Root sin classifications… which one is right?

Q: Dear Father John, This is really interesting guidance. In the catechism, we learn that root sins are seven and they are, 1) pride, 2) covetousness, 3) lust, 4) anger, 5) gluttony, 6) envy and 7) slothfulness. In your classification there are three. Can you please make it more clear?

A: This question illustrates how rich our Catholic faith really is; it transcends our ability to comprehend it; there is always more for us to discover.  This is why the concept of “root sins” can be approached, explained, and understood from different perspectives, just as a diamond shows forth its beauty through many different facets.  The different facets don’t contradict each other, they actually enrich the diamond’s beauty.  The apparent contradiction between a 7-way and a 3-way categorization of the root sins needs to be understood like that.

Welcoming the Spiritual Wealth

But before I explain how, I want to illustrate this point with a different topic.  The Catechism circles back to key ideas frequently.  For example, in #45, it teaches us the purpose of human existence: “Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds happiness.”  That simple sentence is like a atomic bomb: small, yet immensely powerful.  But later, in #1721, the Catechism gives an apparently different explanation of the purpose of human existence: “God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise.”  Is there really a contradiction here?  In the words, yes; in the meaning of the words, no.  The reality of our purpose as human beings is something so wonderful, deep, and multifaceted that it can be described in myriad ways, as can many other aspects of God’s revelation.  Whenever we begin to use our intelligence to delve into the deeper meaning of our faith, we must keep this in mind.  Otherwise, we may become unduly attached to certain formulations, thereby missing the point.  Throughout the Church’s history, such undue attachments have yielded extremely bitter fruit – heresies, schisms, libels, executions, and riots, to name a few.

Deriving Seven from Three

Now, back to root sins.  The section of the Catechism that deals with the seven capital sins that you mention in your question is discussing the concept of vice.  Vices are the contrary of virtues.  Where virtues are habitual behavior patterns in harmony with God’s will and purpose for our lives, vices are habitual behavior patterns contradicting that purpose.  The Catechism explains that, “The repetition of sins… engenders vices, among which are the capital sins.”  Categorizing vices according to the capital sins goes way back in our Catholic tradition, and even reflects philosophical ethics as taught by Plato and Aristotle.  These vices are called “capital” because they give rise to so many other sins (“caput” in Latin means “head” or source).  If I allow myself to be carried away by anger, for example, I may commit vengeance through murder.  If I covet someone’s position at work, I may slander them so that their boss fires them.  The murder or the slander are sinful result of other, capital, sins.

When speaking of “root sins,” however, spiritual writers are looking at the deep-seated tendencies toward selfishness that we have inherited because of original sin.  These are tendencies to seek our happiness outside of communion with God.  They are not vices per se, because they didn’t come about as the result of repeated personal sins.  Rather, they make up the raw material from which vices spring.  We can correct vices by forming virtues, but we can never completely eradicate (“de-root”) our tendencies to selfishness. They always remain to be battled against.

The capital vices, in fact, flow from those self-centered tendencies, those root sins.  Gluttony (inordinate attachment to the pleasures of food and drink), slothfulness (inordinate attachment to comfort and ease), and lust (inordinate attachment to sexual pleasure) grow out of the root sin of sensuality.  Each of them seeks happiness through material goods or experiences.  Envy (willful resentment of another’s success or good fortune) and covetousness (willful desire to possess what rightfully belongs to others) can flow from vanity (seeking fulfillment from the approval and praise of other people), if the reason I resent others, for example, is because they get more attention than I do.  But they can also flow from pride (seeking fulfillment in my own excellence and achievements), if my reason for desiring another person’s position, for example, is because I want to assert my superiority over that person.  Just to make things more complicated, covetousness can also be a manifestation of sensuality: I can be greedy, for example, because I simply want to enjoy life instead of having to work hard all the time.  This slippery nature of covetousness is one reason St Paul reminds us that “the love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Timothy 6:10).

By now, if you aren’t thoroughly confused (and here we have just been scratching the theological surface: St Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae catalogues more than a hundred vices and virtues, and also, by the way, ends up tracing EVERY vice and sin back to pride), you will probably have perceived why many spiritual writers encourage us to focus on the three root sins.  If we just focus on counteracting the vices themselves, we may simply be snapping off branches from the stubborn weed of selfishness, instead of whittling down its trunk.

In the end, however, the main reason for trying to categorize the different types of sins (vices) and the disordered tendencies which gives rise to them (root sins) is to help us work intelligently in our efforts to follow Christ more closely.  To that end, you should feel free to use whichever categorization helps you most.

Yours in Christ, Father John Bartunek, LC

What virtues can I practice to overcome the root sin of sensuality?

