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Last Captial Sin: SLOTH. enjoy SLOTH Apocalypse 3 [16] But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. Sed quia tepidus es, et nec frigidus, nec …More
Last Captial Sin: SLOTH.
enjoy
SLOTH
Apocalypse 3
[16] But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.
Sed quia tepidus es, et nec frigidus, nec calidus, incipiam te evomere ex ore meo:
Some years ago there lived in Finland a farmer who had no faith. In fact he was an admitted atheist. He took his godlessness with him to the grave, for in his last will he bequeathed his farm to the devil. He directed that his many acres be left absolutely untouched by human hands, that they be allowed to revert to the condition of a wilderness.
The Finnish courts upheld the will, and the land was left untilled and untended. In a few years it was a wilderness.
The story is somewhat startling, until we remember that almost everything left to itself will "go to the devil," as we say. To let your soul go, or let your body go, or to let your automobile or your house go, just as to let land go—by themselves, amounts to letting those things all go to the power of the devil. The man of sloth, the man who is physically and spiritually lazy, does just that.
1. Sloth means an excessive love of ease and idleness, whether of body or of soul. It means laziness which leads to neglecting either temporal or spiritual duties. Sloth, which is the seventh capital sin, is a distress of soul at the thought of what one has to do in order to secure or to keep the friendship of God.
2. There is a difference between sloth and lukewarmness. Lukewarmness or tepedity, as it is sometimes called, is distaste for piety and spiritual things in general, which causes a person to perform his religious duties in a careless, lazy manner. Sloth is a disgust for spiritual practices to the extent that it disregards and even despises God's friendship. We must not confuse either of these sins with what is sometimes called dryness, namely a certain difficulty or drag in performing our spiritual duties. Sloth and lukewarmness are voluntary; dryness is involuntary.
3. Sloth shows itself in many ways:
A. In avoidance of manual labor or physical effort of any kind.
B. In seeking bodily ease and comfort.
C. In a dislike for concentrating the mind in mental effort, or the soul in some spiritual effort.
D. In putting off things that must be done. This "thief of time," procrastination, is a son of sloth.
E. In lack of perseverance. How few have the willpower to stay with a task till it is done.
F. In habitual tardiness, especially at Mass. Coming late is a sign of sloth, a capital sin—too lazy to get up a few minutes earlier; too lazy to get things ready the night before; too lazy to make an extra effort, or even an ordinary effort, to be on time for the Holy Sacrifice. This is sloth.
G. In excusing oneself for neglecting duties.
H. In wasting effort on useless activities. We have all experienced that. We delay our tasks by what I call "doodling." We doodle with the clock; we doodle with a pen; we doodle with the radio, with anything just to avoid getting down to the job at hand.
I. In too much talk, and too little thought and effort. Some chatter is helpful and necessary for friendship and recreation, but hours on the telephone or over the back fence too often become hours of sloth.
J. In neglecting the particular duties of our state of life.
4. Sloth has many children:
A. Poverty, physical and spiritual.
B. Cowardice in meeting problems and difficulties.
C. Indifference in religious matters.
D. Suffocation of the soul. You don't give the soul a chance to do its work.
E. Neglect of essential duties.
F. Increase of temptations.
5. Any Christian with his eyes open can see the remedies for sloth:
A. Learn the duties of your vocation or state in life. Actually write them down. List the important ones first, and then take care of them first, even though they may be the more difficult.
B. Force yourself to think, to stop and recall what it is all about, what you are doing and why.
C. Make a daily or weekly list of duties that must be performed, even of simple jobs like patching clothes and answering letters. Work down the list and you will get things done with surprising ease and speed.
D. Have some sort of schedule or hour plan. With all the demands of complex, modern life, we will find a program peace-giving and balancing.
E. Arouse the love of God in your heart. If you really love God you will use your time and talents and energies according to His plan.
F. Remember the labors of mind and body performed by Christ and His saints.
G. Ask God to strengthen your will-power to tackle the task at hand.
H. Give much more attention to spiritual things. This will help you see the importance and necessity of work in every field.
