You can avoid grave sin and still be far from God
In 16th‑century Milan, layman Bernardo Omodei struggled with a quiet sense of spiritual emptiness despite a devout life. His awakening came through the guidance of priest St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, who taught him that the greatest threat to faith is mediocrity, not only blatant sin. Zaccaria urged Bernardo to pursue a deeper, wholehearted devotion to Christ, using the Eucharist and the crucifix as spiritual tools. The narrative illustrates how ordinary Christians can move from mere avoidance of sin to genuine transformation and holiness.
about 1 month ago
The article reflects on how avoiding grave sin does not guarantee closeness to God, emphasizing that spiritual mediocrity—settling for the bare minimum—can keep believers far from true holiness. It recounts the 16th‑century experience of Bernardo Omodei, who, guided by St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, learned that genuine conversion requires more than merely refraining from evil; it demands a wholehearted transformation of the interior life through the Eucharist, the cross, and continual “surgical” work on the soul. The piece connects this historic lesson to contemporary Catholic life, urging modern Christians to seek deeper love for Jesus rather than settle for lukewarm religiosity. 1
St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria warned that the greatest threat to spiritual growth is not scandalous sin but a complacent indifference that stops at the minimum of moral behavior. This “bare‑minimum” mindset leads believers to avoid mortal sin while neglecting the interior renewal Christ calls for. 1
The article stresses that Christianity calls for a transformation of the heart, not merely the avoidance of wrongdoing. Zaccaria described holiness as a gradual process of purifying vanity, comfort, distraction, and spiritual laziness through daily surrender to God’s grace. 1
Zaccaria’s exhortation to Bernardo—to become a “great saint” rather than a “small saint”—illustrates the role of spiritual direction that pushes believers beyond complacency toward deeper love and commitment. 1
The narrative draws a parallel between Bernardo’s 16th‑century struggle and modern Catholics who may settle for a “lukewarm” faith. It calls contemporary believers to seek authentic love for Jesus, aided by confessor, director, or spiritual friend, rather than merely aiming for moral correctness. 1*
How does avoiding sin yet remaining spiritually distant affect Catholic holiness?
Avoiding sin is necessary for Catholic holiness, but it is not the whole of holiness. A person may avoid serious wrongdoing and still remain spiritually distant from God if his life is governed chiefly by self-protection, minimal obligation, or indifference rather than by love. Catholic holiness is not merely the absence of sin; it is the perfection of charity—a living union with God expressed in prayer, obedience, worship, and love of neighbor.
Avoiding mortal sin is immensely important. Mortal sin destroys charity in the soul, whereas deliberate venial sin weakens love and disposes a person toward greater spiritual harm. Yet remaining free from grave sin does not automatically mean that one is growing in holiness.
St. John Paul II warns that Baptism makes Christians participants in God’s own holiness, so it would be contradictory to settle for “a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity.” He describes holiness as the normal calling of every baptized person, including laypeople living ordinary lives.
Thus, the question is not only:
but also:
A person can remain outwardly respectable while inwardly keeping God at the margins.
Spiritual distance often appears as an implicit bargain: “I will avoid mortal sin, fulfill the minimum religious obligations, and otherwise live according to my own preferences.” This approach may preserve some external conformity, but it resists the deeper demands of friendship with Christ.
Newman vividly describes this mentality as wanting “both this world and the next”: avoiding deliberate grave sin while refusing the effort required for genuine conversion. His point is not that every imperfect Christian is necessarily outside God’s grace, but that deliberate contentment with minimal religion is spiritually dangerous.
Holiness requires more than not crossing certain boundaries. It requires allowing Christ to shape the whole person—desires, habits, relationships, use of time, work, money, speech, and imagination.
St. Thomas Aquinas explains that loving God with the whole heart means that there is nothing in us that is unrelated to divine love. He interprets St. Paul’s teaching—“whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”—as ordering one’s life to God as its final end.
