Devotion for today: sloth, the sin of not enough love

If you are familiar with Dante's Purgatorio, you will see that we have finished our meditations on the sins of "evil love": pride, envy, wrath (anger) and are headed toward the sins of "too much love": avarice (greed), gluttony and lust. Today we address the middle sin, sloth, know also as acedia, which is insufficient commitment and determination.

Scripture for meditation: Proverbs 25:30-34
I passed by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man without sense; And behold! It was all overgrown with thistles; its surface was coverd with nettles, and its stone wall broken down. And as I gazed at it, I reflected; I saw and learned the lesson: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest - Then will poverty come upon you like a highwayman, and want like an armed man.

Christ reminds us: Matthew 25: 19-30
"The man who had five thousand came forward bringing the additional five thousand. "My lord," he said, "you let me have five thousand. See, I have made five thousand more." His master said to him, "Well done! You are an industrious and reliable servant....Come! Share your master's joy! Finally, the man who had received the thousand stepped forward. 'My lord," he said, 'I knew you were a hard man. You reap where you do not sow and gather where you do not scatter, so out of fear I went off and buried your thousand silver pieces in the ground. Here is your money back.' His master exclaimed, 'You worthless, lazy lout! You know I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter. All the more reason to deposit my money with the bankers so that on my return I could have had it back with interest. You, there! Take the thousand away from him and give it to the man with the ten thousand. Those who have, will get more until they grow rich, while those who have not, will lose even the little they have. Throw this worthless servant into the darkness outside where he can wail and grind his teeth."

St. Thomas More tells us in The Four Last Things:
The...sin of sloth, people see as a small matter. Because sloth is so common a sin, and because no notable act comes of it that is accounted heinous and abominable in the estimation of the world - for instance, theft, manslaughter...with which eveyone would hate to be charged...no one is ashamed of sloth. Rather, we take it as a laughing matter, something to joke about. But surely, since it is indeed a big, capital sin, the less attention we pay to it, the more dangerous it is, because the less we will go about amending it. Now, to the intent that we will not fatally deceive ourselves, it is necessary that we consider well the seriousness of it. If we do, we will find it far greater than we would have thought before. There are, as you well know, two requisites for salvation; namely, the declining of or going away from evil, and the doing of good. Now, whereas in the the first one, there are all the other six capital sins to be eschewed (pride, envy, anger, gluttony, covetousness and lust), the other part - in other words, an entire half of our way to heaven -  just sloth alone is able to destroy.

Prayer: Lay Apostle's Prayer

Perhaps it would be much easier, O Lord, to accept a well defined task, precisely outlined; it would be easier to advance guided and sustained by specific instructions; it would be easier, my God, simply to obey someone who would ponder and consider everything for us. But this is not, O Lord, what You desire of us. Your wish today, Lord, is that we be mingled with the masses. You desire us to plunge intrepidly into the world which has wandered far from the truth.... In complete forgetfulness of ourselves, may we become meeting places between You and our brothers, and may You be for them no longer a distant and unknown God but a Father close at hand.   Bishop Dupanloup of Orleans (1802-1878). The Prayer Book, Catholic Press, 1957.

My Thoughts:
The Pocket Catholic Catechism defines sloth as "the desire for ease, even at the expense of doing the known will of God." My own definition has always been "laziness" or "not enough love" and I can see the signs of it when I don't feel like getting up early to attend daily Mass, would rather take a nap than say a Rosary, or hesitate to answer the door when a lonely neighbor comes once again to visit. St. Thomas More reminds us that sloth can keep us from heaven simply by what we do not do. Although it is a harder task in life to remain very active in and vigilant about the vineyard of our souls, it will keep our "stone wall" from breaking down and allowing very evil and destructive forces to enter. Let us choose to work hard, use our talents "in complete forgetfulness of ourselves" and become the vibrant and joyful picture of Christ to those seeking to find Him. "Well done, my good and faithful servant! Now come and share my joy!" That is what I want to hear when I face God at the end of my days! How about you?

Your prayer to God: This is the day to begin again, with vim, vigor and vitality! We have all been given a task to perform, whether it is staying at home and praying, or going out into the world and bringing Christ to those who long to see His face. Make a list of three ways you have become negligent of the vineyard of your soul through laziness, and list three very doable ways to repair the damage that has occured. Pray, "Dear God, fire me up!" and begin the adventure of a lifetime!

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