CAST ASIDE SADNESS.
PRAY, FORGET, AND GIVE YOURSELF AND BE HAPPY.
CAST ASIDE SADNESS.
PRAY, FORGET AND GIVE YOURSELF AND BE HAPPY.
Delight your soul and comfort your heart, and remove sorrow far from you, for sorrow has destroyed many, and there is no profit in it. Sirach 30:24-25
The scriptural words cited above show us that sadness, as an interior disposition brought about by our sins, errors, voluntary actions, -and not by illness-, causes grave harm to the soul because it is the fruit of pride, just as joy is the consequence of the love of God.
- Sadness eats away at the foundations of the interior life, and implies a lack of awareness of our divine filiation, a lack of trust in God and abandonment into his hands.
Cast aside sadness. Do you not realize that it is worse than any other state of mind? It is that which most discourages and rebuffs the Holy Spirit. A happy person works well, enjoys good things and pleases God. But a sad person always acts badly. (Shepherd of Hermas, Mandatum X, 1 & 3)
Sadness is a great ally of the enemy. A person who is sad is in a near occasion of sin. If this grave danger should ever attack our soul, we must examine ourselves, ask for light and look for the cause. Happiness is a consequence of self-surrender. It is reaffirmed every time you turn the water-wheel (St. Josemaria, Furrow, n. 87).
- At the bottom of sadness we often find the dregs of selfishness and personal concerns.
- You are not happy because you make everything revolve around yourself as if you were always the centre: you have a stomach ache, or you are tired, or they have said this or that…Have you ever tried thinking about Him, and through Him, about others? (St. Josemaria, Furrow, n. 74).
If we are tempted to be sad, the first remedy is St. Josemaria’s advice: pray.
You ask me to suggest a cure for your sadness. I will give you a prescription from an expert adviser, the Apostle St James: Tristatur aliquis vestrum? Is any of you sad? Are you sad, my son? Oret! Pray! Try it and you will see.
(St. Josemaria, The Way, n. 663).
- Talking and listening to God will bring life back to our soul. Then with the supernatural outlook of faith, hope, love, and desires for atonement, we will see that we only have reasons for being happy.
- We will resolve to remove the obstacles which separate us from the Lord, the God of our joy.
- Once more we will happily serve our brothers and sisters and all people.
If we think that the cause of our sadness is not ourself but rather a daily condition (at least more than 2 weeks) brought about by an external circumstance which we could not compensate by our own defense mechanisms including those mentioned above, and has negatively affected our family, professional and social life, coupled with the appearance of symptoms of depression (depressed mood, loss of enjoyment in activities which were pleasurable, loss of appetite, insomnia or excessive sleep, weight gain/weight loss, irritability, loss of self-control, hopelessness, pessimism, recurring suicidal thoughts, etc.), it is extremely urgent to call for medical help. If we are docile to the medical advice received, one’s condition will get better.
Nevertheless, if the illness persists or reappears, one must not lose hope. There are people who in spite of suffering from depression, know how to entrust themselves to God, carry their cross with cheerfulness, sanctify their illness, and be spiritually happy.
Let us turn to our Lady, Causa nostrae laetitiae, Cause of our joy, so that she may always keep alive in us this cheerful and optimistic spirit, so characteristic of God’s children, and help us in our daily struggle to cast away sadness, selfishness and pride, to forget ourselves and give ourselves to serve God and the people around us.
Stay updated: subscribe by email for free TO OUR NEW WEBSITE www.catholicsstrivingforholiness.org (PUT YOUR EMAIL IN THE SUBSCRIBE WIDGET).
We are also in www.fb.com/Catholicsstrivingforholiness. Kindly help more people in their Christian life by liking our page and inviting your family, friends and relatives to do so as well. Thanks in advance and God bless you and your loved ones! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo