Let’s learn to interpret sadness

In the general audience, Francis continued his catechesis on discernment with a reflection on the feeling of desolation. Call for an end to the violence in the African region of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a nun has just been killed.

Vatican City () – Sadness is not a feeling to be avoided, but to be read in depth. Because often – just like physical pain – it is an alarm signal about what is not working as it should in our lives, Pope Francis explained today to the faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for the general audience on Wednesday.

Continuing with the cycle of catechesis dedicated to the theme of discernment, the pontiff focused on the first of the affective modalities that accompany it and that the Ignatian tradition calls desolation. “Nobody -Francisco observed- wants to be desolate, sad. We would all like to have a life that is always cheerful, happy and full. But this, in addition to not being possible, would not be good for us either. In reality, the change from a life oriented towards vice can start from a state of sadness, of remorse for what one has done”.

In this regard, the Pope cited a well-known page from Italian literature – the conversion of the Unnamed from the novel “The Betrothed” by Alessandro Manzoni – to point out that “it is important to learn to read sadness. In our time it is generally considered something negative, an evil to be avoided at all costs, but instead it can be an indispensable alarm bell for life, inviting us to explore richer and more fertile landscapes than transience and evasion do not allow. It is essential for our health, it protects us so that we do not harm ourselves or others. It would be much more serious and dangerous not to notice this feeling.

But sadness can also become an obstacle that the Tempter puts up to dissuade us from doing good. “Unfortunately, some people decide to abandon the life of prayer, or the choice they have made, marriage or the consecrated life, pushed by desolation, without first stopping to read that state of mind and, above all, without the help of a guide. . A wise rule says don’t make changes when you’re devastated. It will be the later time, rather than the mood of the moment, that will show whether a decision is good or not for us”.

In the Gospel, Jesus rejects temptations with an attitude of firm decision. “In the spiritual life – the Pope concluded his meditation – the test is an important moment. If we know how to go through loneliness and desolation with openness and awareness, we can emerge stronger from a human and spiritual point of view. No test is beyond our reach. Saint Paul reminds that no one is tempted beyond his possibilities, because the Lord never abandons us and, if we are close to Him, we can overcome all temptations ”(cf. 1 Cor 10, 13).

In greeting the pilgrims, the pontiff once again asked to pray for peace, associating the drama of the war in Ukraine with the news that arrives about the violence in the North Kivu region, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In recent days, 7 people have died, including Sister Marie-Sylvie Kavuke Vakatsuraki, a nun who worked in the field of health. “We are horrified at these events,” Pope Francis said. I express my strong disapproval of the unacceptable attack that took place in Maboya. Let us pray for the victims and their families, and also for that Christian community and the inhabitants of that region, devastated by violence for so long.”