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The sins we commit are the only true evil for us. Everything else (e.g., adversity and all Crosses God sends us) works to the good for us.
St. Paul teaches us this comforting truth: “[T]o them that love God, all things work together unto good”. Romans, 8:28 (emphasis added).
St. Paul also teaches that “in all things be thankful”. 1 Thessalonians, 5:18. Concerning St. Paul’s words, St. Thomas Aquinas explains that “we ought to be thankful not only for good fortune but also for bad fortune and adversity.” St. Thomas Aquinas, Lectures on St. Matthew’s Gospel, ch. 26, #2196.
Here is how Cardinal Newman emphasizes the singular evil of sin:
The Catholic Church holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die of starvation in extremest agony, as far as temporal affliction goes, than that one soul, I will not say, should be lost, but should commit one single venial sin, should tell one willful untruth, or should steal one poor farthing without excuse.
Apologia Vita Sua, by John Henry Cardinal Newman, Image Books, Doubleday, Garden City, New York, ©1956, p.324.
Every sin is an infinite evil. “Infinite” means “without limit”. An example of a limited good is a car or a kingdom. By contrast, God is an unlimited (infinite) good. Sin is an infinite (i.e., unlimited) evil.
The evil of sin is infinite in four ways:
  1. Because it is against the infinitely perfect God;
  2. Because it incurs a debt which is infinite, i.e., unpayable by us (without God’s help);
  3. Because, in hell, all sin merits an infinite punishment and mortal sin merits an infinite punishment in two ways; and
  4. Because (in the case of mortal sin) it is infinitely graver than venial sin.
Below, we discuss each of these ways sin is an infinite evil.

1. The evil of sin is infinite because it is against the infinitely perfect God.

The condition of the person sinned against can aggravate the sin, i.e., make the sin worse.
Summa, Ia IIae, Q.73, a.9, sed contra (article entitled: Whether a sin is aggravated by reason of the condition of the person against whom it is committed?
But all sin offends God and is against God (directly or indirectly).
Regarding sins against God indirectly, Our Lord teaches:
Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment ....
St. Matthew’s Gospel, ch.25, vv. 41-46 (emphasis added)
The more goodness and holiness there is in the one sinned against, the graver is the sin against him.
Here is how St Thomas explains this important truth:
The primary gravity of a sin is derived from its object; so that a sin is deemed to be so much the more grave, as its object is a more principal end. ... First, on the part of God, to Whom man is the more closely united, as he is more virtuous or more sacred to God: so that an injury inflicted on such a person redounds on to God according to Zech. 2:8: “He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of My eye.” Wherefore a sin is the more grievous, according as it is committed against a person more closely united to God by reason of personal sanctity, or official station.
Summa, Ia IIae, Q.73, a.9, respondeo (article entitled: Whether a sin is aggravated by reason of the condition of the person against whom it is committed?)
But God is infinitely good and holy.
Summa, Ia, Qs. 6 & 7.
Thus, in this way, every sin is an infinite evil because the one sinned against is infinitely good and holy.
Besides God’s goodness and holiness, we must also consider God’s sovereignty and dignity. Sin committed against a sovereign (a ruler) or a person of greater dignity or honor, is worse than the same sin against those of lower station or who are less honorable. But God is the ruler of all and has infinite dignity and majesty. Thus, because every sin is an offense against God, it is an infinite evil because it is against God, Who is the sovereign of all, and Who is infinite in dignity and majesty.
Here is how the Summa explains this truth:
According to the Philosopher [i.e., Aristotle] (Ethic. v, 5), punishment is meted according to the dignity of the person sinned against, so that a person who strikes one in authority receives a greater punishment than one who strikes anyone else. ... But God’s majesty is infinite.
Summa Suppl. Q.99, a.1 sed contra (bracketed word added).
Conclusion: Sin is an infinite (unlimited) evil because it is committed against God, Who is infinitely good and holy, and is the sovereign of all, with infinite majesty.