Are you slothful? Go to the Savior and ask Him to cure you as He cured the officer’s son. Ask our Lord to make you diligent and zealous in the things of the spirit, in the things that please Him.
Don't will and consign your talents, your energies, your time to the devil by doing nothing with them. Use them for good; use them for God. Amen.
CHAPTER 36
Remedies against Sloth
Sloth is a reluctance to attend to duty, and, according to Cassian, it is especially a weariness or distate for spiritual things. The peril to which this vice exposes us is clearly set forth in these words of Our Saviour: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire." (Matt. 7:19). Against its evil effects He again warned His disciples when, exhorting them to diligence, the opposite of sloth, He told them to watch and pray, for they knew not when the Lord of the house would come. (Cf. Mk. 13:35).
Therefore, if this shameful vice attack you, banish it by the thoughts we are about to suggest.
First call to mind the extraordinary labors which Our Lord endured for you; the many sleepless nights He spent in prayer for you; His weary journeys from city to city, healing the sick, comforting the sorrowful, and raising the dead. How ardently, how unceasingly He devoted Himself to the work of our redemption! Consider particularly how, at the time of His Passion, He bore upon His bruised and bleeding shoulders the heavy weight of His cross for love of you. If the God of majesty labored thus to deliver you, will you refuse to cooperate in your own salvation? When this tender Lamb endured such rude labors to free you from your sins, will you endure nothing to expiate them? Remember, too, the weary labors of the Apostles, who preached the Gospel to the whole world. Think of the sufferings endured by the martyrs, confessors, virgins, anchorites, and by all who are now reigning with Christ. It was by their teaching and their toil that the Faith of Christ spread through the known world and that the Church has been perpetuated to the present day.
Turn your eyes towards nature, and you will find nothing idle. The heavens, by their perpetual motion, unceasingly proclaim the glory of their Creator. The sun, moon, and stars, with all the brilliant planets which people almost infinite space, daily follow their courses for the benefit of man. The growth of plants and trees is continual until they have attained their appointed strength and proportions, Behold the untiring energy with which the ant labors for its winter's food; with which the bees toil in building their hives and storing them with honey. These industrious little creatures will not allow an idler to exist among them; the drones are all killed. Throughout nature you find the same lesson.
Will not man, therefore, blush for a vice which the instinct of irrational creatures teaches them to avoid? To what labor do not men condemn themselves for the acquisition of perishable riches, the preservation of which, when they are obtained, is an ever-increasing source of care and anxiety! You are striving for the kingdom of Heaven. Will you show less energy, will you be less diligent, in toiling for spiritual treasures, which can never be taken from you?
If you will not profit by time and strength to labor now, a day will come when you will vainly seek these present opportunities. Sad experience tells us how many have thus been disappointed. Life is short, and obstacles to good abound. Do not; therefore, let the promptings of sloth cause you to lose advantages which will never return, for "the night cometh when no man can work." (Jn. 9:4).
The number and enormity of your sins demand a proportionate penance and fervor to satisfy for them. St. Peter denied his Master three times, but never ceased to weep for his sin, though he knew it had been pardoned. St. Mary Magdalen to the end of her life likewise bewailed the disorders of her youth, though she heard from Our Saviour's lips these sweet words: "Thy sins are forgiven thee." Numerous are the examples of those who, returning to God, continued during life to do penance for their sins, though many of them had offended God far less grievously than you.
You daily heap up your sins; and can you consider any labor too severe to expiate them? Oh! Profit by this time of grace and mercy to bring forth fruits worthy of penance, and by the labors of this life to purchase the eternal repose of the next. Our works in themselves are paltry and insignificant, but united to the merits of Christ they acquire infinite value in the sight of God. The labor endures but a short time; the reward will continue for eternity. We are told of a saint who was wont to exclaim at the striking of the clock: "O my God! Another hour has flown – one of those hours sent me in which to work out my salvation, and for which I must render an account to Thee." Let his example inspire us with a determination to profit by the time which is given us to lay up works for eternal life.
