The Root of the Problem

All good actions flow from the virtues, faith, hope, and love, and prudence just as fortitude

and temperance, and these order are lives toward God, and all sinful actions flow from pride in the seven root vices, the seven deadly sins, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony, and lust. Thank God, there's only these. But these disorder are loves and lead us away from God, and all the great spiritual masters

teach us that most of us, actually, all of us are dominated by two or three of these deadly sins. So we need to identify which ones have enslaved us so we can be set free.

“And that's what we're going to do in this meditation and the next.”

So let's begin in the name of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. Amen. And let's call to mind all those. We've promised to pray for. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ is only Son our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, which crucified died and was buried. He descended into hell.

On the third day, he rose again.

He ascended into heaven and he seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness”

of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting, amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us a stay, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver

us from evil amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother, God, pray for us and earns now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit

of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother, God, pray for us and earns now in the hour of our death, amen.

“Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit”

of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother, God, pray for us and earns now in the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning as now in the Varshalbe, world without end, amen. First mystery, let's begin with the vice we all suffer from, the root of all sin, pride.

Pride is the decision, sometimes subtle, sometimes explicit to say, I don't need God, I can do this on my own, I will do it my way, but that is not living in reality. God is the one from whom we receive our identity, our worth, our peace and our happiness. He is the source of our life and the one who holds everything together in His wisdom in love.

And the moment we stop receiving from Him, something else has to take His place. And that's something is you. This is where everything begins to collapse, because when you take God's place, you take

on a burden you were never meant to carry.

You become like Atlas, trying to hold up the entire world on your shoulders, your life, your future, your reputation, your family, your success, your happiness, everything now rests on you. At first it feels like strength. I'm in control, I've got this, but it doesn't last, and it turns into pressure, anxiety,

feeling overwhelmed and angry, because you are not strong enough to carry the weight of your universe, and you were never meant to. Pride is when we replace God with ourselves as the source of our identity, worth happiness, security, and peace, but we can't sustain that. And when we collapse under the weight, we reach for the things of the world to cope.

And that's where the seven deadly sins begin. Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The bestest air, daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil, amen.

is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.”

Hey, I'm Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hey, I'm Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hey, I'm Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hey, I'm Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed

is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

“Hey, I'm Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed”

is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hey, I'm Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Hey, I'm Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hey, I'm Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hey, I'm Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning as now, never shall be, world without end, amen.

Call my Jesus, give us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our second mystery, once you try to become the source of your identity, happiness and peace, you can't sustain it. And when you begin to collapse under the weight of it, you reach for something to cope.

And that's where the other vices appear. They're not random, they are coping mechanisms of which vanity is the first. Vanity is where I need someone else to tell me I'm enough. Now vanity takes a good desire to be seen, known and affirmed, and fully accepted, and then it twists it.

That desire, that good desire, can only be fulfilled completely by God. Others can love and affirm us, but not perfectly, not constantly, and not enough to form our identity.

So when we look to people for what only God can give, it's never enough, and then we become

enslaved, seeking more and more approval, chasing praise, and becoming controlled by the opinions of others. So how do I know if this is me?

“Do I need to be praised, to be happy, and am I unsettled by criticism?”

Do I adjust myself to be liked? Do I think often about how I'm being perceived? Now only God can give the personal affirmation we truly need. So the solution to vanity is to receive that from Him first, and then live freely. So just do what is praiseworthy, rather than seeking praise.

Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us a stay, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed

is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed

is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.”

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is

a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.”

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our thall, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, we're old without end, amen. Oh, my Jesus, forgive us, our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Our third mystery, if I have to be the source of my identity and worth, then your success

“becomes a threat to me, and that's where envy begins.”

envy is sadness at another's good, because I experience it as a threat to my own worth. And it makes me sad when you succeed, and a little bit happy when you fall, because your success reveals my limits, so envy lives of a lie. The lie that there is not enough good to go around, so if you rise, I fall, but that's not reality, all good comes from God, and it's not limited.

Your good does not diminish mine. It reveals the abundance of God.

So the cure isn't just to be nice, that's never the cure, but to be rooted in reality.

My identity must come from God, not from comparison. Then I can choose to rejoice in your good, because it's not a threat. It's actually something I can genuinely share in. So love says, your good is my good, and envy says, if you rise, I fall, and freedom comes when I see the truth that your good and mine actually come from God, and neither can

take the other away. Our father, who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, that kingdom come, that will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He vests his dear daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.

Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is

a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen.

fruit of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen.”

Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit

of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in earth, now in the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary, be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

“As it was in the beginning, as now in the first shall be, world without end, amen.”

So may Jesus give us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fourth mystery, God invites us to holiness, that is, to share completely in his divine life. But if I have to become holy by my own strength, then the called holiness feels overwhelming,

that's where Sloth begins, now Sloth is not laziness, it's a sorrow, a resistance, even a resentment that God has placed this demand of holiness on me.

It arises when I treat holiness as a burden, I must carry rather than a life I meant to

receive, so instead of rising to it, I turn away from it, and Sloth too lives off a lie, that the life God calls me to is too much, that it will cost more than it gives.

