Spiritual Boredom

[franklin]

So I’ve reverted back to faith a year ago and have had such a wonderful time learning about my faith and associating myself with the “right” people from young adult groups/numerous parishes, as well as doing what is necessary to be considered a practicing Catholic (and then some). Having said that, I find myself “bored” with my faith at times. The Holy Spirit has inspired me to expand my prayer repertoire (novenas, liturgy of the hours, reading on the lives of saints, rosary, chaplet), scriptural studies/studies of faith, lectio divina, daily examen, daily mass, podcasts, movies, youtube channels, etc. And while its all great and well ingrained in my lifestyle, I find myself really bored on occasion, especially during the sabbath as well as holy days where I am to avoid unnecessary work. I feel like I lose my energy just resting/praying all day/immersing myself with Catholic material. Any ideas on how I can cure this spiritual boredom?

I’ve prayed on this and I feel like the inspiration I am getting is to relax and not be too scrupulous/rigid about my faith as well as challenging myself to grow in depth. Appreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[Crocus]

Do you get bored only on Sundays and holy days?

 

[franklin]

I would say for the most part, yes. These are days when I don’t really associate with too many people (aside from mass) and spend a lot of time alone (as a single person) in prayer. My job keeps me busy on most of the other days and I always have a lot going on in my professional life, but since I’m not really working on Sundays/holy days (when possible), I get bored mostly from staying home and praying.

 

[franklin]

I would also like to add that I’ve noticed boredom with some aspects of my faith in my daily life as well. This includes praying, daily readings - lectio divina, the rosary, etc. as it sometimes feels rather rote in nature as opposed to from the heart. Just wanted to add this as well, but by and large, I get bored on Sundays/holy days.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’ve prayed on this and I feel like the inspiration I am getting is to relax and not be too scrupulous/rigid about my faith as well as challenging myself to grow in depth. Appreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut.

The inspiration you are getting sounds good to me.

It sounds like you and I have the same type tendency to get really “into” stuff we are learning about, including our faith, especially the expansion of the prayer repertoire. I’m this way about most things I get interested in. I get really enthusiastic and do tons of stuff related to them. But sooner or later, one reaches a point of feeling “bored” or burned out.

This just means you need to take a little time out and spend it on some fun activity that won’t harm your faith or morals but is not necessarily focused on Catholic practice. Read a good book that isn’t religious. Go hiking or biking or play sports, go out with friends, etc.

I would not worry too much about what you do on a Sunday or holy day. The “no unnecessary work on Sundays” rule came from a time when most people were working 24/7 trying to stay alive, and without the rule they might have never taken a day off for God and their families. People would also use work as an excuse to skip their Mass obligation on Sunday. If you are honoring Sunday by taking time out for God, prayer and family, then I don’t think God is going to be mad if you spend part of that day going to the grocery store or painting your back porch.

 

[guanophore]

I’ve prayed on this and I feel like the inspiration I am getting is to relax and not be too scrupulous/rigid about my faith as well as challenging myself to grow in depth. Appreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut.

Yes, it is very hard for busy people to rest, relax, slow down, and focus on human being rather than human doing. It is all about balance, and we need the quiet as much as the activity, sometimes more.

I am not sure there is really such a thing as boredom, though. Boredom is what most people call sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or is a cover up for thoughts and feelings that want to be avoided. It is these that make it most hard for us to slow down.

 

[Kei]

it sometimes feels rather rote in nature as opposed to from the heart.

This may be the main issue, perhaps come at it from the heart. when you say the Our Father, you are praying the perfect prayer given by Jesus Christ Himself to the apostles.
Remember to keep the Name of Jesus reverent.

 

[EdwardJP]

Have you tried getting involved with one of your Parish groups? Maybe you could organize a single persons group or just a few people who meet for lunch after service, or something along those lines. Just a thought. God Bless you.

 

[nodelink]

Seek first the Kingdom of God. Evangelize. Pray without ceasing for all men every where. Stay on mission.

 

[Reuben_J]

There are lots of things you can do on Sundays other than work. A Catholic is not just about praying and doing nothing. For starter, you could use your Sunday to catch up on something that you perhaps have neglected due to lack of time.

 

[Francis]

@franklin I think your trying all by yourself, instead of allowing Jesus to lead you,for that we need to surrender everything in the hands of Jesus and become his slave which is freedom of the spirit itself,ask for the powerful intersession of Mother Mary to help you with this,your also need to pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom,discernment and Faith constantly.Set your Spiritual priorities right,give more importance to the soul than the body.we are not angles but weak humans though they are up and downs trust in the Lord God Bless

John 6:63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.Matthew 6:33 But strive first for the kingdom of God[a] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Leviticus 10:10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;1 Corinthians 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Hebrews 12:4 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.Jeremiah 12:5 If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you,how will you compete with horses?And if in a safe land you fall down,how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?

Hebrews 12:7 Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? 8 If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. 9 Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. 11 Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

 

[Spyridon]

Look to the Orient.

Try some Eastern Christian akathist hymns.

 

[Edward_H]

We become bored when we expect “experiences” or “consolations” from what we do, but we don’t.

Boredom comes from an excess of pride (we want to control things, we think we are owed something, we think we’re worth it, etc.) and a deficiency of love (love is the willingness to sacrifice for someone without any expectation of reciprocity).

As we grow in our faith we come to realize - perhaps through reading good books on the lives of the saints, or perhaps even better, through regular solid spiritual direction, likely given by a strong and holy priest - that the spiritual life is far more substantial than “an experience”…it’s a love affair with Jesus Christ.

An intimate union with God, in our soul, and across each day.

We also can learn what real love is…not an emotional experience, but self gift, sacrifice, a pure intention.

As we grow in our faith we come to realize that we must learn (takes practice, starting over) to love God simply because of Who He is, Our Loving Father, not because of the “consolations” we get from praying or worshipping Him.

We will find often that we must love in the absence of any “love feelings” at all…and that may go on for a long time - but usually not.

We can learn about an idea called “spiritual poverty”, loving God when we have very little to give Him, in terms of feelings. Loving Him (and loving/sacrificing for others) when we are spiritually impoverished.

We have to be “detached” from the ‘consolations’ we sometimes received (spiritual poverty is more than this idea, but it’s part of the same idea. We must be detached in a sense - happy and eager to love - even when we have very very little).

Jesus once said “I thirst”.

And often we need to tell Him…“I too thirst for You”.

Feelings come and feelings go, and we must learn (again this takes practice and it can actually be sort of a neat adventure) to love anyway.

And we can see this in our daily prayer.

Some people give up their daily prayer when the feelings aren’t there! We need to love God anyway and stick to the prayer period we committed to with God.

If you sense boredom, let your intellect and your will tell your feelings to behave and get in line (“Let us obey God”). And then pray anyway, go to Mass anyway, go to Confession anyway. Feelings are like dogs…they are good - God gave them to us, but they need an owner, that is, your will and your intellect.

Let the intellect and the will drive the car, and put the feelings in the back seat or if they misbehave in the trunk.

 

[Hereiam]

Spiritual dryness is a reality many of us face.

Since you enjoy scripture and prayer, use the daily mass readings for Lectio Divina…the practice has served as spiritual smelling salts for me!