sin

Only two things are needed to commit a sin: negligence and an occasion of sin. The occasion of sin can always surprise us, it does not depend on ourselves, but it is up to us whether we give in to negligence or avoid it. Now, to follow Jesus from a distance is to neglect Him.

Negligentia is the opposite of diligentia. In one we find care, exactitude, zeal. In the other carelessness, forgetfulness, coolness. Diligere means to love someone chosen from a thousand others, Neglegere means not to pay attention, to have no preferences, to be detached. Negligence is a lack of attention (in the singular) and a want of attentions (in the plural) and both take us away from Jesus.

Lack of attention which can extend from simple illusion to blindness. If Peter had observed himself more he would have spotted the moment when his first impulse of beautiful generosity veered towards imprudence and rashness. Let us be attentive therefore to the first warnings of our conscience and severe in correcting the first deviations of our imagination or our sensibility. From the moment that we feel ourselves drawn by a natural inclination, let us oppose our strongest desires for goodness to the call from below.