14 December 2022 - Wednesday of the 3rd week in Advent - Memorial of St John of the Cross - Psalm 85

     We hear the psalmist declare today: the LORD proclaims peace to his people, that the Lord’s salvation is near to those who fear him and respect him, that glory dwells in our land.   This message is to be hopeful, comforting, and consoling for us amidst our sufferings and challenges in life. This brings us to the saint we celebrate today: Carmelite priest St John of the Cross. To put John of the Cross into his historical context, Martin Luther published his 95 theses in 1517, which stated the Protestant Reformation. John of the Cross, who became an important Church reformer himself, was born in 1542, just a few decades later, in this era of the Protestant reformation. We can describe John of the Cross not only as a Church reformer, but also as a mystic, a spiritual writer, a Doctor of the Church, and the spiritual advisor and confessor of the great Carmelite nun St Teresa of Avila.  John of the Cross is one of the greatest poets in the history of the Spanish language, his most famous poem being The Dark Night of the Soul. Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote this: “Just as we can never separate asceticism from mysticism, so in St John of the Cross we find darkness and light, suffering and joy, sacrifice and love united together so closely that they seem at times to be identified.” There are so many great quotes of St John of the Cross, but these very poetic words really speak to me: “Never was fount so clear, undimmed and bright; From it alone, I know proceeds all light,  although ’tis night.” Being a church reformer in the era of the Spanish Inquisition came at a cost for John.  He was imprisoned and reprimanded harshly by his fellow Carmelite monks, dying from an illness at the age of 49 during one of these times of being confined and harshly treated. 

     I have been to the country of Spain 7 different times. I remember when my plane landed in Spain in January 2016 for my pilgrimage journey, I immediately thought - I am in the land of John of the Cross, of Teresa of Avila, of Ignatius of Loyola, of John of Avila, some of the greatest figures in the history of Catholicism, and all of them came out of 16th century Spain. Let us give thanks for John of the Cross, we thank you for your courage, your mystical faith, your poetic words, your prophetic vision.  We unite our prayers to yours.