“The problem of pastoral burnout is an important concern today in ministry studies. It can be defined as vocational exhaustion, the depletion of resources to fulfill one’s responsibilities. Pastoral burnout can be faced honestly and remedial action take, or it can be like a hidden cancer among the ordained. When admitted it is a form of battle wound, when hidden it becomes a form of acedia that manifests itself in insulation and evasion.
The sin that leads to pastoral burnout is like a two-edged sword–it cuts two ways. What gets the pastor into the problem is the temptation to evade his or her own spiritual emptiness by becoming as busy as possible…” (Holmes, Urban T. Spirituality for Ministry. San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1982, p. 47.)
(Note: Acedia is one of the classic seven deadly sins/thoughts first outlined by the desert fathers in the fourth century. It is a kind of spiritual listlessness, apathy, hopelessness and an “I-just-don’t-care-anymore” condition)
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