For The Spiritually Paralyzed!
There's one capital sin that's found in government officials as well as juvenile delinquents,in Catholics as well as in atheists. This sin is a spiritual paralysis that is spreading its disease into every phase of American life. Its name is "Sloth." It's prevalent among our young, and found in many not so
young.
Sloth in general is a repugnance for work or
effort. This evil disposition of the soul makes
one shun effort and seek a life that is always
sweetly comfortable. Of course, it is not the
tendency to a comfortable life that is sinful, but rather an excessive self-indulgence in this tendency.
In the spiritual life, sloth is lack of interest in and attention to the things of God. It prefers indifference
and lack of effort in spiritual exercises to diligence in studying and keeping the commandments
of God. It places personal comfort and pleasure on a pedestal and ignores the self-denial of the
followers of Christ. Yet it's a sin of many who are otherwise very active and industrious.
Like any paralysis this disease has small beginnings. It usually starts with insufficient concern
for one's spiritual duties. Freely-indulged in, this tendency leads to greater negligence in more
important religious duties, or even to the total abandonment of them. When sloth causes a
man to neglect those religious duties that are necessary for salvation, it becomes gravely sinful.
This spiritual sickness spawns many allied diseases of the spirit. Inevitably, the slothful man
seeks escape from his sadness in the pursuit of forbidden pleasures. Heavy of heart, fed-up
and frustrated, he usually turns to greed or gluttony, joys of the soul, he plunges more deeply
into the pleasures of the senses. Isn't this the life-history of many an addict?
While sloth starts off as sluggishness in our observance of the commandments of God,
freely indulged in, this tendency becomes more and more malicious. Sloth deadens our
sense of responsibility. Seeing his failures, the slothful man becomes more discouraged
and faint-hearted. Finding it difficult to face his own conscience, he pushes his failures
underground where they can not be seen.
Nor does the disease stop there. The slothful soul defends his way of life by hating the
goodness of his neighbor, or by calling it hypocrisy. He tries to cut everyone down to
his own miserable level. He hates those who try to uphold religious values and moral
standards in society.
Sloth really is another name for indifference to God. It's a kind of distaste for God because
of the effort involved. This inertia, or creeping paralysis, can afflict any soul. It enervates
our spiritual energy and saps our vitality. The temptation to sloth is never far from us - and
it must be met head on - with diligence and generosity!
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Can I get an AMEN!?
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Love and Blessings, Wendy C.
"Healing Mind, Body & Soul"
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This article is by the late Father Kilian McGowan. He had such a GIFT!
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