The damage done by sin

Some of the sins we commit injure other people, but all of them injure our own souls.  The first thing sins do is to make our souls dirty, so that, instead of being clean like a new icicle sparkling in the sun, they are like the slush in the street when the snow is melting and the mud has got into it.  The next thing sins do is to weaken our souls so that we find it more and more difficult to love God and to do what is right.  The more often you commit a sin, the easier it becomes and the less you mind.  And thirdly, sins blind people’s souls so that they do not see that they are sinning and do not realise what the condition of their soul actually is.  They will say to their parish priest, “I have nothing to confess because I have done nothing wrong”, and they really believe it.  Their minds may be full of angry or unkind thoughts, they may say nasty things about other people, they may tell lies, break promises and have nothing to do with God, but because they have not knocked anyone over the head in some dark lane, they think that they have not committed any sins at all.