"Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of education, politics, social action and morals."
It made me think how the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, affects our day-to-day living.
I also read in the CCC the resultant condition of our human nature after the Fall (cf. 405, CCC):
- Wounded in the natural powers proper to human nature;
- Subject to ignorance;
- Subject to suffering;
- Subject to the dominion of death; and
- Inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called "concupiscence".
It is this "concupiscence" that makes our life in this world so miserable. However much we desire to be a good person, we will always be confronted with this reality. This makes every person's life a "warfare" (cf. Job 7:1):
"The whole of man's history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God's grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity." (Gaudium et Spes 37 § 2)
How, then, will we - each of us - should conduct this "war"?
First, I realized we should accept concupiscence as personally experienced by each us through the seven (7) capital sins:
- pride
- envy
- laziness or sloth
- wrath or disordered anger
- greed or avarice
- gluttony
- lust
Second, I discovered we should recognize it is not our personal fault to experience these. We spontaneously feel them as a reaction to the persons and things around us. We neither will nor desire these capital sins.
The late Karol Wojtyla (aka Pope John Paul II, JP2) somehow enlightened us on the mechanics of the capital sins in his book, Love and Responsibility. Prof. Edward P. Sri has done us a big favor in bringing to our reach the ideas of the late Pope John Paul II. He wrote a series of articles (published by Catholics United for the Faith) expounding on the late Pope's book.
Prof. Sri's article entitled "The Battle for Purity" is valuable in understanding capital sins (online version of the article is available here: http://www.cuf.org/LayWitness/Online_view.asp?lwID=887) .
Through the words of Prof. Sri we can have a glimpse of Pope John Paul II's thoughts:
"[JP2] seems to identify three general stages in the battle against sensual egoism. First, one may experience a spontaneous sensual reaction. At this stage, one happens to notice the sexual values of another person’s body and reacts to those values spontaneously."
This first stage is not sinful. In fact, it is something willed by God and normal that we are attracted sexually toward the opposite sex.
"However, [JP2] warns us of how easy it is to move from the first stage of simple interest in the sexual values of another person to the second stage of hankering after them in one’s heart as a potential object of sensual pleasure. [He] calls this second stage sensual concupiscence. At this point, something within the person begins to stir: a desire for the sexual values of the other person’s body as an object to enjoy. Now the sexual values are not simply an object of interest, but an actual object of sensual desire in our hearts."
This second stage is the capital sin of lust:
"Still, [JP2] says that even this second stage of sensual attraction is not necessarily sinful. It is the effect of concupiscence (the inclination toward sin). ... [He] says even this stirring of sensual desire is not in itself sinful as long as the will resists that desire to use the person—as long as the will does not consent to it. Indeed, we may experience sensual desire mounting intensely within us without our will actually consenting to it and even with our will directly opposing it."
It is in the third stage that man becomes a sinner:
"...if the will does not resist this stirring of the sensual appetite, a person falls into the third stage, which [JP2] calls carnal desire. Here, the will gives up resisting, throws in the towel, and consents to pursuing the pleasurable feelings occurring within him. He deliberately commits his will to the promptings of his body, even though those promptings direct him to treat the woman’s body as an object of enjoyment either in his actions or in his thoughts, memory, or imagination."
We can safely surmise that the same process occurs in all the other capital sins: first, we apprehend a good around us; then, we spontaneously react to it with a concupiscent desire; finally, it is only when our will consent to the feeling that we commit a sin.
Thus, I am convinced it is not proper to accuse oneself in the Sacrament of Reconciliation of concupiscent desires. For example, it is improper to accuse ourselves that we "feel envious". Rather, we should reject, mention and confess the consented evil thoughts we harbor when we feel envious.
The third step in conducting this "war" is to resist the suggestions of our concupiscent desires and perform the opposite good actions, thoughts and desires. The more often we repeat this third step, the more we develop a certain detachment from the concupiscent desires.
To be prepared, more or less, against our concupiscence, it would be desirable to be aware of the good that triggers it. Here is a quick summary of the "triggers":
| "Triggers" | Capital Sins |
|---|---|
| Good-in-us | Pride |
| Good-in-others | Envy |
| Difficult-good | Sloth/Laziness |
| Apparent-good | Wrath/Wrong Anger |
| Material-good | Greed/Avarice |
| Pleasurable-good | Gluttony |
| Sexual attraction | Lust |
We experience pride when we learn something "good" in us. For example, when we learned we are better in arithmetic or math than the rest of our classmates after the result of an exam or test was announced and we are the top scorer. We spontaneously feel pride in ourselves. This proud feeling pushes us to look down on others.
We experience envy when we learn something "good" in others that we do not possess. We instantaneouly feel sad when we hear or learn someone is successful, fortunate or good at something.
We experience laziness when we are confronted with a "good" that is hard to get. For instance, we feel sad and lazy when we are asked to finish a labor-intensive project.
We feel angry when someone corrects us of our mistakes. A correction is something good, but we fail to see its goodness at first. We react to it as if it is something bad, thus we are angered by it.
We feel greed when a material thing, we own, is asked from us. Like when we are asked to give alms. There is a feeling of resistance to let go of our money or possessions.
Gluttony is a tendency to indulge in the pleasure that come with certain good things like food, rest and play. For example, when we see a delicious meal, we feel, in an instant, the desire to enjoy the meal regardless of its nutritive value.
Lust is the tendency to reduce the opposite sex into an object of sexual pleasure, disregarding his or her unique value as a person.
The more often we give in to concupiscent desires and succumb to its promptings, the more ingrained and deep-rooted vices will be in us. On the otherhand, The more often we resist our concupiscent desires, avoiding the suggested evil acts and committing the opposite good acts, human virtues become deeply rooted in us.
In my effort to guide young boys taking-up skills-training, I find this, above mentioned, explanation helpful in guiding them to acquire self-knowledge.
FOR FURTHER READING:
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