Our parish recently got a new Parochial Vicar. He also teaches at the seminary. Today at mass he talked about the cardinal vices, which I learned in high school English as the seven deadly sins. He talked like a teacher, sometimes touching briefly on another subject--he mentioned that the cardinal virtues also exist--and saying "and we'll talk about that some other day". He was enjoyable to listen to and said that "for homework, consider which of these sins give you the most trouble, and if you say none do, you are lying". In case you don't remember your high school English class (or whatever religion class may have covered them) those seven sins are:
Pride: The root of most of the rest of them. Can be expressed as "never being wrong", having a "superiority complex" or an "inferiority complex".
Envy: Wanting what others have--usually money, physical atributes or fame
Anger: Not always sinful, has to be properly channeled. Sleep on it, rather than acting in anger. Don't take it out on loved ones.
Lust: Treating people like objects to be used for your own pleasure. Hard to overcome; for some people will be a constant struggle.
Gluttony: Using food to fill a void that God should fill.
Sloth: Not doing what we need to do. Doesn't mean we must avoid proper rest and recreation.
Greed: We need to look out for those less fortunate than ourselves. Having nice stuff isn't necessarily bad though.
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