Affirmation Overcomes Despair

Sometimes when people feel there is no way out, they turn inward in despair and hopelessness. Like the guard who felt that the world was crumbling before him when the prisoners were released because of the earthquake, people may turn to self-harm out of despair. The guard may have felt that no one in this world would fight for him and that he was already a dead man, but St. Paul acknowledged him and affirmed him. Everything will be okay. Put the sword down. Talk with me. By this affirmation, the guard encountered the Lord and was moved to conversion. The guard traveled out of despair and into hope, from darkness into light, and from death to life. Let us be an affirming voice for one another.



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