Sacred Darkness: Encountering Divine Love in Life's Darkest Places

Good spiritual reflections.

This book on encountering God in life's darkest moments, is not a book you just borrow, you must own it so you can use it in your meditative prayer. I like the short chapters because each chapter gives enough for a meditation. I feel like the author has taken me through darkness with him. I always look for Paul Coutinho's books for that reason.

Fr Coutinho really makes you meditate on your faith and brings you closer to God

very insightful and a good read.

Through his writings we see that as a human, Paul Coutinho was never satisfied with just "being". His nature drove him to question and learn. His life is a constant scholarly search into the depths of the Divine. He is driven to a life of ministry, eager to share his experiences and discoveries. In his previous books he has shown us just how "Big" our God is folowed by how much our God loves us "Just As 'We' Are". In "Sacred Darkness", Paul Coutinho allows us to continue journeying with him. In exposing us to Eastern cultures he aids us in expanding our horizons. Throughout his lifetime of study and ministry Paul's experience with the Divine deepens. He shares the fruits of his labors allowing us to follow the path to growth. We learn that in the presence of darkness and weakness we need not be in the "negative" grips experienced in our Colonial formation. We need not give in to social control, but instead, treasure the weakness, the chaos, the sickness, the fears and tensions of life's challenges. Paul Coutinho takes the reality of "darkness" in life, prayerfully examines it and finds it empowering. He leads us step by step through the "darkness". The road he maps out for us provides us with a more mature, more responsible and more enriching enlightenment in our encounter with the Divine. In his conclusion he expresses what I feel is the purpose of this beautiful literary masterpiece: "Growth that happens in the darkness allows us to be drawn deeper and deeper into the Divine." It is an excellent tool for Spiritual Growth!

An extraordinary book authored by a man with a disarmingly real holiness and a great gift for expressing the ineffable in ways that open your mind to new ways of looking at all sorts of things, sometimes moment by moment as you're reading. See the response to the one star rating: "The Worst "Catholic" Spiritual Book I've Ever Read" in case you're put off by that review.... No need to be.

excellent

Paul Coutinho is an author who brings one's faith alive.