We have all heard of the traditional seven deadly sins, first enumerated by Pope Gregory II: lust, greed, gluttony, envy, anger, pride, and sloth. These baseline or starter sins always lead to worse sins in our lives such as adultery, murder, divorce, revenge, and so on. If these sins are not overcome through the lens of love and obedience to Christ in every aspect of our life, then we are on the fast track to hell. Living for the world and ignoring Christ ALWAYS means that at least two or three of these demonic entities will take over our existence.
But today, in the falling-off-the-cliff 21st century, where up is down and down is up, where sin is seen as good and obeying the Bible is seen as medieval and stupid (Isaiah 5:20), other transgressions that we need to control do exist. I’m sure many more than the following seven can be identified, but these are the ones of which I know. Praise be to God, a life of living in sanctifying grace can overcome them; we just have to focus our lives on Jesus and Mary and their love for us to begin nuking them. Only through giving up our lives COMPLETELY to Jesus Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary can anyone hope to beat the devil at his demonic game of deceiving us for the express purpose of joining him in hell forever.
Mainstream Media Consumption
Anyone who watches the mainstream media a lot should come to the conclusion that there is a hidden agenda at play. The hidden agenda is to corrupt traditional morality, encourage liberal lifestyles and politics, and give an overall degradation of family and religion. Brainwashing is an art that has been perfected by the radical left and socialists in charge of our media. Beautiful people telling you ever-so-subtly that hedonism and money is what life is all about is a very sneaky way to get you to believe that God is not relevant anymore. Anyone who says that He is relevant is therefore an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud who doesn’t want what’s best for you. In fact, the exact opposite is true.
Excessive Social Media Time
Spending a lot of time on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik-Tok has become the norm for a lot of people in the world. With very little skill, one can upload just about anything to a world-wide audience. Never before in the history of the USA has this been possible. No more proof-readers, no more video editors, no more supervision of what one can publish to the entire planet. While a lot of this consumption can be beneficial (helpful hints, evangelization, overcoming depression), an enormous amount of it in lieu of reading books, studying for class, and spending time outside playing is very detrimental to our society.
Witchcraft, Horoscopes, and the Black Arts
Satan is powerful, and he does grant power to those who worship him through the dark arts, including witchcraft and horoscopes, things that I personally never thought would become popular. Ouija boards, fortune telling, casting spells, and initiating curses, for example, are all used by the evil one to entrap people with the lust of power, getting even with rivals, and getting rich. And yes, all of these practices are real, whether “normal” people want to admit this fact or not. We have the word of many exorcists who deal with Satan every day. All of these “magick” things are invites to the devil and his demons to “come on in” and take over the mind, body, and psyche of curious people who do these things. “WitchTok,” a subset of “Tik-Tok,” has billions of views. Stay clear of all of this evil stuff.
Pornography
This sweet poison seems very natural to a lot of men and is gaining a lot of traction with women as well. What could be more natural than the human body? But looking at the naked human body with lust is a mortal sin. Public nudity ended with the Garden of Eden in the presence of a snake. Anyone who participates in this sin is telling the devil that he prefers the things of hell over God and His things of heaven. This is a very common sin among people today that can be overcome by invoking St. Michael and Mother Mary often in prayer, going to confession weekly, attending daily Mass, and going to Eucharistic Adoration frequently. When alone at home or when going to bed, holding a rosary or a crucifix in your right hand is best. Doing this is a sign to the devil to leave your mind and your body alone. And by all means, if you are addicted to your phone, keep it turned off and in another room while you are sleeping.
Eating Junk Food Excessively
I love junk food! Potato chips and cheese puffs are great, along with ice cream, cheesecake, and pie. Junk food loves you, too, and, once consumed, will turn into fat and never want to leave you! Junk food also affects your brain and your health, becoming a habitual desire to want more and more of this stuff. Jettisoning these things from your diet, except on RARE occasions, and concentrating on eating real food like protein, vegetables, and healthy fat (Omega 3) is best. If you eliminate junk food from your diet, your waistline will thank you, your psyche will thank you, and your family will thank you!