2. Sin incurs a debt which is infinite, i.e., unpayable by us, without God’s help.

We never merit anything from God by ourselves. We can only merit when we possess God’s grace and only with the help of His grace.
Here is how St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church, teaches this truth:
A man can merit nothing from God except by His ... supernatural gift, which we call grace.
Summa, Ia IIae, Q.114, a.2, respondeo & ad 3.
One of the chief ways to merit is by prayer. But God never hears the prayers of anyone who is not in the state of grace. Here is how Sacred Scripture explains this truth:
“God doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of God, and doth His will, him He heareth.” St. John’s Gospel, 9:31.
“If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm, 65:18.
Grace is God’s free gift which He does not owe to us.
Here are St. Thomas’s words, in which he contrasts debts owed in justice, to the gratuitous nature of God’s free and undeserved gift of grace:
There is a twofold giving. One belongs to justice, and occurs when we give a man his due. In this type of giving, [the sin of] respect of persons takes place [viz., fulfilling (or not fulfilling) our duty of justice based on the status of the particular person].
The other giving belongs to liberality, when one gives gratis that which is not a man’s due. Such is the bestowal of the gifts of grace, whereby sinners are chosen by God. In such giving, there is no place for respect of persons, because anyone may, without injustice, give of his own as much as he will, and to whom he will, according to Matt. 20:14 & 15: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will? ... Take what is thine, and go thy way.”
Summa, IIa IIae, Q.63, a.1, ad 3 (emphasis and bracketed words added; ellipsis in original).
Even the slightest venial sin incurs a debt which (although small compared to the debt incurred because of mortal sin), nonetheless we cannot repay on our own viz., without the help of God’s grace. Mortal sin is much worse, since it involves loss of the grace (if the man had any) which is a help from God which is necessary for a man to merit anything from God and repay any debt to God.
Concerning the offense of even a single venial sin, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Doctor of the Church, teaches us:
A single venial sin is more displeasing to God than all the good works we can perform.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Uniformity with God’s Will, ยง6.
Thus, by ourselves, we are unable to repay the debt of even one of our sins. That is, repayment for even the smallest sin exceeds the limits of all we can do (thoughts, words and deeds) by ourselves (i.e., without God’s grace).
Conclusion: Sin is an infinite evil because of the debt it creates, which surpasses the limit of any man’s own (unaided) ability to repay, regardless of the length of time and the number of his thoughts, words and deeds.

3. In hell, all sin merits an infinite punishment and mortal sin merits an infinite punishment in two ways.

Sin deserves infinite punishment in hell. Our Lord assures us that the wicked “shall go into everlasting punishment”. St. Matthew’s Gospel, 25:46.
God punishes the damned eternally (i.e., without end) not only for their mortal sins but also for their venial sins.
Regarding the eternal punishment of venial sin, here is how the Summa explains this truth:
It is accidental [i.e., incidental] to venial sin that it be punished temporally in purgatory, through its having grace annexed to it [i.e., the venial sin is in a soul which is in the state of grace]: wherefore if it be annexed to a mortal sin, which is without grace, it [i.e., venial sin] will be punished eternally in hell.
Summa Suppl., Q.69, a.7, ad 6 (bracketed words added).
Because God is all-just, it must be true that those venial sins (as well as those mortal sins) deserve punishment which is infinite in duration (i.e., without end). Thus, in itself, all sin (including all venial sin), deserves punishment of infinite duration in hell.
Further, in addition to the infinite duration of the punishment which all sin deserves in hell, the punishment for mortal sin is infinite in a second way because through mortal sin the damned deserve to be punished by the loss of the infinite good, which is God.
St. Thomas Aquinas explains that, in hell, “the pain of loss ... is infinite, because it is the loss of the infinite good, i.e. God.” Summa, Ia IIae, Q.87, a.4, respondeo.
Thus, sin deserves infinite punishment according to both of the ways that punishment is measured. Here is how the Summa explains the two ways sin is punished:
[P]unishment is measured in two ways, namely according to the degree of its severity, and according to its length of time ....
Summa Suppl. Q.99, a.1, respondeo.
Beside the infinite duration of the punishments of hell and the damned souls’ loss of the infinite good (which is God), all other punishments of hell are finite because creatures are not capable of suffering punishments of infinite intensity. Here is how the Summa explains this truth:
[P]unishment cannot be infinite in intensity, because the creature is incapable of an infinite quality ....
Summa Suppl. Q.99, a.1, respondeo.
Conclusion: Sin is an infinite evil as shown by the infinite punishment it deserves. All sin deserves punishment of infinite duration (for those in hell) and those in mortal sin also deserve the infinite punishment of being deprived of the infinite good, which is God.

4. Mortal sin is also infinitely more grave than venial sin.

As shown above, every sin (including every venial sin) is horrific and is an infinite evil in three ways.
But every mortal sin is infinitely worse than any venial sin. We see this truth from the fact that no number of venial sins (no matter how many) would be equal to even one mortal sin. In other words, a mortal sin is worse without limit, than a venial sin.
We see that no number of venial sins—no matter how many—would cause a person to lose the sanctifying grace in his soul (if he has any). We see that no number of venial sins—no matter how many—would result in the eternal punishment of hell (without the damned person also having committed mortal sin).

Conclusion of this article

As shown above, all sin is against God (directly or indirectly). All sin is infinitely evil in three ways. Mortal sin is infinitely evil in a fourth way.
Let us avoid all sin because the sins we commit are the only true evil for us!