Still Deadly Sins? | Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]Let me ask you this. What would you do if you were in my shoes? What would you have said? I was a new priest. I was preaching a mission at a parish. It came time for confession. This woman came up to me and she said, "You know, Father, I haven't confession in 17 years, but it's okay because I'm basically a nice person."

[00:00:21]What would you have said?

[00:00:22]Stay with me.

[00:00:23]>> [music] >> I've got a story to tell. I'm Jesuit Father Robert McTeigue, your host every day here at the Catholic Current, [music] coming to you from the Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network.

[00:00:31]Let's take a closer look. Glad you're here.

[00:00:34]There's a lot of misunderstanding [music] of sin these days. Sin is what other people do. Sin is everybody else's fault. Sin is what makes me cry out and point to you. See what you made me do?

[00:00:47]And then there's sin that's sins of groups. There's structural sin. There's social sin. But nobody talks about what I did in my sin, what you did in your sin, and what our sin as even as individuals does to ourselves and our relationship with God. Sin has been on my mind lately cuz I have this sneaking suspicion that a lot of sin or a lot of what had been called sin is going to be swept under the rug or it's going to be relabeled as a virtue. And who knows?

[00:01:23]Maybe even a sacrament. Why do I say that? Well, because our old friends from study group number nine have been busy.

[00:01:31]You know, when we had the Synod on Synodality, there were study groups and one of the busiest study groups was number nine. And I have in mind their recent report. And my goodness, this is a mouthful. I'm going to take a deep breath. Theological criteria and synodal methodologies for shared discernment of emerging doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues. Now, I've been around the block. I've been around a lot of bureaucrats. I've been around a lot of academics and a lot of clergy and religious. When they get together in groups and talk like that, you can expect mischief.

[00:02:08]So, I thought to myself, "Hey, you know what? Maybe we need to spend some time talking about sin and in particular the deadly sins." Do you remember the seven deadly sins? Or if your hair doesn't look like mine, I should probably ask, "Have you ever heard of the seven deadly sins?" Well, they're actually easy to remember if you can recall this acronym, PALE GAS. P A L E G A S, that's for pride, anger, lust, envy, gluttony, avarice, and sloth. I think we need to talk about them and not just go to the museum of quaint theological notions. We need to talk about why those deadly sins are deadly and how they are lived in a familiar way, a way that any demon would recognize, but also in new ways, in creative ways, given the strange world we live in in 2026. So, here's my offer or my invitation to you. I am going to do an ongoing series on the seven deadly sins and in the spirit of synodality, and accompaniment, and participation, which is apparently now the the new trinity these days, I'm going to invite you to work with me in addressing the seven deadly sins. So, which sin do you want me to treat first?

[00:03:30]Is it pride, anger, lust, envy, gluttony, avarice, or sloth?

[00:03:35]Let me know in the comments section below [music] or write me the stationofthecross.com/askfather.

[00:03:41]Let's do this good work together.

[00:03:44]Meanwhile, think on these things today, take them to prayer, and talk about [music] it with those you love. Go in peace and please do pray for me, for I am a sinner.

[00:03:56]Thanks for watching today. I release new videos on Mondays and Wednesdays. Check out the archives for more videos. You can listen to my podcast at stationofthecross.com, and you can find my written work at herald of the gospel.org.

[00:04:10]See you next time.