Ignoring Jesus
A lot of people today seem to go through life ignoring Jesus. Instead, they say that they are “spiritual,” not religious, as if that gives them a pass from worshiping Jesus in the manner prescribed in the Bible. Attending Mass on Sundays takes a pass in favor of golf courses, Little League games, the Sunday newspaper, shopping, and so on. As I observe these persons, the appearance is that they are self-proclaimed “good people,” and they take pride in the fact that they pay their taxes, don’t kill anyone, and they provide for their families. These are all good things of course, but ignoring Christ in the process WILL NOT get you into heaven. The Bible is clear on the fact that in order to attain salvation, we MUST go through Christ and not through doing earthly things of our own will. One day the trap door to hell will open for us all, and only those who are close to Christ in thought, word, and deed will be lifted up, instead of careening into the caverns of hell. The Eucharist, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, will save us if we consume it often at Mass while in a state of grace. Attending Mass for one hour on Sunday is NOTHING in comparison to all of the good things Christ has done for us (such as a nice home, lots of food, air conditioning, and nice cars). One week has 168 hours. Attending Mass for only one hour in a week equates to 0.6%, which is 60 cents on one hundred dollars! If someone gave you $100 as a gift and you wouldn’t be willing to give him back 60 cents later on in appreciation, what kind of a person does that refusal make you? Of course, most people don’t even recognize that all of the great things we have in this life came from God. But I assure you, EVERYTHING we have, from the clothes on our backs to the air we breathe, comes from God.
Having It Both Ways
I used to be the kind of Catholic who constantly straddled the fence – having fun during the week and then going to confession and Mass on the weekend. And all the while I thought that this was OK with God. But I was so mistaken. That kind of life is like telling your mom and dad to take a hike during the week while you hang out with drug dealers and rapists and participate in their affairs, and then on Saturday and Sunday going back home and telling your parents that you love them. This scenario is like the prodigal son story over and over again. Jesus wants you to love Him 24/7/365, not just at your convenience. A long time passed in my life before I realized this. St. Augustine famously said that he wanted to convert to Christianity, but not just yet, as he was still enslaved to sins of the flesh. St. Augustine and I had a lot in common in this regard. Once you do finally change, life is so much better, as you can finally see what is really going on in the world. Straddling the fence with your faith on one side and your sinful lifestyle on the other is never good, as the devil owns the fence! And besides that, in Texas, the top strand of the fence is usually barbed wire, so it can be very painful!
Sanctifying Grace
Attending Mass as often as possible and receiving Christ as the Eucharist while in the state of grace is a great way to attain sanctifying grace, along with the daily rosary and frequent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Sanctifying grace is a share of divine life and replaces the earthly portion of our very being. Over time, this grace you freely receive from doing these things completely changes who you are and what you will be in eternity. You WILL go from being a stubborn, egotistical, and worldly donkey to a holy saint in the process. Your affinity for the temporary pleasures of this life and for your pride in being the devil’s dupe slowly but surely will morph into being a humble servant of Christ, full of love for God and for your fellow man. Your new grace-filled life will eventually lead you into divine son-ship with Jesus in heaven one day, which is the goal of this life. When James says to “resist the devil and he will flee from you,” THIS is what he is talking about!
Summary
We must never let down our guard from being programmed by the culture we live in as to what is good, right, normal, and pleasing to God. The devil seems to be in control of our very lax society these days, and he isn’t shy about driving us downward into hell. Therefore, we, as sons and daughters of Christ through the Eucharist (we have the blood of Jesus flowing in our veins, after all!) have to be bold in proclaiming just the opposite of what Satan wants us to do. Besides preaching The Word in season and out of season through our lifestyle, our words, our actions, and so forth, we must admonish the sinner (a spiritual work of mercy) and one-by-one, fix the untenable state of our culture. In other words, we must swim upstream against the current every minute of every day, AND, drag as many people as we can along with us, with them kicking and screaming the whole way. Doing these things is our mission, which is NOT an impossible one. Rather, it is VERY do-able if we put Jesus first in our lives through Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, and Holy Mass. Keep humility, purity, love of God and neighbor, forgiveness, and charity first in your life, and all of a sudden, the mission will become very possible. And don’t forget to tell everyone – Jesus Loves YOU!
