Saint John of the Cross
A Brief Background
Saint John of the Cross was born in 1542 in Spain. His father died when he was three and his mother and siblings lived in poverty. His uncle helped him find a job and he went on to study theology in university. When he was twenty-five he met Teresa of Avila (from yesterday’s post!) and together they worked to reform their monastic order.
The reform was difficult and John’s own order abducted him and kept him in solitary confinement, occasionally whipping him and giving him little food or sunlight. (!!!) They told him that Teresa had abandoned the reform effort and tried to get him to do the same.
He escaped after nine months in prison and continued his reform efforts with continued resistance from others. He would go on to write four major works, including Ascent of Mount Carmel and Dark Night of the Soul. He died at age forty-nine.1
Humility and Patience
What John endured during his life would be enough to make anyone a very bitter person, especially the injustice of it all within his own brotherhood! Yet, despite his continued setbacks and sufferings, John’s humility and patience touched many people. He once wrote to a friend saying,
Do not let what is happening to me cause you any grief, for it does not cause me any…Think nothing else but that God ordains all, and where there is no love put love, and you will draw out love.2
John was able to withstand many trials because he did everything in service and love of God. He continued to put love in places where there was no love, eventually making progress with his reform efforts.
Serving God
John also writes of the importance of serving God in all areas of our lives, including our wealth, marriages, and children. He says,
People should not rejoice over riches…unless God is served through them…Nothing but what belongs to the service of God should be the object of our joy. Any other joy would be vain and worthless, for joy that is out of harmony with God is of no value to the soul.3
Now, I don’t think he means that we all have to go and live in destitution. Instead, he is talking about the intent of our hearts. Seeing our gifts and abilities as service to God helps us bear all things in patience and humility, because we are not looking for our fulfillment in anything other than God.
The writings of Saint John of the Cross are all the more poignant knowing what he went through this in his life—he truly practiced what he preached and encourages us to become more united with God’s heart through love.
Preparing Our Hearts
How is God calling us into deeper service through our time, actions or goods? Is he putting anything on our hearts that we can respond to in some way today?
A Note About the Art
His name is Saint John of the Cross! I had to do a cross. His life reminds us to pick up our cross and carry it daily.