Avoiding deliberate venial sin and trying to root out imperfections.

Started by Xavier, September 17, 2018, 08:11:44 AM

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Xavier

On another thread, we discussed some of the ways never to commit mortal sin again. The next stage is to try to decrease venial sins, especially deliberate venial sins, as much as possible? What are some of the best ways we could go about doing this? It seems a good way to start would be reading and meditation on how terrible it is to commit even one (fully deliberate) venial sin. St. Theresa says, http://www.catholicapologetics.info/morality/general/venial.htm

Quote"From any sin, however small, committed with full knowledge, may God deliver us, especially since we are sinning against so great a Sovereign and realize that He is watching us. That seems to me to be a sin of malice aforethought; it is as though one were to say: "Lord, although this displeases Thee, I shall do it. I know that Thou seest it and I know that Thou wouldst not have me do it; but although I understand this, I would rather follow my own whim and desire than Thy will." If we commit a sin in this way, however slight, it seems to me that our offense is not small but very, very great.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to distinguish between venial sins committed out of weakness, surprise or lack of advertence and deliberation, and those which are committed coldly and with the complete awareness that one thereby displeases God ...

There is no reason to be astonished. The venial sins which they commit continuously bind the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and it is no wonder that the effects of the gifts are not evident in them. It is true that these gifts grow together with charity habitually and in their physical being, but they do not grow actually and in the perfection which corresponds to the fervor of charity and increases merit in us, because venial sins, being opposed to the fervor of charity, impede the operation of the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
If these religious would strive for purity of heart, the fervor of charity would in­crease in them more and more and the gifts of the Holy Ghost shine forth in their conduct; but this will never be very apparent in them, living as they do without recollec­tion, without attention to their interior life, letting themselves be led and guided by their inclinations, and avoiding only the more grave sins while being careless about little things.

The Effects of Venial Sin
Venial sin has four effects in this life and certain effects in the life to come.
1)                       It deprives us of many actual graces which God would otherwise have given us. This privation sometimes results in our falling into a temptation which we could have avoided by means of that actual grace of which we were deprived. At other times it may result in the loss of a new advance in the spiritual life. It likewise results in a lessening of the degree of glory which we would have attained through resis­tance to that temptation or through the increase in grace. Only in the light of eternity—and then there is no remedy—shall we realize what we have lost as a result of deliberate venial sins ...

Combating Venial Sin
It is above all necessary to conceive a great horror for venial sin. We shall never begin to make serious progress in our sanctification until we have done this. To this end, it will be of great help to consider often what we have said concerning its malice and consequences. We must return again and again to the battle against venial sin and never give it up even for an instant.

Any other suggestions on best practices for the same, dear friends?

After venial sin, we should strive to root out imperfections, according as the Lord has said, "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect."
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

Miriam_M

The way to de-tach from venial sin is to a-ttach to Him --to Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Nothing we can "do" of our own effort is particularly helpful.  Grace alone enables us to despise our sins and utterly lose desire to prefer their momentary, petty, and embarrassing pleasure over His pleasure.  It's really all about falling in love and staying in love.

When we are aflame in wanting to be united with Him now -- not just in the distant future after a prolonged Purgatory, but now -- we will be repelled by all of our attempts to replace the beauty of being dissolved into His expansive and "demanding" ("jealous") love with our petulant, selfish attachments and disobedience. 

If I were to concede anything practical ("our efforts") in this regard, I would say, focus on one particular frequent bad venial habit of sin.  Perhaps see it first in others, even, because that is a good reflection of what it looks like in ourselves.  Pray to Our Lady to show you your most frequent daily vice in someone else, so you can see it externalized.  That will be plenty of humiliation for you -- making you keenly aware of how such a vice "lowers" the other person in your estimation.  It's not that you will be judging unkindly the other person; it's that you will apprehend better how unattractive the same vice is in yourself. 

I can say that I not only love in a broad sense and a spiritual sense my fellow parishioners (for example -- keeping it to a spiritual setting), but that also I have deep affection for all of those I know, and I want to get to know the rest of them.  My affection combined with my spiritual care for them elevates them in my eyes, so that when they do disappoint me by acting petty now and then, it's a great mirror for me to become more aware of when I act in a similar way.  And now being aware of that, I have developed a true disgust of any blemish I bring into that community.  Some of my inclinations are more difficult for me to tame than others.  It's really effortless for me now not to gossip or participate in gossip; I have lost any desire to do that.  It is distasteful and violates the Charity of God, separating others.  However, I have all of my other inclinations to work on, such as showing annoyance.

Keeping the focus on the Charity of God is what's key.  His Charity is universal.  So if I am truly in love with Him and wish to stay in holy union with Him now, all the time, I will reject my offensive behavior to others because of Him -- knowing how much He loves them.

Miriam_M

The other advice I would give is to listen to Fr. Ripperger's audio sermons on YouTube.  For example, there's one called Obstacles to Holiness.  Also, listen to the three or four in a series on Our Lady of Sorrows, because in at least a couple of them he speaks about asking her to reveal your prominent vice to you.  Praying to her by that title, for that knowledge, is guaranteed to yield the result -- unless, as Fr. R says -- she knows that you already know your prominent Capital Vice and you're evading dealing with it or deceiving yourself that something else is the problem.  Mine surprised me; I thought it was a different vice, so it was even more humbling to learn what the root vice, activating the other vices, actually was. 