Q: Dear Father John, Thank you for the post on root sin.It has definitely helped me. My question is, charity and humility seem to be the virtues to practice if the root sin is pride or vanity. But what would be the virtue to practice to overcome sensuality? It seems that it is more of an emotional response, hence the sensuality. Thanks to your article have identified this as my root sin, I am not entirely sure what to put in place/practice to overcome it.

A: I am so glad you asked this question! For two reasons. First, you didn’t let yourself become discouraged by the long post about root sins. I hesitated to publish that post, because I know how difficult it can be for us to face head-on the reality of our sinful tendencies. The ideal place to reflect on one’s root sin is during a retreat, with a retreat master or spiritual director close at hand. They can help us stay calm amidst the surprise and discouragement that can result from seeing more clearly the sheer force of selfishness within us. They remind us that God is not surprised by our sinfulness, and discouragement never comes from the Holy Spirit.

The second reason I am glad you asked this question is because it shows that you have understood the key dynamic at work in a program of spiritual work, a “reform of life” program, as it is sometimes called. The core of such a program is the patient, prayerful, and consistent effort to grow in virtues that correct our deepest sinful tendencies. Sins and vices always involve disordered behavior; virtue is the formation of habitually well-ordered behavior. The only way to go from disorder (for example, taking pleasure in deceiving people) to order (taking pleasure in being honest) is through growth in virtue. In this case, the vice is lying and the virtue is truthfulness, or sincerity. God’s grace helps us grow in virtue, just as nutrients help muscles grow. But since virtue and vice are always connected to our free will, we also have to do our part: exercising our free will in a well-ordered manner so as to strengthen well-ordered habits of behavior.

Two Anti-Sensuality Virtues

Enough theory. Two virtues will help you overcome sensuality: temperance and fortitude.

Sensuality can show itself as a tendency to seek what is most pleasant or comfortable, even to the point of sacrificing what is truly good. Temperance is the virtue by which grow in our ability to govern desires for pleasure.

But sensuality can also show itself as the avoidance of effort, strain, or pain when the pursuit of what is truly good requires those things. Fortitude is the virtue by which face up to exterior obstacles, difficulties, and suffering in order to attain what is truly good.

Wisdom from the Past

Two images from medieval art can help us understand those concepts. The image most often used for the virtue of temperance was a woman pouring liquid from a large container into a smaller container – measuring out the proper amount of the liquid.

The pleasures available to us here on earth (food, drink, knowledge, sport, sexual intimacy, etc…) are not evil in themselves. They are part of God’s creation. But they become evil when we turn them into idols, when they enslave us. Temperance is the virtue, the habit of correct behavior, by which we use our willpower to enjoy these pleasures in a proper, reasonable measure. Temperance can be subdivided into specific virtues, depending on which pleasure is in question: abstinence vs gluttony (food); sobriety vs drunkenness (drink); chastity vs lust (sexual pleasure), etc.

The image most often used for fortitude is that of a woman holding a shield and a sword. As we pursue our life-mission, we constantly run into difficulties and enemies. Fortitude is the virtue which enables us to battle against them and continue forward, instead of being stymied by them. Fortitude has two major manifestations: courage, when the initial choice for what is right and good demands some kind of self-sacrifice (for example, turning down a bribe even though it may mean losing one’s job); perseverance, when the challenge comes long after the initial choice has been made (for example, being faithful in a difficult marriage, or a difficult season of one’s marriage).

Bite-Sized Doses

Whichever manifestations of sensuality are most evident in your life, then, you will want to make a program of life that includes some specific ways for you to exercise these virtues. In both cases, the key concept is self-discipline. And growth in that virtue only happens little by little. Start small, forming little habits of self-mastery (going to bed at the same time every weeknight, for example, or taking faster showers on weekday mornings, or abstaining from the snooze button…). This will begin to strengthen your capacity to control those deep-rooted tendencies towards over-indulging in pleasure, comfort, or fear.

Finally, don’t forget that the standard Christ has set for us in every virtue, temperance and fortitude included, is not a standard we can follow relying solely on our own strength. We need his grace. That’s why every program of life must also include a prayer program. We need to spend time each day meditating on the example of Christ – his temperance during the temptations in the desert, his courage to challenge the corrupt authorities in Jerusalem, his perseverance in mission even to the point of death on a cross… He is the model of every virtue, and when we meditate on his example, his grace flows into our hearts and helps us follow him, just as his grace healed the woman with a hemorrhage when she touched the tassel of his robe (see Matthew 9). Together with the sacraments, this kind of daily mental prayer is the most effective ingredient to insure progress in spiritual growth.

Yours in Christ, Fr John Bartunek, LC