Is this Sloth?

[VA1993]

Hi all,

I wanted to reach out and get some feedback to see if what I’ve recently been going through constitutes the sin of sloth and if anyone else has experienced these same feelings and if so, how you overcame them.

For the past couple months or so, prayer, spiritual reading, even going to visit Jesus at Adoration has been a real struggle for me. This struggle is beginning to concern me because up until relatively recently, I have always looked forward to my quiet times with Jesus, whether it be through meditative prayer, reading, or simply visiting Him in the Sacrament. I always had so much energy for it and looked forward to spending any amount of time with him, but recently, all that energy just seems to have disappeared. I just quit my job that was very unhealthy for me - personally, spiritually, and emotionally and the high-stress of the job burned me out extremely. However, while I’ve basically gotten the rest of the areas of life back to where they were before this job, my spiritual life has just seemed so stagnant and still hasn’t recovered. Any amount of prayer takes me so much effort - it’s like I don’t even know what to say to God anymore. I no longer have any desire to visit the Lord or speak with Him and when I do become momentarily inspired to pray, useless tasks always distract me - errands, television, social media, etc. Sometimes, to encourage myself to pray, I tell myself that I will go visit Jesus in Adoration or pray a Rosary at some point during the day, but I find that I never keep that promise to myself.

I don’t know what’s happening. Is this the sin of Sloth? And if so, how do I overcome it? It’s like I have energy for everything else in my life, except for prayer and when I do pray, it just seems so poor and I find that I just have no words to say to Jesus. My heart wants to get back to the relationship that I had with Him before, but for some reason I just can’t get my mind and body to cooperate.

Any help/advice you can offer would be appreciated. Don’t mean to sound totally depressing, but I’m hoping to find out that this is somewhat normal. I’ve never found myself with these feelings before and I’m hoping it’s just a remaining symptom of burnout that I can get rid of soon.

 

[The_Reginator]

VA,

I would certainly bring this up at Confession.

This is not the sin of sloth. You certainly are struggling, but saints have had similar struggles at times.
(Talk to an orthodox priest about this.)

God be with you in your struggles,
Reg.

 

[TK421]

Sins are not temptations or feelings. They are either actions or responses.

“Spiritual aridity” - which is to not feel consolation from prayer or other spiritual activities - is not a sin, it doesn’t mean you’re not devout, and spiritual works performed in this state are generally more precious to God than spiritual works performed while in a state of devotion, because they are done purely out of obedience, which is to love. However, it could also be because you’re meant to explore some of other form of devotion without necessarily abandoning what you’re doing, or that there is something you ought to be doing which you are not doing, and you haven’t yet understood it.

You’ve taken a good first step in bringing this up. My next step would be to talk about this with your Confessor/Spiritual Adviser, because our spiritual affairs aren’t meant to be taken alone, and a living, breathing person can offer you more connection than we can.

 

[thistle]

Hi all,

I wanted to reach out and get some feedback to see if what I’ve recently been going through constitutes the sin of sloth and if anyone else has experienced these same feelings and if so, how you overcame them.

For the past couple months or so, prayer, spiritual reading, even going to visit Jesus at Adoration has been a real struggle for me. This struggle is beginning to concern me because up until relatively recently, I have always looked forward to my quiet times with Jesus, whether it be through meditative prayer, reading, or simply visiting Him in the Sacrament. I always had so much energy for it and looked forward to spending any amount of time with him, but recently, all that energy just seems to have disappeared. I just quit my job that was very unhealthy for me - personally, spiritually, and emotionally and the high-stress of the job burned me out extremely. However, while I’ve basically gotten the rest of the areas of life back to where they were before this job, my spiritual life has just seemed so stagnant and still hasn’t recovered. Any amount of prayer takes me so much effort - it’s like I don’t even know what to say to God anymore. I no longer have any desire to visit the Lord or speak with Him and when I do become momentarily inspired to pray, useless tasks always distract me - errands, television, social media, etc. Sometimes, to encourage myself to pray, I tell myself that I will go visit Jesus in Adoration or pray a Rosary at some point during the day, but I find that I never keep that promise to myself.

I don’t know what’s happening. Is this the sin of Sloth? And if so, how do I overcome it? It’s like I have energy for everything else in my life, except for prayer and when I do pray, it just seems so poor and I find that I just have no words to say to Jesus. My heart wants to get back to the relationship that I had with Him before, but for some reason I just can’t get my mind and body to cooperate.

Any help/advice you can offer would be appreciated. Don’t mean to sound totally depressing, but I’m hoping to find out that this is somewhat normal. I’ve never found myself with these feelings before and I’m hoping it’s just a remaining symptom of burnout that I can get rid of soon.

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

SLOTH. Sluggishness of soul or boredom because of the exertion necessary for the performance of a good work. The good work may be a corporal task, such as walking; or a mental exercise, such as writing; or a spiritual duty, such as prayer. Implicit in sloth is the unwillingness to exert oneself in the performance of duty because of the sacrifice and the effort required. As a sin, it is not to be confused with mere sadness over the inconvenience involved in fulfilling one’s obligations, nor with the indeliberate feelings of repugnance when faced with unpleasant work. It becomes sinful when the reluctance is allowed to influence the will and, as a result, what should have been done is either, left undone or performed less well than a person is responsible for doing. Sloth may also mean a repugnance to divine inspirations or the friendship of God due to the self-sacrifice and labor needed to co-operate with actual grace or to remain in the state of grace. This kind of laziness is directly opposed to the love of God and is one of the main reasons why some people, perhaps after years of virtuous living, give up in the pursuit of holiness or even become estranged from God. (Etym. Middle-English slowthe, slow.)

 

[JM3]

Sometimes, to encourage myself to pray, I tell myself that I will go visit Jesus in Adoration or pray a Rosary at some point during the day, but I find that I never keep that promise to myself.

The promise is not to yourself, it is to God. The devil’s greatest desire is to keep you from prayer.

As thistle said:

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

It becomes sinful when the reluctance is allowed to influence the will and, as a result, what should have been done is either, left undone or performed less well than a person is responsible for doing.

Everything a Christian does must be done with prayer or it loses its merit and only satisfies nature.

 

[The_Reginator]

Sins are not temptations or feelings. They are either actions or responses.

“Spiritual aridity” - which is to not feel consolation from prayer or other spiritual activities - is not a sin, it doesn’t mean you’re not devout, and spiritual works performed in this state are generally more precious to God than spiritual works performed while in a state of devotion, because they are done purely out of obedience, which is to love. However, it could also be because you’re meant to explore some of other form of devotion without necessarily abandoning what you’re doing, or that there is something you ought to be doing which you are not doing, and you haven’t yet understood it.

You’ve taken a good first step in bringing this up. My next step would be to talk about this with your Confessor/Spiritual Adviser, because our spiritual affairs aren’t meant to be taken alone, and a living, breathing person can offer you more connection than we can.

The part I’ve highlighted is great for all of us to remember at all times.
I’ve even found that when I force myself to do something that I ought to do, but really don’t want to do, are filled with greater blessings.