The spiritually distant person may avoid obvious sin but still leave large portions of life unoffered to God. In that sense, sinlessness can become merely defensive: one avoids falling, but does not actively move toward God.
Catholic holiness is fundamentally a matter of charity, meaning supernatural love of God above all things and love of neighbor for God’s sake. St. John Paul II states that conversion is not an end in itself but “a journey towards God who is holy,” and that the heart of holiness is love, even to the point of giving oneself for others.
Therefore, spiritual distance affects holiness by limiting the growth and activity of charity:
A person may be “not doing much wrong” while still failing to do the good that love requires. Aquinas notes that love of neighbor is meritorious precisely because the neighbor is loved for God’s sake; indeed, genuine love of God necessarily extends itself toward others.
Spiritual distance frequently expresses itself through tepidity or lukewarmness. Tepidity does not necessarily mean dramatic rebellion against God. It can mean becoming comfortable with a low level of love: tolerating recurring faults, neglecting prayer, resisting generous acts, or treating spiritual growth as optional.
Alphonsus Liguori emphasizes that deliberate and habitual venial sins do not immediately destroy charity, but they estrange the affections from God and weaken the soul’s resistance to serious temptation. He compares them to minor illnesses that, when numerous and persistent, can lead to grave disease.
He makes a similar point by describing lukewarmness as a condition in which a person makes little account of repeated venial sins and consequently risks losing the special divine assistance needed to persevere in grace. His proposed remedies are concrete: reject the lukewarm condition, remove occasions of sin, and persevere in prayer for God’s strength.
This should be understood carefully. The existence of venial sins does not mean that a person has ceased to love God or is necessarily in mortal sin. Human weakness remains even after Baptism; the baptized must continue struggling against concupiscence with Christ’s grace. The danger lies especially in deliberate, habitual, and unrepented venial sin—when a person makes peace with patterns that he knows are contrary to charity.
The danger of distance is gradual rather than always immediate. Liguori uses the image of St. Peter following Christ “from afar.” Peter did not initially intend to abandon Jesus, but distance made him vulnerable when pressure came.
This illustrates a general spiritual principle:
The process is not inevitable, because grace can restore and strengthen the soul at any moment. But spiritual negligence removes the habits and dispositions that ordinarily help a person persevere.
Avoiding sin must be joined to an active offering of one’s life to God. Aquinas teaches that God should be loved with the whole heart, mind, soul, and strength: the intellect submits to revealed truth, the affections are ordered in God, and one’s words and actions are established in charity.
This does not mean that a Christian must experience intense religious feelings at all times. Aquinas also clarifies that no creature can love God with an infinite intensity equal to God’s infinite goodness. Human love remains finite.
The issue, therefore, is not emotional intensity but the direction of the will. A spiritually mature Christian may feel dry, distracted, or weak while still sincerely choosing God. Conversely, a person may experience religious emotions yet remain attached to self-will. Holiness is measured chiefly by a growing, grace-enabled willingness to love and obey God.
For a lay Catholic, drawing closer to God does not require abandoning ordinary responsibilities. John Paul II explicitly teaches that holiness can be attained in the ordinary circumstances of life and according to the vocation of each person.
Spiritual progress may therefore involve:
The goal is not perfection understood as never making a mistake. It is a sustained conversion in which one increasingly belongs to Christ.
Avoiding sin protects the life of grace, but spiritual distance prevents that life from reaching its intended fullness. A Catholic who merely avoids mortal sin may remain spiritually stagnant, especially if he deliberately tolerates venial sin, neglects prayer, and treats God as peripheral. Yet this condition is not hopeless: the Church teaches that the struggle of conversion continues throughout Christian life and is directed toward holiness and eternal life.
The decisive movement is from “I will avoid enough sin to remain safe” to “I want every part of my life to become an expression of love for God.” Catholic holiness begins with turning away from sin, but it reaches maturity when the whole person is progressively turned toward God in charity.