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To: Alex Murphy; circlecity; Salvation
I don't entirely get your objection, Alex, because I think you've set up "just" to mean "perfect," and then faulted Msgr. Pope for saying Lot wasn't perfect.

Lot could have been a "righteous" man who was "vexed" about the evils of his neighbors, and still have been too slothful to act effectively. He still had his "tent pitched" there within the moral stench of Sodom, still was reluctant to do what the angel said, still said the hills were too far away, still (arguably) had stayed in the environs so long that he's partly responsible for his wife and daughters being corrupted: his wife because she looked back, his daughters because they later turned to sexual vice themselves.

Lot could be "just" and "vexed" with the evil, and still have this flaw of being too passive and too much of a procrastinator, having to be grabbed by the hands and dragged out of harm's way.

Or do you think that righteous men must be faultless? He did have the fault, I would argue, of offering his daughters to be gang-raped, and of getting so drunk his daughters could exploit him sexually.

So if Lot was a "just" man, he was also one with, shall we say, a certain amount of imperfection.

19 posted on 07/02/2015 6:23:39 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus: the power of God who brings salvation to all who believe.")
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To: Mrs. Don-o
I don't entirely get your objection, Alex, because I think you've set up "just" to mean "perfect," and then faulted Msgr. Pope for saying Lot wasn't perfect.

Of course you don't "get" my objection. I'm convinced you didn't even read my post.

20 posted on 07/02/2015 6:52:54 PM PDT by Alex Murphy ("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
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To: Mrs. Don-o

The definition of sloth from the Catholic dictionary goes along with what was written in the original article. Surprise!

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 undeliberate 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 on the pursuit of holiness or even become estranged from God. (Etym. Middle-English slowthe, slow.)


21 posted on 07/03/2015 6:10:01 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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