and His Service. Consequently we are using our riches aright when we seek out means of relieving distress, when we assist in the propagation of the Gospel among the heathen, and when we build and decorate Churches, and provide for the beautiful musical rendering of the worship of God.

3. Avarice is a mortal vice when we:--

(_a_) Desire the good things of this world for the sole gratification they yield to our senses, when they minister to our luxury. When we love them for a selfish reason, and value them only as they minister to the comfort, ease, indulgence, and pampering of self.

(_b_) Avarice is a sin when we desire the good things of this world inordinately. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (1 John ii. 15, 16.)

Excessive love of the things of this world becomes idolatry. (Eph. v. 6.)

(_c_) Avarice is a sin when it agitates the mind, and occupies it with excessive anxiety after the good things of this world. "Take no thought for the morrow," says our Lord, "for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 33, 34.) That is to say, the mind is to be mainly occupied with the true end of life, and strain for that, and the striving after all material interests must be kept in subordination to that.

(_d_) Avarice, or Covetousness, has several daughters. It produces in man--1. _Callousness_ to distress. He loses feeling for the distress of the poor and suffering. He begrudges everything given to them as something taken from himself. 2. _Dishonesty._ In order to increase wealth, the Conscience is hushed to pass over certain fraudulent or dishonest acts whereby money may be gained unfairly, by false representation, by selling a thing at what is beyond its worth, &c. 3. _Unrest._ The mind is engrossed by the cares and anxieties of the pursuit of wealth, so that no good seed can grow in it. The calm and peace of a Conscience at rest in God pursuing the true end is gone, and is replaced by constant uneasiness as to how certain speculations will turn out, what profit will come from a certain sale, or how certain losses are to be made up.

Sixth Thursday in Lent.

_LUXURY._

1. Luxury incites to the indulgence of the senses excessively, beyond what God's law permits. As a vice, it consists in the love of what is sensuous, and the inclination to yield to the pleasures of the sense.

It leads to forgetfulness of God and idolatry. That is to say, to the enthronement of self in the place of God. Everything is made to give way to the indulgence of the pleasures and caprices of self. God exacts of us the homage of the entire man--body, soul and spirit; luxury corrupts the body so that it can no longer be presented holy and without blame to God; stains and enervates the soul, and dulls the mind, filling it with lassitude and indifference.

It leads to sacrilege, for sacrilege is the profanation of that which is dedicated to God. Now, man's body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and S. Paul shews that sensuality is a defilement of this temple.

Moreover, Christ took human nature upon Him to restore human nature, to purify it, and if we by indulgence desecrate the body, we are dishonouring that nature which Christ stooped to assume.

2. Luxury indulged in becomes a _servitude_. He that doeth sin is the servant of sin. (John viii. 13.) The more that the carnal nature is yielded to, the more exacting it becomes. It is never satisfied, it is ever crying out for fresh pleasures, and even when the faculty of enjoyment is over, the burning craving after new pleasures remains.

Luxury indulged in _gives the Evil One power over us_. At first he advised, suggested evil, then he commands as a master, and will be obeyed. The sinner groans in his bondage and desires to escape, but remains in chains, his efforts to escape are powerless.

Luxury indulged in _weakens the power of resistance_. The sinner becomes with every sin yielded to more frail and more cowardly. His will becomes more powerless every time he yields, he makes the next fall more easy, recovery more difficult.

3. Luxury is not merely the yielding to gross sins of the flesh. It is a root of inclination in man to yield to and pamper the body in many ways not in themselves sinful. Any excessive indulgence in pleasure, in ease, in dress, in entertainments, in distractions, in ├Žstheticism, may be, and often is, mortal vice. To take a simple case, the reading of novels. A novel may be read as a distraction from laborious thought, or painful thought. But to make fiction the main nutriment of the mind and imagination is to indulge in the vice of luxury.