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Pope Francis Cycle of Catechesis. Vices and Virtues. 7. Sorrow
Psalm (13: 2-3: 6)
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; . . .I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
‘sorrow is like the pleasure of non-pleasure’
Dear brothers and sisters,
In our itinerary of catechesis on the vices and virtues, today we are going to look at at a rather ugly vice, sorrow, understood as a despondency of the soul, a constant affliction that prevents man for feeling joy at his own existence.
First of all, we should note that the Fathers of the Church made an important distinction with regard to sorrow. There is indeed a sorrow that is appropriate to Christian life, and that, with God’s grace, can be changed into joy: this, of course, is not to be rejected and is part of the path of conversion.
But there is a second kind of sorrow that creeps into the soul and leaves it in a state of despondency:
it is this second kind of sorrow that must be fought with determination and with all our strength, because it comes from the evil one.
This distinction is also found in St. Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians: “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and does not bring regret, but worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor 7:10).
There is, then, a kind of grief that leads to salvation.
Think of the prodigal son of the parable: when he reaches the depths of his degeneration, he feels great bitterness, and this prompts him to come to his senses and to decide to return home to his father (Lk 15:11-20).
It is a grace to lament one’s own sins, to remember the state of grace from which we have fallen, to weep because we have lost the purity in which God dreamed of us.
But there is a second sorrow, which is instead a sorrow of the soul.
It arises in the human heart when a desire or a hope disappears.
Here we can refer to the account of the disciples of Emmaus, in the Gospel of Luke.
These two disciples leave Jerusalem with a disappointed heart, and they confide to the stranger who at one point accompanies them: “We had hoped that he – Jesus – was the one who would redeem Israel” (Lk 24:21).
The dynamic of suffering is linked to the experience of loss, the experience of loss.
Hopes are born in the human heart and are sometimes disappointed.
It can be the desire to possess something that we cannot obtain; but it can also be something important, such as an emotional loss.
When this happens, it is as if man’s heart falls from a precipice, and the feelings he has are discouragement, weakness of the spirit, depression and anguish.
We all go through trials that create sorrow in us, because life makes us conceive dreams that are then shattered.
In this situation, some, after a time of turmoil, some people rely on hope; but others wallow in melancholy, and allow it to fester in their hearts.
Does this bring joy? Look: sorrow is like the pleasure of non-pleasure; it is like taking a bitter, bitter, bitter candy, without sugar, unpleasant, and sucking that candy.
Sorrow is taking pleasure in non-pleasure.
The monk Evagrius tells us that all vices are aimed at pleasure, however fleeting, while sadness is aimed at the opposite: of lulling oneself into endless sorrow.
Certain prolonged sorrows, in which a person continues to expand the emptiness of one who is no longer there, are not suited to life in the Spirit.
ertain resentful bitterness, where a person always has a claim in mind that makes him take on the guise of the victim, does not produce a healthy life in us, let alone a Christian one.
There is something in everyone’s past that needs to be healed.
Sorrow, from being a natural emotion, can turn into an evil state of mind.
t is an insidious demon, that of sorrow. The Fathers of the Desert describe it as a worm of the heart that eats away and hollows out its host. This is a good image: it makes us understand. It is a worm in the heart that consumes and hollows out its host.
We must beware of this sorrow and think that Jesus brings us the joy of resurrection.
But what should I do when I am sad?
Stop and look: is this a good sadness? Is it a sadness that is not so good?
And respond according to the nature of the sadness. Do not forget that sadness can be a very bad thing that leads us to pessimism, that leads us to a selfishness that is difficult to cure.
Brothers and sisters, we must beware of this sorrow and remember that Jesus brings us the joy of resurrection.
However full life may be of contradictions, of defeated desires, of unrealized dreams, of lost friendships, thanks to the resurrection of Jesus we can believe that all will be saved.
Jesus rose again not only for himself, but also for us, to redeem all the unfulfilled happiness in our lives.
Faith casts out fear, and the resurrection of Christ removes sadness like the stone from the tomb.
Every Christian’s day is an exercise in resurrection.
Georges Bernanos, in his famous novel Diary of a Country Priest, has the parish priest of Torcy say this: “The Church has joy, all that joy that is reserved for this sad world.
What you have done against her, you have done against joy”.
And another French writer, León Bloy, left us that wonderful phrase: “There is only one sadness, […] that of not being holy”.
May the Spirit of the risen Jesus help us to defeat sorrow with holiness.
Summary of the Holy Father’s words
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our catechesis on the virtues and the vices, we are now focusing on spiritual sadness. Saint Paul speaks of a “divine grief” and a “worldly grief” (2 Cor 7:10).
The former leads to conversion, enables us to cling to hope and, thus, leads to joy.
The latter comes from frustrated hopes and disappointments and erodes the soul with discouragement and sadness. Unlike most vices which seek fleeting pleasures, sadness indulges itself by wallowing in sorrow, thus hindering spiritual growth.
As an antidote to this kind of despondency, the Desert Fathers recommended embracing Christ’s resurrection; for the risen Jesus redeems all the unfulfilled happiness in our lives.
May faith dispel fear and Christ’s resurrection remove sadness like the stone before his tomb.
