“Nothing created by God is evil. It is not food that is evil but gluttony, not the begetting of children but unchastity, not material things but avarice, not esteem but self-esteem. It is only the misuse of things that is evil, not the things themselves.”

                                             –St. Maximos the Confessor

For Reflection:

How have I been using the gifts from God? I pray to always value God’s goodness and provisions to me, in humility, without taking advantage of them by being self-indulgent, unchaste or greedy.

                                                      Chapter 7   Page 93

That’s where Jesus located the source of our sinful problems.  “From the heart,” He said, “come evil intentions: murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander” (Matthew 15:19).  To this list he could well have added, among many others, the famous seven capital sins, those deadly vices that we struggle with: arrogance, rage, envy, sloth, gluttony, greed, and lust.                                                                         

TheSign of the Cross   By Bert Ghezzi   Click here for more information