Sins of the Spirit

I am a big fan of the late Father Leo Clifford and always enjoy his “reflections” on EWTN. His reflections are 5-10 minutes stories that teach biblical lessons. I was thrilled to see videos of his reflections pop up in my YouTube menu. My first selection was this reflection on sins of the spirit or respectable sins. It is a very humbling reflection and a good examination of the conscience.

Father Leo begins by telling the story of the prodigal son to point out the sins of the “good” brother. He makes comparisons of what we normally consider bad sins, the crimes in the daily news, and those other “respectable” sins that are far greater in number and worse in the eyes of God. These are the sins of the spirit: pride, selfishness, coldness, indifference, haughtiness, and condescending attitude.

Fr. Leo quotes Dickens, “There is so much bad in the best of us, and so much good in the worst of us, that it ill becomes any of us to speak about the rest of us.”