“So I avoid it, I delay, I distract myself, not because I don't want happiness, but because”

I've lost sight of where true happiness is found, and so I escape into busyness, distraction and entertainment, not because I'm lazy, but because I'm avoiding the very thing that would make me fully alive, that's not reality. God does not call me to carry the burden of holiness alone. He invites me to share in his own divine life, and he gives the grace to live it.

So the cure is not to try harder, the remedy is to let God fully into our lives so that he can live through us, and one of the best ways to let God in is by getting our lives in order by living a rule of life, a recipe of life, which puts God at the center, and everything else in its proper place. Our father, who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, that kingdom come, light will be

down on earth as it is in heaven. Give us a stare, daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit

of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen.

of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen.”

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a

fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown in the hour of our death, amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning as noun of our shall be, world without end, amen. Oh, my Jesus. Forgive us, our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Our fifth mystery, if pride is the decision to make one's self the source, then humility is the decision to receive everything from God.

Humility is not thinking less of myself.

It's living in the truth that God is God, and I am not. Pride says, I have to hold everything together. Humility says, God holds everything together. I just need to receive from Him, but then we have to ask, flowing from pride, have we

“tried to cope with things through vanity, envy, or sloth?”

And if one of those fits us, we just have to be honest and say, all right, that's where I fall in, I see it, but God's grace can transform it. I'll take it to confession, and then I'll cooperate with God to let him heal me. So do one of these have you, or one of these, your root deadly sins? Our father who art in heaven, hell would be your name?

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You vests astray, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb

Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen.”

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace.

The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb

Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace.

The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thal, among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb

Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning as now, never shall be, world without end, amen.

Oh, my Jesus. Forgive us, our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Saint Michael, the archangel, deep end of the battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God review him, we humbly pray, and do that will prince the heavenly host by the power

seeking the ruinous souls in the name of the Father in the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“So what struck you about this meditation, Teresa?”

Just tie in those two things together, it's crazy to realize that we, these are all coping

mechanisms for something that we didn't need to take on in the first place.

Yeah, because it's, it can be frustrating battling these things back every single day, falling into sloth and vanity in all of these things, but without getting to that root cause. Yeah. You just don't, it's a burden you don't have to take on. Right.

That it was wrong to take on in the first place, and God is willing to take it back any time we give it back to him. Yeah. He's not like, well, you decided that all of your worth is entirely counting on you all the time, you got to live with that.

He's constantly like, I've got it, I've got it, I've got it. I've already made you worth more than you could ever imagine. Yes. Beyond count. Yeah.

And we were like, no, no, no, I'll get there on my own. Yeah.

But he's always just ready to, you're carrying something up the stairs and he's always

behind you, like, I can take it from you at any point, just say the word. Yeah. Yeah. When you think about, okay, we slip into a temptation of vanity where we're so, we give so much emotional energy to the opinion of others.

When that temptation hits, did you ever do this when you were little or where you

“would lay on the lawn and look up at the clouds passing overhead?”

You never did that? Well, maybe, surely. I mean, I just have this vision of little kid laying on the lawn, looking up at the sky, watching clouds pass by. This is what we need to learn to do with temptations.

So when the temptation of vanity hits, don't enter into it, just think of just let it pass by. Because it's not bad. When we think the moment that it crosses our mind, that's the sin, and it's just not let it unravel you.

Exactly. So what you're saying is you can just see it. You can see that stress bubbling up or when it crosses your mind. Oh, I hope this person respects me or thinks I'm so successful or wealthy or something. You can just see it and just let it pass by.

Like those clouds, just let it pass by when, you know, when some competitor, somebody you compare yourself together is like really rising and you feel envy, diminishing, you just, no, just let it pass by. Yeah. Just let it pass by.

Because then we, we always kind of counter to heavily to one side or the other if we immediately

think we have to, I don't know how it would work into that metaphor, but we immediately think we have to control everything, which is its own form of pride. To have that never cross your mind, it's probably going to continue to cross your mind, but just let it pass by. Yeah.

And the less energy we give to these temptations, the less we fall into them, just let them pass by and just keep saying to yourself whatever the temptation, not Lord, I don't need that. I just need you and just let it pass by. I like that.

These are laid in the grass and looked up at the clouds and just peacefully walk past by. The specific memory actually that comes to mind is laying on a trampoline. Okay, fine, that's fine. Yeah, that's true.

Probably a better idea. Yeah, because in Kansas, you lay in the grass, you get bit up by chiggers. Mm-hmm. I was like, I couldn't imagine comfortably being like I should lay down in the grass. Here, you just get devoured.

Yeah, yeah, in Kansas, you can't do it. Now where I grew up, North West Iowa, you can lay in the grass and be fine. You're kidding me. No, yeah, totally. That's crazy.

No, I guarantee that somebody is going to chime in from Iowa and say, you can't do that. You just remember it better than I was. We did it as kids, yeah, just let those temptations just pass by.

“I do remember my nephews laying in the grass recently and that was pretty adorable.”

Yeah. Maybe they just don't care. Well, it's spring. The chiggers out in our, yes. Well, thanks for the conversation.

Thank you. Let's be apostles of friendship, good conversation, and the rosary.