Tag Archives: church

Beating the seven deadly sins

Dave Canovas

What is the opposite of pride? I thought it’s humility but the sharing of a speaker in a weekend retreat I attended had me reconsider my answer. He thought that it’s love.

Not since watching the film “Seven” have I given the seven deadly sins a good stare. I did agree with the speaker that love is the opposite of pride (Proverbs 16:5 – “arrogant in heart”). But I am also convinced that, so are gluttony (Philippians 3:19 -“their god is their belly”; envy (Proverbs 14:30 – the one the “makes the bones rot”); sloth ( Proverbs 19:15 – “idle person”); wrath (Matthew 26:52 – those “who take the sword”); greed (1 Timothy 6:10 – “love of money”) and lust (1 Corinthians 6:18 – “sexual immorality”).

Love’s OTHER-centeredness, no doubt, opposes the seven deadly sins’ SELF-centeredness.

In my life, I have wondered how I have fought a sinful thought.

First is by recognising these sins on their onset. These sins could sometimes blend into our skin slowly, cunningly and quite subtly. We watch out for signs of these sins and nip it in the bud before we get consumed by them.

I would call these early signs my moments of unease. Guilt-ridden urge. Sweating. Racing heartbeat. Feeling a “bit sad”. A mind peppered with the “what if’s”. Fantasizing and daydreaming. Cravings. Mindless scrolling on the phone. Restless feet. Indecisiveness. Aimless pressing of the TV remote control. Stressful eating. My signs could go on and based on my history, these underlie these sins. Before any of these signs spiral out of control, I try to nip it in the bud. But how?

Pray and in praying, each word really matters. Fr. Andrew Ricci has always suggested to NAME IT in our prayer. It does not have to be grand, thought-out well or grammatically correct. It just needs to be flowing, honest and specific. God I am feeling the urge to forgo again an opportunity. God I am feeling lazy today and I am not being productive. God, I am feeling the urge to stay home, lie on the couch, miss church and become slothful. God, I am being stuck in my thoughts and my cravings. You know that this could lead me to excess and become a glutton. God, I am feeling uneasy right now that I don’t have what my neighbour has. This is envy and it is not ok. Deliver me from envy and help me realise that what I have is enough. God, I don’t really understand why I am feeling annoyed right now. Help me through my feelings before it boils over and becomes anger. Prayer at its most specific could help win against the enemy.

In early childhood education, there is what is called dispositions or habits of the mind. If we train ourselves to resort to prayer every time we are challenged by sinful thoughts, then the mind becomes a very powerful tool which could stomp sins on their head.

Since love is the opposite of the seven deadly sins then it is only love that can vanquish them. When you love, then there is the “other” to think about; the “other” that we see beyond the “self”.

Giving to others for example, vanquishes greed. The law of marginal utility tells us that no matter how much material things we acquire, we will never ever be satisfied. Greed just gets us caught in the cycle of buying things that will never be as satisfying as when it is new but being generous? This empties us and allows us to see that others’ happiness could be truly gratifying.

When I slack, feel unmotivated and slothful, I think of the “other” who might benefit if I look ahead and soldier on; perhaps the children I teach who could learn from my enthusiasm or my family whom I could build great memories with. Lying on the couch all day is not what I would consider loving.

Beating the seven deadly sins today does not mean we have slayed them for good. Sinful thoughts are here to stay. A sinful thought is that unwanted visitor always wanting to hang out with us at home, at work or even at church. It could stare right at us through our TV screens. But remember that God is also here to stay; His goodness endures forever. God also loves to hang out with us in every corner of our home, at work and certainly He is alive and longs for us, at church. He is ready to meet us at each moment we are tested.

How COVID-19 has brought new light to what “church” means to me

Dave Canovas

Photo by Robert Stokoe on Pexels.com

Let’s go to church. Let’s go inside our hearts and open it up to the Holy Trinity. Let’s go to church, that is inside us, and make it a living example of helping others. Let our lips be the bearer of loving and kind words. No hatred, no pride, no arrogance, just kind and loving words. Let our eyes look at others not with condescension but with encouragement and compassion. Let our bodies, our church, speak of actions trumpeting Christ’s love.

The mention of “Let’s go to church” paints a picture of a family on a Sunday morning, going through the whole routine of getting dressed, driving a car, strenuously looking for a parking space and miraculously finding one. Then off the car and stands the church, beautiful and towering.

For the longest time that church, a towering structure, has been a symbol of refuge, hope and prayer for me. COVID 19, however, has some far-reaching effect on how I look at church now. Church, the structure, is still a beacon of light for me but somehow, the pandemic has brought another form of light in my life. It is not a floodlight and it is neither a blinding sunlight. The church I now know is a place, a candlelit place so subtle, warm and sometimes flickering but still holds up mightily, bringing light into this darkness.

Pre-pandemic, I was content with the idea of going to church, the building. Then the most unexpected and most unwelcome visitor came. That visitor brought lockdowns, deaths, anxiety, grief, job loss, fear. It has isolated people literally, in quarantine. I never thought, I would be reading stories to children via the screen of a gadget. Who would have thought that “going” to work in pyjamas would be a thing? It has brought tremendous anxiety to me and it still does, up to this moment.

During the pandemic, was born our altar at home, a more permanent one. Pre-pandemic, our altar seemed to have moved a lot, in the corner there, next to the TV here, in the middle or on the side – it was everywhere! It was during this very trying times that I have realised the importance of prayer and that the home must predispose me, my wife and my children, to it. Calming music in the background, candles, images – all completed the altar. We pray more now than ever.

Our altar

Our family was no stranger to tragedy during the pandemic year. When our family needed to grieve and seek comfort from each other, it was extremely difficult. Our sadness was made even worse by restrictions of border control and physical distancing.

When weak, when desperate, when sad, when feeling alone, I say, let’s go to church. It is that candlelit church, I spoke about earlier. It is the candlelit church inside me, inside my family, inside you, inside all of us. In 1 Corinthians 3:9, it is said:

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Let’s go to church. Let’s go inside our hearts and open it up to the Holy Trinity. Let’s go to church, that is inside us, and make it a living example of helping others. Let our lips be the bearer of loving and kind words. No hatred, no pride, no arrogance, just kind and loving words. Let our eyes look at others not with condescension but with encouragement and compassion. Let our bodies, our church, speak of actions trumpeting Christ’s love.

Let’s go to church. Let’s go to each other and find that light in each other. Remember, we are stronger and brighter together.

I say, Amen, to going to church together and let no border control and physical distancing come between us, the community of believers.