Examination of Conscience II
One
Anger
Anger is a God given emotion meant to prompt us to achieve something difficult or arduous, correct some evil, or endure something we can’t change without giving up.
Anger is meant to be constructive, it’s meant to give us energy to correct an evil or end an injustice.
Anger becomes sinful when it’s inappropriate for the circumstances, that is, the anger is too long or too intense, or when it seeks to hurt others, get revenge, protect our egos, or show our importance and power. Such anger is not constructive, it is not directed towards a good.
Anger is sinful when we use it to get our way like a terrorist, when our anger is about revenge, or when we are angry about things we cannot control. Do you get angry about the decisions of political authorities or Church authorities? What good is that kind of anger going to do anyone?
Why get angry about people or things you can’t control? The point of anger is to help you do what you can control, what is within the scope of your authority.
Two
Greed
Greed is the disordered love of money and the stuff you can get with money. Most people don’t think they’re greedy. Most people would say they don’t have a disordered love of money, or stuff. But they’d probably admit that they are often preoccupied with or worried about money, or your physical stuff. And what you’re preoccupied with actually shows what you love, what you care about – because being preoccupied means you spend a lot of time caring about something.
And our culture is super-preoccupied with money. We think of money as the measure of our success. Money is how most people think of their whole education. We’re preoccupied with our car payments, our mortgage payments, our medical payments. We want to be sure we’ll have enough money for our kids’ education or weddings, or our own retirements.
Many of us vote based primarily on “the economy,” which means how much we have to pay in taxes, or how expensive gas is, or what the rate of inflation is. That means that many of us act as though the biggest issue facing our nation is: money. Not immorality, or godlessness – but money.
The point is we often act like money is the most important thing in our lives, individually and corporately. Maybe that’s why Christ explicitly reminded us that we can’t serve both God and money.
So what can we do to show God we love him more than money? The best practice you can do to counteract Greed is to donate money to the Church, or organizations that spread the Gospel or take care of the poor. If we would give the first 10% of our money to God, He will make sure we always have enough money!
Three
Gluttony
Intemperance in the areas of food and drink is called gluttony. Regarding food, the question isn’t just how much a person eats (although that’s part of it); there can also be sins which arise from being extremely picky, or attached to a certain kind of food. Many people make those around them miserable by refusing to eat anything other than exactly what they want.
As C.S. Lewis points out, every time a person is grumpy, impatient, uncharitable, or self-concerned because of their stomach, it’s a case of gluttony.
Drunkenness
The vice connected with alcohol is called drunkenness. In drunkenness (and also recreational drug use), we take our awesome nature, a masterpiece of creation, and we contort and twist it into something ugly. Drunkenness and drug abuse directly throw the intellect, will, and emotions all out of joint. We take the noble, dignified child of God and turn him into a creature that is low, unintelligent, and out of control. It’s a direct self-debasement, and unquestionably hinders our capacity and even our drive for the basic human goods.
The right reason to drink alcohol is because you like the taste of a good glass of wine, or a beer, or a good whiskey. The wrong reason to drink is to manage your emotions. If you can’t relax, cope, socialize, or manage pain without the drink, then there is a problem.
Delight in the taste, don’t seek to alter your emotions chemically.
Four
Lust
The desire for sexuality is a God-given good thing. Likewise, the desire to be loved and cherished, the desire for a family, for kids and grandkids, and the desire for companionship, these are all good. But lust is bad. Lust is the desire to use another person sexually to get what you want.
Both men and women suffer from lust but often in different ways.
Men use women to get what they want
Men use women for physical gratification. Men use their wives in sex; men use women in pornography; men use women with “the 2nd look.”
And women use men to get what they want.
What does a woman want most? Boy, I wish I knew the answer to that… Actually, women want to be valued, cherished, protected, and loved and very often they want a family, they want kids and grandkids. And women can fall into lust by using sex to get what they want. Recall, lust is to use a person sexually to get what we want. So, let’s examine our motives and make the decision to act out of love, which means to do what is good for the other person.
Five
How to Identify One’s Predominate Fault
It is likely that you see yourself in all seven of these vices or deadly sins. While we may fall into all of these, the great spiritual masters tell us that we all are dominated only by one or two of them. And since it is impossible to battle on all fronts all the time, we would be better served to eliminate the deadly sin that predominates.
Here is a way to identify and eliminate one’s predominant fault: Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sin. Make a daily examination of conscience to see which of the deadly sins you fall into habitually. Seek the mercy and grace to come through the Sacrament of Reconciliation to overcome your predominant sin.
Commit to stopping these sins and remove the triggers or occasions of the sin from your life. Then make a firm resolution to practice the opposite virtue repeatedly.