Is Laziness a Mortal Sin

[stove]

Is laziness a mortal sin? Like sleeping in till 2pm. Or not wanting to work. etc.

 

[mercygate]

Is laziness a mortal sin? Like sleeping in till 2pm. Or not wanting to work. etc.

Pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, vanity. Well, it’s one of the seven deadly sins. Whether it is mortal would depend on the usual points: knowledge that it IS a sin and doing it with full will.

 

[bilop]

Is laziness a mortal sin? Like sleeping in till 2pm. Or not wanting to work. etc.

I would say it might lead one to sins. But, it is probably not a sin in and of itself.

If you sleep until 2 PM and had nothing you were supposed to do, that’s your choice.

If you sleep until 2 PM and miss Mass, it’s a sin.

If you don’t want to work (well, most people don’t), but if your laziness gets you fired, and you can’t support yourself, then it is sinful.

Laziness is a temptation, to be resisted.

God Bless

 

[onmywayagain]

Sloth is not a sin it is more of a “vice”.

 

[Sr_Sally]

Ordinary laziness and sloth are not really the same thing. Aquinas defines sloth as spiritual laziness. So sleeping in and missing Mass is definately sinful. Deciding not to say your rosary just cause you don’t feel like it, is much more serious than not washing the dishes cause you don’t feel like it.

Laziness is definately a temptation to overcome. We don’t all have to become Type As, but we should not spend the day in the recliner and then complain about the state of our souls, houses, or bank accounts.

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

Good point, Sr Sally. Sloth is very much more a sin of the intellect than it is a sin of the body. For instance, when someone does not undertake to try and gain the knowledge needed properly form his conscience, that’s capital-s-sloth.

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[Joannm]

I would love to sleep till 2 PM one day…heck, I would love to sleep past 7 AM. Sometimes you just need to sleep. It is the body’s way of saying, hey, I need a rest sometimes.

 

[Noobasaurus_Rex]

Ordinary laziness and sloth are not really the same thing. Aquinas defines sloth as spiritual laziness. So sleeping in and missing Mass is definately sinful. Deciding not to say your rosary just cause you don’t feel like it, is much more serious than not washing the dishes cause you don’t feel like it.

Laziness is definately a temptation to overcome. We don’t all have to become Type As, but we should not spend the day in the recliner and then complain about the state of our souls, houses, or bank accounts.

Err, I don’t feel like saying the rosary right now, does that make it a definite sin?

This is all circumstantial.

 

[Sr_Sally]

Err, I don’t feel like saying the rosary right now, does that make it a definite sin?

This is all circumstantial.

No, you do not have to be constantly saying the rosary. But usually we have a schedule or routine for things. I say the rosary in the mornings. I wash the dishes after supper. The point is if I decide not to do things that are scheduled/routine because I don’t feel like it, it would be better for me to skip the dishes than my daily rosary.

 

[Noobasaurus_Rex]

Ah ok, I just don’t have a routine, it’s more spontaneous.

 

[DanteAlighieri]

Pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, vanity. Well, it’s one of the seven deadly sins. Whether it is mortal would depend on the usual points: knowledge that it IS a sin and doing it with full will.

You left out one point: whether the sin is objectively grave matter – which is what I think the OP was asking.

I think laziness is more often a near occasion of sin – “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” is a cliche for a reason. It seems, though, that laziness itself could be a mortal sin if it involves neglecting of grave duties: working to support family and the Church, visiting the sick and other acts of mercy, etc.

Peace,
Dante

 

[stove]

You left out one point: whether the sin is objectively grave matter – which is what I think the OP was asking.

I think laziness is more often a near occasion of sin – “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” is a cliche for a reason. It seems, though, that laziness itself could be a mortal sin if it involves neglecting of grave duties: working to support family and the Church, visiting the sick and other acts of mercy, etc.

Peace,
Dante

Thanks, I asked my priest and thats basically what he said so I feel better.

 

[Celeste88]

Is laziness a mortal sin? Like sleeping in till 2pm. Or not wanting to work. etc.

Sometimes its hard to tell whether people who appear lazy are just lazy or actually mentally depressed. Such was the case of a relative of mine who appeared lazy and slept all day but was actually suffering from severe depression. One must be careful when judging people when there could be other things going on.

 

[wcknight]

“not wanting to work” is no sin, but not working when we have to or are supposed to, is a sin. Most folks rarely “want to work”, afterall work IS a four letter word. But most folks work anyway because they have bills to pay, and they don’t want to get fired.

 

[Seatuck]

newadvent.org/cathen/14057c.htm

One of the seven capital sins. In general it means disinclination to labour or exertion. As a capital or deadly vice St. Thomas (II-II:35) calls it sadness in the face of some spiritual good which one has to achieve (Tristitia de bono spirituali). Father Rickaby aptly translates its Latin equivalent acedia (Gr. akedia) by saying that it means the don’t-care feeling. A man apprehends the practice of virtue to be beset with difficulties and chafes under the restraints imposed by the service of God. The narrow way stretches wearily before him and his soul grows sluggish and torpid at the thought of the painful life journey. The idea of right living inspires not joy but disgust, because of its laboriousness. This is the notion commonly obtaining, and in this sense sloth is not a specific vice according to the teaching of St. Thomas, but rather a circumstance of all vices. Ordinarily it will not have the malice of mortal sin unless, of course, we conceive it to be so utter that because of it one is willing to bid defiance to some serious obligation. St. Thomas completes his definition of sloth by saying that it is torpor in the presence of spiritual good which is Divine good. In other words, a man is then formally distressed at the prospect of what he must do for God to bring about or keep intact his friendship with God. In this sense sloth is directly opposed to charity. It is then a mortal sin unless the act be lacking in entire advertence or full consent of the will. The trouble attached to maintenance of the inhabiting of God by charity arouses tedium in such a person. He violates, therefore, expressly the first and the greatest of the commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength.” (Mark 12:30).

And from the US Bishop’s site-

**SLOTH: **A culpable lack of physical or spiritual effort; acedia or laziness. One of the capital sins (1866, 2094, 2733).The numbers are the CCC references.

 

[cynic]

What’s considered laziness? Is playstation on a saturday afternoon lazy? Is a movie with freinds lazy? You could argue that any time doing things that don’t relate to work, family or worship is a waste and thus lazy.

 

[crenfro]

Sometimes its hard to tell whether people who appear lazy are just lazy or actually mentally depressed. Such was the case of a relative of mine who appeared lazy and slept all day but was actually suffering from severe depression. One must be careful when judging people when there could be other things going on.

Laziness and spiritual sloth are things I struggle with.

I haven’t worked for 3 weeks because of several separate instances where I couldn’t stop crying at work and had to be sent home. At work and at home one of the first things I’m asked in greeting is “did you take your anti-depressant?”

Remember in the New Testament with Martha and Mary, when one got mad because the other preferred to listen to Jesus while the other one slaved in the kitchen? Jesus corrected the one in the kitchen, telling her the other had made the better choice.

There are also the lilies of the field, where Jesus talks about about not worrying about what we’re supposed to eat and what to wear…
We are human beings, not human-doings, yet I also agree with in St. Paul’s letters that those who refuse to work shouldn’t eat, either.

We all need God because we’re pretty much nothing on our own power. I love what St. Faustina says about the Lord’s mercy.

For a sin to be mortal, I believe we’re supposed to know it’s serious, know it’s a sin, then go ahead and do it anyway.

 

[mommyof4]

Is laziness a mortal sin? Like sleeping in till 2pm. Or not wanting to work. etc.

Man, I hope not or else I’m in a heap’o’trouble!