Nevertheless, the other vices are quite prominent in my life, particularly two of them.  I have one overriding vice, supported by two others, so three Capital Sins are plenty to work on (they give rise to plenty of venial sins and sin opportunities), and the other four Capital Sins are expectantly waiting nearby, eager to rush in at any moment of non-vigilance, or when empowered by a significant fall of any of the three.

Then there are the other sermons he gives, which apply to our venial sins, such as the two or three on Modesty -- which cover not just physical modesty, but really more -- modesty of speech and behavior.  Because, let's face it:  most of our sins are the result of a refusal to moderate our behavior, our desires, our thoughts.  Anger is literally a loss of temper or restraint -- being intemperate in expressing disapproval and feeling "justified" in taking no thought of how that expression affects others; that's how attached we are to our passions.

His sermon on Vainglory covers many venial sins (the "daughters" of Vainglory, so called by the Angelic Doctor).  Worth a listen-to repeatedly.  For me, at least two to three times a week would be a good idea.

The other thing I would suggest -- or rather SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS -- is to locate one reliable, honest, traditionalist Spiritual Director.  Commit to staying with him as long as he allows you to and as long as he remains mercilessly honest with you.  (Of note is that Fr. R will not direct anyone attached to venial sin; he insists the person must be in a sustained state of non-sin for some time -- like several months; otherwise, he can make no/little progress with them.  We cannot grow in holiness while persistently attached to the same venial sins.)

A great Spiritual Director -- one who really loves you as God does -- will show you your imperfections, including ones you do not yet have the "eyes" to see.  I cannot stand the idea that people go into spiritual direction, or directors do, just to "talk about prayer."  That mimics recreation to me.  Prayer is "fun" to talk about, but if prayer is not accomplishing victory over vice, then the conversation should be shifted to what will accomplish victory over vice.  For you or me, maybe it's more frequent (or more honest!) Confessions.  Maybe it's also finding a trusted Catholic friend to alert you (be your external mirror) when you are falling into a frequent venial habit, such as gossip, controllable anger, etc.

And daily pray to Mary to reveal to you when you start going off-track this particular day, so that you can express sorrow to God immediately when you do so, and make reparation for that sin instantly. 

Our eternity is a continuation of our earthly life, merely a sanctified or sanctifiable one if we have not damned ourselves.  So having a sense of urgency about our immediate need for sanctification should help us reject anything that impedes that.

Miriam_M

Three more suggestions:

1. God speaks to us in so many ways and gives us so many visual aids, but we are too often blind and deaf to them because closing off our spiritual senses comforts us.

A current example in my life is that I have a long-time friend who is dying right now of cancer because of her long-term alcoholism.  Like venial sin, consuming alcohol to avoid self-awareness is a comfortable habit.  And look at what this habit has cost not only her, but all the people in her life who love her:  her family, her friends; we are all suffering terribly at the thought of losing her because of her lack of discipline and her lack of acknowledgement of her weakness.  (Many close to her have tried to warn her in the past, and now it is too late.)

This saga has become heavily symbolic to me of how limiting and destructive all sin is in our lives -- how it separates us from God, how it separates us from fully participating in mutual love with other human beings, how it toxifies our life (like alcohol has hers).  I'm also looking at the extent she has to go to -- the desperate extent of traveling to another country for experimental, unlicensed treatment -- because she is nearer to death than she ever expected to be at her relatively young age.

All of that, to me, is a metaphor for unattended sin in the Christian life.  We probably don't have to look really hard for similar metaphors in our lives; we merely choose to be lazy about that.

2.  Read the Saints for all of the imagery they use to describe sin and its effects.  St. Francis de Sales is one who uses lots of imagery, but so do most of the Saints.  Images help us make spiritual connections on a very practical level and thus make us more aware of the effects of our behavior and how it "looks" to God.

3.  Do a midday examination of conscience, both general and particular (particular for a dominant fault or Capital Sin), as well as a nightly one.  Write down any venial sins and bring those to your regular confession time.

Heinrich

It is no accident that I found this thread. Thank you Miriam and Xavier.
Schaff Recht mir Gott und führe meine Sache gegen ein unheiliges Volk . . .   .                          
Lex Orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.
"Die Welt sucht nach Ehre, Ansehen, Reichtum, Vergnügen; die Heiligen aber suchen Demütigung, Verachtung, Armut, Abtötung und Buße." --Ausschnitt von der Geschichte des Lebens St. Bennos.

Miriam_M

Quote from: Heinrich on September 17, 2018, 01:14:54 PM
It is no accident that I found this thread. Thank you Miriam and Xavier.

I'm so happy.  Thank you for mentioning it. 
:)

Christe Eleison

Quote from: Heinrich on September 17, 2018, 01:14:54 PM
It is no accident that I found this thread. Thank you Miriam and Xavier.

I agree, thank you Xavier & Miriam  :thumbsup:


:pray3:

GeorgeB

Good thread.  :)

I would add: if for some reason you cannot find a spiritual director, get hold of a book entitled "Divine Intimacy" by Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen (Baronius Press). A bit pricey, but worth every cent.