Dark Night

In this episode we talk about the Dark Night of the Soul.

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spk_0:   0:00
Hi. Everybody have Deacon Dave,

spk_1:   0:01
like, personally said,

spk_0:   0:03
Welcome to the Deacon David Layperson show Today we want to talk about the dark night of the soul. It's really kind of relevant, given the Palm Sunday readings from today, especially the response Auriol Song, where Jesus is saying, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? It's just a beautiful liturgy today and so we want to spend a few minutes talking about maybe how in our own lives we experience dark nights of our senses. Andare So, Lisa.

spk_1:   0:36
So I feel like a few years ago I was at a really low place and I would ask God to, like, help lift me out of it and you know, nothing. I kind of felt like he wasn't answering my prayers and whatnot because I was in a low place for so long. But I feel like he uses these low place that these low points in our lives to help us seek him to a higher degree. Because if I hadn't been at that low point, I don't know if I would take him at the degree that I did cause other things weren't fulfilling,

spk_0:   1:13
and it's funny how weak and we're not so much funny. But how It's very easy for the world to tart start to take place in our lives in so many different ways. And we forget to be thankful for everything that God is doing in our lives and everything that he's providing for us. And this in what ways was this dark night that you experience? How did it manifest itself to you, Lisa?

spk_1:   1:38
I don't know. Like nothing. I did worldly things just then interest me. So I knew I needed something at a higher level. And, you know, no matter what, I thought, it just didn't do it until that's like when I went on Chrissy. Oh, so I don't think I would have said yes to Christy. Oh, if I wasn't at that lovely

spk_0:   1:59
right, you were searching for something. Everything else had been a stripped away in your life. And so often we do try toe, find the things of the world to try to fulfill us, and, as you suggested, they often fall short. But we continue to try to replace with worldly things time be that we should spend crazy and worshipping and entering Maur into relationship with God. We can upload these, but to get back to what we were talking about. Uh, it I know there have been times in my life where I think I probably didn't even realize that what was happening to me Waas dark night of my soul Because as you suggest, that I was still trying to satisfy it with worldly things. And oftentimes we may go into a depression. We may feel like God has actually is not present to us. But the reality of it is is that God is always present to us. Even in those moments where he does not, it does not feel like he is there. So now the TV came on in the background. I have no idea why. Because it was frozen. So it must have been frozen. So who are some saints? Lee said that, you know, that had a dark night of the soul.

spk_1:   3:17
ST Teresa of Calcutta.

spk_0:   3:20
Right? And she, uh, which would

spk_1:   3:23
have never known

spk_0:   3:25
exactly. Andi, I think one of the things that I read is she actually wanted to unite herself with the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. And sometimes they say, Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it. And so I think, for what was a period of, like, 50 years.

spk_1:   3:43
Yeah,

spk_0:   3:44
he went through this.

spk_1:   3:46
Yes. So when she was on the train, she was, um uh I think she was writing letters back and forth to her bishop asking him Thio release her from where she was at to form her own. Um, what do you call it? Um, the missionaries of, uh, yeah, though, um, and she because she really felt like Jesus was calling her to do that. And then that was the last time she felt Jesus was, um you know, uh, speaking with her, all right.

spk_0:   4:20
And it's interesting because part of what I read issues she was going through this difficult time that she would encounter Jesus and the people that she served, you know, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the needy is that became her interaction. Uh, with Jesus was through the people that which she was serving for him. So

spk_1:   4:43
there was no

spk_0:   4:43
Saint Teresa was Sue, uh, her writing. And she had the dark night of the soul as well, leading up to her death, I believe.

spk_1:   4:54
Oh, I didn't know that.

spk_0:   4:55
Yes, it's It's, uh it's amazing. There are a lot of states that have experienced on the dark night of the soul. And sometimes it's Mother Teresa that last for 50 years and others may last a week, or and we probably have different dark nights of the soul throughout our life. Um, where we feel like God is not present, um, in whatever is going on. And I think it's in those moments, Lisa, that we really need to just love and appreciate God, even in the midst of not being able to feel his presence necessarily, but to still know that he's not there to not give up hope on two Main. One of the things that Mother Teresa said she said she felt like she had lost her faith. She had lost hope, which is shocking the here. But she never lost her charity, her love of service people. And, as I said, that's where she found Christ at

spk_1:   5:58
Yes, and also a lot of times, um, people may experience like a dryness and prayer, and they may feel like, Oh, well, nothing's happening. I don't feel close to God, even though I'm fraying, and it's important that you continue to pray despite that, right?

spk_0:   6:16
Exactly. And I think sometimes people have also compared it thio purgatory, that when we go into purgatory, all of those things about our life that weren't consistent with the will of God will be burned away. So be in the presence in the fullness of of what it means to see the face of God. And the same is true of these, uh, dark nights that we go through as these are really times of purification opportunity for us to just kind of strip ourselves similar. Uh, I was gonna say what happened with Jesus. He was stripped of his clothing in a similar way. We need to be stripped of of our clothing and all of those things that we want to attach ourselves to in this world when really the only one we need to attach ourselves to is the God who created

spk_1:   7:09
us. And God often uses these dark nights to bring us closer to him in the end.

spk_0:   7:16
Exactly. And thanks be to God that that's exactly what happens is that he does bring us closer. So we're entering into Holy Week. Lisa it has begun. And this kind of unusual time Is there anything that you want to share with our listeners about how maybe they should approach this unusual holy week.

spk_1:   7:38
I would just, you know, the masses will be streamed. Well, not on Friday, but the service on Good Friday will be streamed online. So watch those, and then the guy sees is offering a, um, I don't want to call it a retreat, but it's something. Yeah, Yeah.

spk_0:   7:58
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night from 6 30 to 8 o'clock. So everybody definitely avail themselves to those Thea thing I want to jump in there and say Lisa was is when you have massive when you're when you're watching it on the live stream and do try to watch it on the live stream with your family, get your room set up. Um, lights and candles.

spk_1:   8:20
I did that today. I did. I watched mess in my prayer room and it made a big difference and spend immediately lay on the couch watching it

spk_0:   8:28
exactly. So really participated it just as if you were there in person. And I think it will heighten Theo experience in the work with spirit uh, for each one of you during during the Lifestream Mass. Well, that's cool. You're not gonna believe this, but I've been watching it. It's been almost 10 minutes

spk_1:   8:47
up. Time to wrap it up.

spk_0:   8:49
Yes. I'm Deacon. Dave.

spk_1:   8:50
I'm late first, Lisa,

spk_0:   8:52
you next time

spk_1:   8:53
high,

spk_0:   8:54
so I'll take a look at that. The only thing I think, Lisa, that's it actually turned out pretty good, but I think we'll end up having to recorded

spk_1:   9:03
okay, because it kept everything on my side.

spk_0:   9:06
It grows on me one time, so I'm gonna stop the recording that.