Overcoming Spiritual Idleness: 7 Pitfalls to Avoid for a Focused Catholic Life

In this episode of The Catholic Man Show, hosts Adam Minihan and David Niles dive into the topic of spiritual idleness, drawing from Father Frederick Faber’s Growth in Holiness: Progress of the Spiritual Life. Recorded around the Fourth of July, the episode begins with a celebration of small-town Americana, from mutton busting at the local rodeo to the ordination of their friend, Father Robert Williams. The hosts then explore seven developments of spiritual idleness—dissipation, sadness, sloth, and more—offering practical insights on how to stay vigilant and prioritize a life oriented toward God. Sipping on Balvenie’s American Oak 12-Year Scotch, Adam and David discuss how modern distractions, like smartphones and excessive communication, fragment our focus and hinder our prayer life, and share strategies for cultivating presence, joy, and intentionality in both spiritual and daily routines.

Key Discussion Points:

• Small-Town Americana: The hosts celebrate the Heart of America rodeo, mutton busting, and the communal prayer and patriotism of small-town events, reflecting on their importance in fostering connection.
• Priestly Ordination: David shares a moving story of his son’s emotional response to Father Robert Williams’ ordination, highlighting the eternal nature of the priesthood and the call to discernment.
• Spiritual Idleness Defined: Drawing from Father Faber’s Growth in Holiness, the hosts unpack seven developments of spiritual idleness: dissipation (misprioritizing tasks), sadness (rooted in self-love), sloth (hatred of existence), useless industry (excessive communication), and general indifference to time.
• Dissipation’s Impact: Putting less important tasks first disrupts the hierarchy of goods, leading to a loss of peace and distractions in prayer, as Faber notes: “He who is diligent will soon be cheerful.”
• Sadness and Self-Love: Sadness, driven by self-improvement rather than God, gives the devil power over the soul, undermining spiritual progress.
• Sloth as a Culmination: Sloth combines dissipation and sadness, fostering a distaste for existence and duties, disrupting the tranquility of order (Aquinas’ definition of peace).
• Useless Industry: Faber’s critique of excessive letter-writing in the 1800s applies to today’s text messaging and social media, which fragment focus and reduce meaningful communication.
• Indifference to Time: Wasting time, especially on addictive platforms like YouTube Shorts, is a “stupid” sin that squanders the precious, irrevocable gift of time, which Faber calls “the stuff out of which eternity is made.”
• Focus and Presence: True focus requires saying “no” to distractions to prioritize God’s will, fostering presence in both daily life and prayer, as exemplified by a man eating lunch under a tree without multitasking.
• Leisure Done Right: Leisure must align with one’s state in life, be tethered to joy, and have a contemplative aspect, avoiding compulsory or utilitarian ends.

Notable Quotes from Father Frederick Faber:

• “Dissipation… consists in putting things off beyond their proper times so that one duty treads upon the heels of another, and all duties are felt as irksome obligations.”
• “He who is diligent will soon be cheerful.”
• “The soul of sadness is self-love… How many are there whose real end in the spiritual life is self-improvement rather than God?”
• “Nothing gives the devil so much power over us [as sadness].”
• “Time is the stuff out of which eternity is made… we shall have to give the strictest account of it at the last.”

Resources:

• Growth in Holiness: Progress of the Spiritual Life by Father Frederick Faber (available from Koreasoo Press).
• Select International Tours – Join Adam and David on their October pilgrimage to Italy or explore other holy sites worldwide.
• Explore St. Hesychios’ writings on watchfulness for insights on vigilance in the spiritual life.