{"id":48522,"date":"2023-03-29T16:33:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T22:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=48522"},"modified":"2023-03-31T00:31:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T06:31:26","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-power-of-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/a-lesson-on-the-power-of-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesson On the Power of the Cross","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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IT<\/strong> was one of the most powerful lessons in my life. I want to share with you what happened to me on my recent silent retreat… <\/p>\n

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Wounds and Warfare<\/h5>\n

A year ago, the Lord called me and my family out of the “desert” in Saskatchewan, Canada back to Alberta. That move began a process of healing in my soul \u2014 one that really culminated during the Triumph<\/a> retreat earlier this month. “9 Days to Freedom” says their website<\/a>. They’re not kidding. I watched many souls transform before my eyes during the course of the retreat \u2014 my own included.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"During those days, I recalled a memory of my kindergarten year. There was a gift exchange between us \u2014 but I was forgotten. I remember standing there feeling set apart, embarrassed, even ashamed. I never really put much stock in that… but as I began to reflect on my life, I realized that, since that moment, I had always<\/em> felt apart. As I grew in my faith as a young child, I felt even more isolated as most of the kids in my Catholic schools never attended Mass. So I never really formed strong friendships during my school years. My brother was my best friend; his friends were my friends. And this continued as I left home, throughout my career, and then my ministry years. It then began to bleed into my family life.<\/em> I started to doubt my own wife’s love for me and even that of my children. There was no truth to it, but the insecurity only grew, the lies became bigger and more believable and this only brought tension between us.<\/p>\n

A week before the retreat, it all came to a head. I knew without a doubt that I was being spiritually attacked at that point, but the lies were so real, so persistent, and so oppressive, that I said to my spiritual director last week: “If Padre Pio was tossed about his room physically by demons, I was going through the mental equivalent.” All the tools I used in the past were seemingly <\/em>starting to fail: prayer, fasting, the rosary, etc. It wasn’t until I went to Confession the day before the retreat that the attacks immediately stopped. But I knew that they would come back… and with that, I set out for the retreat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Delivered from Darkness<\/h5>\n

I won’t get too much into the retreat except to say that it weaves together Ignatian discernment and Th\u00e9r\u00e8sian spirituality, blended with the Sacraments, Our Lady’s intercession, and more. The process allowed me to enter into both the wounds and the pattern of lies that emerged from them. During the first few days, I wept many tears as the Lord’s presence descended upon my little room and my conscience became illumined to the truth. The tender words He poured out in my journal were powerful and liberating. Yes, as we heard in the Gospel today:\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)<\/span><\/p>\n

I encountered the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity distinctly and more than I ever have in my life. I was overwhelmed with God’s love. He was revealing to me how I had subtly bought into the falsehoods of the “father of lies,”[1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. John 8:44<\/span><\/span>