Advent Meditations: Wednesday 14 December

Dec 14, 2022 by Jill

ON THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR: St John of the Cross – Mystic & Teacher of the Faith,

1591

St. John of the Cross was a Spanish priest whose work is considered the summit of the mystical tradition. John’s father came from a wealthy, noble family, but he was disowned by his family because he fell in love and married a poor, peasant woman. John was born and raised in poverty.  Unable to obtain an apprenticeship to learn a

trade, John worked as an orderly in a hospital, caring for the sick poor.  He would

scrap together whatever funds he could find to study theology and eventually became a Carmelite in 1563 and an ordained priest in 1567. A year later, he was summoned by St. Teresa of Avila to reform the Carmelite Order. However, during this time, he was imprisoned in 1576 and began writing his mystical visions outlining the steps of mystical ascent, also known as the soul’s journey to Christ.

Perhaps best known for the term “the dark night of the soul,” which is also the poem

in which he wrote about “the soul’s happiness in having passed through the dark night of faith, in nakedness, and purgation, to union. For John, the spiritual life is a continual process of growth or regression. It is never static. Growth in the spiritual life is an integrated development that implies a firm, unrelenting, and enthusiastic search for union with God. It is not a dissipated pursuit of several goals at once.

BIBLICAL MEDITATION – Psalm 49:1-4 reads as follows: “Hear this, all peoples; give year, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp.” This Psalm is fitting for commemoration of the Feast of John of the Cross as in the season which highlights consumerism and spending, we are reminded that our money, our gifts our wealth cannot accomplish our salvation.

Instead of feeling a sense of despair about our lack, the author of this Psalm reminds us that this is a time to be hopeful and confident in the promise of salvation. We would be wise in this holy season to embrace this mindset for ourselves, lest our reflections on what is important become misplaced and despair not hope marks us. Let us not think that our stuff and our good name will be redemptive…

PRAYER: O Gracious Lord, give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people; and give, O Lord, the grace to tell them so. Amen. (Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila)

ADVENT DISCIPLINE/ACTIVITY – Listen to the Sounds True audio The Way of Saint John of the Cross: A Guide Through the Dark Night of the Soul by Susan Muto, a five-hour spiritual reading of the mystical writings of this sixteenth century lover of God and healer of

souls.   http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/reviews/view/3315

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: ““God sustains every soul and dwells in it substantially, even though it be that of the greatest sinner in the world, and this union is natural. The supernatural union exists when God’s will and the soul’s will are in conformity. Therefore, the soul rests transformed in God through love” – St. John of the Cross, Book I of the Ascent to Mt. Carmel

Related Posts

Tags

Share This