Initially, Paul thought that Jesus was coming soon. Some early Christians were so sure
that Jesus was coming soon, they stopped working. Paul told the Christians that those
who were not busy were becoming busy bodies. Paul himself worked hard: “You ought
to imitate us… We worked day and night, laboring to the point of exhaustion so as not to
impose on any of you.”
What does work have to do with Christ? the Letter to the Colossians tells us:
“Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It
is the Lord Christ you are serving.…” (Col 3:23-24)
In itself, work may not be “for the Lord.” We may work hard for success or honor or
money. Sometimes our work becomes the center of our life. We don’t have time for our
families.
Sometimes, religious neglect prayers because of work, for instance being a good
administrator. The work is more about ourselves than the Lord.
Sometimes the opposite seems to happen. We lose our enthusiasm for what we are
doing, so we don’t really so it with our whole being.
In the third, fourth and fifth centuries, monks and the nuns sought God by living as
hermits in the Egyptian deserts. They experienced an affliction they called acedia, that
is, boredom or apathy.
The monks and nuns called it “the noonday devil,” because in the heat of the day, their
spirits began to wilt. They felt overcome by lethargy and tired of praying or working.
They felt like plants wilting in the sun. The monks and nuns included acedia among
what they called the “capital sins,” sins that lead to other sins.
Maybe everyone has moments or days of acedia. After a long day, someone who works
in a dispensary can get tired of caring for sick people. After a few years, a teacher may
do everything required but with little energy. A married person may get bored with the
responsibilities of keeping a house.
In his Summa Theologiae, St Thomas Aquinas devotes four articles to acedia, which is
usually translated as “sloth” or “spiritual apathy.” For Thomas, acedia is a sin against
charity, because it goes against “joy in God” (2a2ae. 35, 3). Thomas affirms that acedia
doesn’t just turn against a particular spiritual good but “from the divine good to which we
should hold onto” (2a2ae. 35, 3, ad 3).
Thomas defines acedia as “a certain weariness about work” (2a2ae. 35, 1) or “sorrow
over spiritual good” (2a2ae. 35, 2). Thomas affirms: “Such sorrow is always bad.” It can
be bad in itself when we consider a spiritual good to be bad. It can also be bad in its

effects when “it drags a person away from good work.” Thomas states: “Acedia or
sorrow over spiritual things is doubly bad, both in itself and in its effects and so it is a
sin” (2a2ae. 35, 1).
Thomas makes an important distinction related to how we deal with our spontaneous
reactions:
The emotions in themselves are not sins. We censure them only when they
follow after something bad, just as we praise them when they follow after the
good. Sorrow in itself is neither praiseworthy or worthy of blame. Moderate
sorrow over true evil is worthy of praise. However, sorrow over the good or
immoderate sorrow over evil is blameworthy. Thus, acedia is a sin (2a2ae. 35, 1,
ad 1).
Thomas distinguishes between initial reactions and whether we choose to stay with
those reactions and cultivate them. Thomas understands that, as with other sins, the
initial reaction, in this case, spiritual weariness, is not a serious sin but the deliberate
choice by our own reason that chooses to stay with such apathy is serious (2a2ae. 35,
3). Thomas reflects that even holy men felt the beginnings of spiritual apathy but they
resisted them and did not make them deliberate choices (2a2ae. 35, 3, ad 3).
Sometimes, our lack of energy is connected to a negative perception of ourselves and
our energies. Thomas explains that a negative attitude towards one’s self is not genuine
humility:
Humility means that a person, knowing his or her own deficiencies, does not
exalt his or herself. But it is not humility but rather ingratitude for us to disregard
the gifts that God has given to us. Acedia follows from such contempt because
we are saddened at what we consider to be bad or vile. Therefore it is necessary
that we not extol the gifts given to others in such a way that we belittle the
blessings given to us by God. This would turn them into sorrow (2a2ae. 35, 1, ad
3).
Many people don’t make efforts because they do not appreciate that they have been
given gifts by God just as other people have been given gifts.
Thomas says that some sins are best avoided simply by fleeing; others are resisted by
fighting. It is best to run from thoughts about sexual sins rather than to think about them.
Other sins can be resisted by thought: “This is so with acedia because the more we
think about spiritual goods the more pleasing they are to us. By this means acedia
diminishes” (2a2ae. 35, 1, ad 4).
When we feel stuck in our negative feelings, we should turn to Jesus. If we look at the
psalms, we see many affirmations that go counter to acedia, short phrases by which we
affirm that God is our “rock,” our “fortress,” our shield,” our shepherd.” Many people

repeat the name of Jesus when they feel discouraged. Paul declares, “I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13).
In our Christian life, we cooperate with God. God is always working with us. The Letter
to the Philippians declares, “God works both the willing and the doing” but we cooperate
and do our part, assisted by God’s grace.
Denis Vincent Wiseman, O.P.

References to St. Thomas’ Summa Theologiae give the part of the Summa, which, in
this case, is the second part of the second part (The second part is divided in two).
Then the number of the question is given, which here is question 35 Then the article is
given, which here, is the 1 st article. If the reference is to Thomas’ response to an
objection that he raised in the beginning of the article, the number of the objection is
added, with the Latin word, ad, meaning “to.”