Question: I suffer from despair… How do I brace up and get to church?
Answer: There is a fixed time of worship, and there is your spare time that you have to sacrifice to come to church for help. This painful condition of your soul has a certain reason. It has causes and circumstances that you have to change if you want to break free. What do you need to do it? First of all, you should consider how you got into this place, how you have lived your life since you were 7 (assuming you have never confessed before). Perhaps, your conscience rebukes you? Perhaps, you understand that you do wrong and would like to abstain from something but you are unable to do so? Secondly, you should have a clear vision of what you want from God. Do you want God’s love to make you a different person? Are you willing to accept his love, to obey God and to struggle with sin? If you feel bad and want to change something, come to church no matter what. Confession is a Sacrament during which you stand not in front of a man (a priest) but in front of God. It is through the priest — in his presence — that you petition God and receive help from him. Your sins can be forgiven provided that you repent genuinely. You have to be willing to repent and to have at least a little faith. A new life will begin as soon as you allow God to enter your heart. Of course, you will have to coerce yourself because the devil will impede it. The outside world will also hamper you, as well as the sin inside you. However, you should make yourself come and stand in the queue for a confession, and not to leave the church at all costs. The priest may tell you something you won’t like… You should be patient and humble yourself down. If you come to a doctor, there are different doctors, kind and less than kind and completely unkind… But they do treat people. God heals people through them. Then you will receive the Holy Mysteries, the Eucharist if the priest allows you. Since that time, your new life, where there is no place for despair, will begin. It will be a life filled with faith, hope, and love. Welcome to God’s House!
