The Second Deadliest Sin

We are all familiar with the Seven Deadly Sins, even if we can’t quite remember them all by heart. We are all aware that there are some sins more dangerous and deadlier than others. Scripture indicates that not all sin is equal, as St. John says: “All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly” (1 John 5:17). From this, tradition has distinguished between venial and mortal sin.

Venial sins are those that offend the Lord and His charity in our hearts, mortal sins are those that destroy charity in our hearts and separate us from the Lord.

The Seven Capital Sins

Our beautiful tradition has also distinguished certain sins that are called capital sins. The Seven Capital Sins are called such as they engender or lead to other sins. They are deadly not so much because they are worse than other sins (though they often are) but because they are at the “head” of all other sins.

It is not murder or adultery that are capital or deadly sins (though these are gravely evil sins) it is wrath and lust which lead to all sorts of evil inclinations and sins, not least of which include murder and adultery. It is not enough to simply not commit murder or adultery, Christians are called to an even higher level, we must root out all anger and lust from our hearts.

Thus, the capital sins should be viewed not strictly as the worst sins in the book, but rather as vices that enslave us and lead us further into sin. We must therefore focus on uprooting these deadly sins in our lives, replacing them with the Lord’s grace and virtue.

Tradition lists the following as the Seven Capital Sins: pride, envy, avarice, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth. Much has been said and written about all these deadly vices that grip the human soul, and there are different ways of numbering and organizing these sins.

One thing that all agree on is that pride is the first and deadliest, it is the mother of all sin. The numbering after that varies, though traditionally, envy is listed as the second capital sin.

The Second Deadliest Sin

In my experience, the vice of envy is often explained merely as a worse version of jealousy. It might seem that envy is just another way to explain the sin of wanting what others have – envying their possessions. This is not, however, a complete or accurate explanation of this deadly vice.

St. Thomas Aquinas pithily describes envy as sorrow for another’s good. This is such a succinct but powerful description of envy and a feeling that many of us have probably experienced.

When hearing the good news of others – the promotion of a colleague, a friend’s engagement, a sibling’s success – envy leads us to sorrow, frustration, or anger at this news. It is the vice of envy that causes us to be unhappy when someone else is experiencing joy.

While the sin of jealousy craves the success or possessions or experiences of another, envy agonizes that it belongs to them in the first place. Jealousy sees the success of another and says, ‘I want that for myself.’ Envy sees the success of another and says, ‘I don’t want them to have that.’

Sorrow for Another’s Good

To be clear, envy entails sorrow for another’s good. It is not sinful to be sad at another’s happiness and enjoyment of an evil that they merely perceive as good. This distinction must be clear lest anyone is accused of the sin of envy when expressing sadness or frustration at another’s basking in the revels of evil, only for the reveler to retort ‘You should be happy that I’m happy.”

The sin of envy creeps in when the soul does not rejoice for another when it should be rejoicing. In fact, the sin of envy directly contradicts the biblical command: “Rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15). For when the vice of envy in our soul sees the rejoicing of others, it moves us to sorrow.

Inverting the Scripture

Not only does the sin of envy entail sorrow at another’s good, but it also entails the opposite – pleasure at another’s failures. When seeing the mistake of another, hearing of their failure or misstep, or learning that some misfortune has befallen them – envy leads us to take pleasure in this negative news.

Whether it is taking pleasure in some recent gossip about the sins of a former friend, noticing small mistakes made by the newest employee striving for your position, or simply enjoying the news of a sibling who failed at a task you warned them about – when there is envy in our soul, the terrible news of others is good news for us.

In fact, the vice of envy completely inverts St. Paul’s command in Scripture. Paul tells us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). The sin of envy inverts this biblical command, causing us to weep when others rejoice and rejoice when others weep.

The Effects of Envy

The vice of envy deeply harms our relationship with others because it pits our joy and our success against theirs. Envy causes us to view ourselves in competition with the world, seeing others’ successes as our failures and others’ failures as our successes.

This deeply misses the mark on what it means to be part of the Body of Christ. As Christians, we are truly united in the Mystical Body of Christ, and our actions have effects on the entire Body. Therefore, the good of another ought to be viewed as our good as well, and the woes of another ought to be viewed as our woes, too.

As Christians, we must strive to rejoice at the good of others and weep at the failures of others. Ultimately this is what leads to love – willing the good of the other, as other. Love chooses the good for the other, regardless of whether it brings some good to us. Love is always about the other, envy is always about us.

In addition to deeply harming our relationship with others and how we live within the Body of Christ, the vice of envy deeply harms our relationship with the Lord as it rejects the goods He has blessed us with, looking instead with sorrow and rage to the goods of others.

A Remedy for Envy

The virtue of gratitude is a necessary remedy for the sin of envy. Instead of looking at the gifts the Lord has given others, we need to look at the plentiful gifts He has blessed us with. If we truly reflected and meditated on the many wonderful things the Lord has done and is doing in our lives, we would have no time, nor desire, to look enviously at the good things He has done in the lives of others.

In fact, we would still perceive the goods that God has blessed others with, and we would rejoice as we ought. Gratitude frees us up to share in the joy of others because that joy already exists in ourselves. Similarly, being grateful for the blessings of the Lord moves us to empathize with those who suffer and to weep with those who weep. Their failure is not our success, the gifts the Lord has already given us are our truest successes.

To help combat the second deadliest sin, to aid in the fight against envy in our hearts, ask the Lord for the grace of gratitude. Begin and end each day focusing on the gifts that God has blessed you with and thank Him for them. When tempted to be envious of others, when tempted to be sorrowful at the good of another or take pleasure in another’s failure – turn your heart instead to the Lord and remember how He has been good to you.

Then, rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.