One must probe one's own soul to see if the sadness that sometimes dwells in the heart is of good or bad nature. Because there is a sadness that is fed by the devil. Pope Francis this time - after having reviewed the vice of gluttony, anger and lust in recent weeks - tackles 'the subtle demon' of sadness, a 'somewhat ugly vice' capable of poisoning existence and leading it into a dead-end tunnel tinged with a catastrophic sense of helplessness and defeat that distances from the love of God. 'The desert fathers described it as a heartworm, which erodes and empties those who have hosted it. We must be careful of this sadness and think that Jesus leads us to the joy of resurrection'. Hence the warning to know 'how to react according to the nature of sadness. Which can be a bad thing, it leads us to pessimism and to a selfishness that hardly heals'. Bergoglio, during the catechesis, remembered that there is 'a sadness that suits Christian life and that with the grace of God turns into joy: this, obviously, must not be rejected and is part of the path of conversion. But there is also a second figure of sadness that creeps into the soul and prostrates it in a state of depression: it is this second kind of sadness that must be fought. It arises in the heart of man when a desire or hope fades'. Summing up, Francis observed that 'sadness is the pleasure of displeasure. Like taking a bitter candy'.
The Fathers of the Church had made an important distinction. 'There is in fact a sadness that turns into joy: this, obviously, must not be rejected and is part of the path of conversion. But there is also a second figure of sadness that creeps into the soul and prostrates it in a state of depression: this second kind of sadness must be fought resolutely and with all strength, because it comes from the Evil One. This distinction we also find in St. Paul, who writing to the Corinthians says: The sadness according to God produces an irrevocable repentance that leads to salvation, while the sadness of the world produces death'.
The theme of absolute sadness that in the medical field is defined as depression has been addressed several times by the Pope who once wanted to quote St. Ignatius of Loyola: 'The darkness of the soul, the inner disturbance, the stimulus towards low and earthly things, the restlessness due to various agitations and temptations: so the soul inclines to distrust, is without hope and without love, and finds itself lazy, lukewarm, sad and as if separated from its Creator and Lord'.
The Pope 'dusts off' the sin of acedia, the evil that takes away the joy of living
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