If overwhelmed with labors, remember that we must enter Heaven by the way of tribulation, and that he only will be …
enjoy
SLOTH
Apocalypse 3
[16] But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.
Sed quia tepidus es, et nec frigidus, nec calidus, incipiam te evomere ex ore meo:
Some years ago there lived in Finland a farmer who had no faith. In fact he was an admitted atheist. He took his godlessness with him to the grave, for in his last will he bequeathed his farm to the devil. He directed that his many acres be left absolutely untouched by human hands, that they be allowed to revert to the condition of a wilderness.
The Finnish courts upheld the will, and the land was left untilled and untended. In a few years it was a wilderness.
The story is somewhat startling, until we remember that almost everything left to itself will "go to the devil," as we say. To let your soul go, or let your body go, or to let your automobile or your house go, just as to let land go—by themselves, amounts to letting those things all go to the power of the devil. The man of sloth, the man who is physically and spiritually lazy, does just that.
1. Sloth means an excessive love of ease and idleness, whether of body or of soul. It means laziness which leads to neglecting either temporal or spiritual duties. Sloth, which is the seventh capital sin, is a distress of soul at the thought of what one has to do in order to secure or to keep the friendship of God.
2. There is a difference between sloth and lukewarmness. Lukewarmness or tepedity, as it is sometimes called, is distaste for piety and spiritual things in general, which causes a person to perform his religious duties in a careless, lazy manner. Sloth is a disgust for spiritual practices to the extent that it disregards and even despises God's friendship. We must not confuse either of these sins with what is sometimes called dryness, namely a certain difficulty or drag in performing our spiritual duties. Sloth and lukewarmness are voluntary; dryness is involuntary.
3. Sloth shows itself in many ways:
A. In avoidance of manual labor or physical effort of any kind.
B. In seeking bodily ease and comfort.
C. In a dislike for concentrating the mind in mental effort, or the soul in some spiritual effort.
D. In putting off things that must be done. This "thief of time," procrastination, is a son of sloth.
E. In lack of perseverance. How few have the willpower to stay with a task till it is done.
F. In habitual tardiness, especially at Mass. Coming late is a sign of sloth, a capital sin—too lazy to get up a few minutes earlier; too lazy to get things ready the night before; too lazy to make an extra effort, or even an ordinary effort, to be on time for the Holy Sacrifice. This is sloth.
G. In excusing oneself for neglecting duties.
H. In wasting effort on useless activities. We have all experienced that. We delay our tasks by what I call "doodling." We doodle with the clock; we doodle with a pen; we doodle with the radio, with anything just to avoid getting down to the job at hand.
I. In too much talk, and too little thought and effort. Some chatter is helpful and necessary for friendship and recreation, but hours on the telephone or over the back fence too often become hours of sloth.
J. In neglecting the particular duties of our state of life.
4. Sloth has many children:
A. Poverty, physical and spiritual.
B. Cowardice in meeting problems and difficulties.
C. Indifference in religious matters.
D. Suffocation of the soul. You don't give the soul a chance to do its work.
E. Neglect of essential duties.
F. Increase of temptations.
5. Any Christian with his eyes open can see the remedies for sloth:
A. Learn the duties of your vocation or state in life. Actually write them down. List the important ones first, and then take care of them first, even though they may be the more difficult.
B. Force yourself to think, to stop and recall what it is all about, what you are doing and why.
C. Make a daily or weekly list of duties that must be performed, even of simple jobs like patching clothes and answering letters. Work down the list and you will get things done with surprising ease and speed.
D. Have some sort of schedule or hour plan. With all the demands of complex, modern life, we will find a program peace-giving and balancing.
E. Arouse the love of God in your heart. If you really love God you will use your time and talents and energies according to His plan.
F. Remember the labors of mind and body performed by Christ and His saints.
G. Ask God to strengthen your will-power to tackle the task at hand.
H. Give much more attention to spiritual things. This will help you see the importance and necessity of work in every field.
