• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis waves to people as he makes his way to hold his weekly general audience at the Vatican Oct. 26, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Sadness can serve as ‘alarm bell’ for life, pope says

October 26, 2022
By Junno Arocho Esteves
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Feelings of desolation and sadness are not signs of trials that may discourage Christians, they can be indispensable signs that point to dangers along the path toward happiness, Pope Francis said.

Although many consider sadness “an ill to avoid at all costs,” Christians should see it as “an indispensable alarm bell for life, inviting us to explore richer and more fertile landscapes that transience and escapism do not permit,” the pope said Oct. 26 during his weekly general audience.

Sadness “is indispensable for our health,” he said. “It protects us from harming ourselves and others. It would be far more serious and dangerous if we did not feel this.”

The pope continued his series of audience talks on spiritual discernment, reflecting on desolation and the role it plays in Christian life.

Recalling the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Pope Francis defined desolation as the “darkness of the soul” and the “unquiet of different agitations and temptations” that lead one to becoming “lazy, tepid, sad, as if separated from his or her creator and Lord.”

“No one wants to be desolate, sad,” he said. “We would all like a life that is always joyful, cheerful and fulfilled. Yet this, besides not being possible, would not be good for us either. Indeed, the change from a life oriented toward vice can start from a situation of sadness, of remorse for what one has done.”

“Sometimes sadness is a traffic light: ‘Stop. Stop. It’s red. Stop,'” the pope said.

However, for men and women who seek to do good, desolation also can be an obstacle “with which the tempter (the devil) tries to discourage us” and can lead to abandoning “work, study, prayer” or other commitments.

“Unfortunately, some people decide to abandon the life of prayer, or the choice they have made — marriage or religious life — driven by desolation, without first pausing to consider this state of mind, and especially without the help of a guide,” he said.

But a “wise rule” of discernment, he said, is “do not make changes where you are in desolation,” but wait until the acute sadness has passed.

While moments of sadness are “an experience common to spiritual life,” the pope said the path of goodness “is narrow and uphill” and encouraged Christians, especially those who “want to serve the Lord, not to be led astray by desolation.”

“If we know how to traverse loneliness and desolation with openness and awareness, we can emerge strengthened in human and spiritual terms,” Pope Francis said. “No trial is beyond our reach.”

– – –

Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju

Read More Vatican News

Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say

Pope: Without power of Holy Spirit, evangelization is empty advertising

Papal message to focus on people’s right not to migrate

Pope Francis is praised in U.N. talks for efforts to combat anti-Muslim prejudice

Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says

Welcoming migrants, refugees is first step toward peace, pope says

Copyright © 2022 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Junno Arocho Esteves

Catholic News Service is a leading agency for religious news. Its mission is to report fully, fairly and freely on the involvement of the church in the world today.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Movie Review: ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’
  • RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints
  • Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81
  • Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm

| Latest Local News |

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

| Latest World News |

Federal judge’s pending ruling could block abortion drug from nationwide sale

New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God ‘for his life, ministry’

Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Federal judge’s pending ruling could block abortion drug from nationwide sale
  • Papa Francisco: Sin la fuerza del Espíritu Santo, la evangelización es publicidad vacía
  • New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God ‘for his life, ministry’
  • Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say
  • Pro-life groups seek commitments on federal abortion limits from 2024 GOP contenders
  • Pope: Without power of Holy Spirit, evangelization is empty advertising
  • West Virginia parishes, people help Ukrainians find safe haven in Mountain State
  • Rosary project supplies ‘long-range, heart-changing weapons’ to Ukraine
  • Bishop calls ‘reproductive justice’ lecture series with abortion doula ‘scandal,’ ‘unworthy’ of Notre Dame university

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED