When we repeatedly give in to these vices and commit actions that respond to their urging, we leave ourselves open even more readily to walk in that path which carries us away from God. Since that path leads to spiritual death, these vices are called deadly. They are like venom that slowly paralyzes and eventually kills. The first of these capital sins is pride. The virtue that helps us overcome it is humility.
Pride is clearly evident in all of human history.
It is defined as the need, the tendency of persons to exalt themselves, their gifts, their ability over others and even over God s plan. One example of pride and the corresponding lack of humility is our failure to recognize that it is from God that we have received every good gift, ability, talent and capacity in the first place. Pride is the unnatural, unbalanced exaltation of ourselves. In the Gospel we read of the two men who went up to the temple to pray. One walked to the front of the temple and stood there thanking God that he was not like the rest of the people.