Are you slothful? Go to the Savior and ask Him to cure you as He cured the officer’s son. Ask our Lord to make you diligent and zealous in the things of the spirit, in the things that please Him.
Don't will and consign your talents, your energies, your time to the devil by doing nothing with them. Use them for good; use them for God. Amen.
CHAPTER 36
Remedies against Sloth
Sloth is a reluctance to attend to duty, and, according to Cassian, it is especially a weariness or distate for spiritual things. The peril to which this vice exposes us is clearly set forth in these words of Our Saviour: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire." (Matt. 7:19). Against its evil effects He again warned His disciples when, exhorting them to diligence, the opposite of sloth, He told them to watch and pray, for they knew not when the Lord of the house would come. (Cf. Mk. 13:35).
Therefore, if this shameful vice attack you, banish it by the thoughts we are about to suggest.
First call to mind the extraordinary labors which Our Lord endured for you; the many sleepless nights He spent in prayer for you; His weary journeys from city to city, healing the sick, comforting the sorrowful, and raising the dead. How ardently, how unceasingly He devoted Himself to the work of our redemption! Consider particularly how, at the time of His Passion, He bore upon His bruised and bleeding shoulders the heavy weight of His cross for love of you. If the God of majesty labored thus to deliver you, will you refuse to cooperate in your own salvation? When this tender Lamb endured such rude labors to free you from your sins, will you endure nothing to expiate them? Remember, too, the weary labors of the Apostles, who preached the Gospel to the whole world. Think of the sufferings endured by the martyrs, confessors, virgins, anchorites, and by all who are now reigning with Christ. It was by their teaching and their toil that the Faith of Christ spread through the known world and that the Church has been perpetuated to the present day.
Turn your eyes towards nature, and you will find nothing idle. The heavens, by their perpetual motion, unceasingly proclaim the glory of their Creator. The sun, moon, and stars, with all the brilliant planets which people almost infinite space, daily follow their courses for the benefit of man. The growth of plants and trees is continual until they have attained their appointed strength and proportions, Behold the untiring energy with which the ant labors for its winter's food; with which the bees toil in building their hives and storing them with honey. These industrious little creatures will not allow an idler to exist among them; the drones are all killed. Throughout nature you find the same lesson.
Will not man, therefore, blush for a vice which the instinct of irrational creatures teaches them to avoid? To what labor do not men condemn themselves for the acquisition of perishable riches, the preservation of which, when they are obtained, is an ever-increasing source of care and anxiety! You are striving for the kingdom of Heaven. Will you show less energy, will you be less diligent, in toiling for spiritual treasures, which can never be taken from you?
If you will not profit by time and strength to labor now, a day will come when you will vainly seek these present opportunities. Sad experience tells us how many have thus been disappointed. Life is short, and obstacles to good abound. Do not; therefore, let the promptings of sloth cause you to lose advantages which will never return, for "the night cometh when no man can work." (Jn. 9:4).
The number and enormity of your sins demand a proportionate penance and fervor to satisfy for them. St. Peter denied his Master three times, but never ceased to weep for his sin, though he knew it had been pardoned. St. Mary Magdalen to the end of her life likewise bewailed the disorders of her youth, though she heard from Our Saviour's lips these sweet words: "Thy sins are forgiven thee." Numerous are the examples of those who, returning to God, continued during life to do penance for their sins, though many of them had offended God far less grievously than you.
You daily heap up your sins; and can you consider any labor too severe to expiate them? Oh! Profit by this time of grace and mercy to bring forth fruits worthy of penance, and by the labors of this life to purchase the eternal repose of the next. Our works in themselves are paltry and insignificant, but united to the merits of Christ they acquire infinite value in the sight of God. The labor endures but a short time; the reward will continue for eternity. We are told of a saint who was wont to exclaim at the striking of the clock: "O my God! Another hour has flown – one of those hours sent me in which to work out my salvation, and for which I must render an account to Thee." Let his example inspire us with a determination to profit by the time which is given us to lay up works for eternal life.
If overwhelmed with labors, remember that we must enter Heaven by the way of tribulation, and that he only will be …