Disordered Attachments and the Spiritual Life

I'm engaged in an interesting exchange with a homosexual man in the comment section of one of the posts. It got me thinking this morning about disordered attachments. Many in our culture suffer from disordered attachments to sex, sins of lust. Fornication, adultery, masturbation, sodomy, pornography, contraception, same sex acts --.sins against chastity are as common as sand at the beach.

But lust isn't the only sin. How many of us have disordered attachments to food, alcohol, money, "stuff", even our beds. Lust is only one of the seven deadly sins. Greed, gluttony, anger and sloth aren't exactly rare. Envy is pretty common. And pride is a root sin for most, if not all, of us. So there are plenty of things for each of us to work on.

I recently cut out a saying by Cardinal John Newman from my Magnificat prayer book and taped it to the mirror so I would read it often.

If you ask me what you are to do in order to be perfect, I say, first-- do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God's glory; say the rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time, and you are already perfect.

That's quite a daily regimen. I'm working on it.