Personally, I love Saint John because he is a true voice of Truth. He is dependable because he does not water down the demands of the Gospel. He points to what is true and necessary and speaks plainly without any attempt to soften the blow. He challenges, but at the same time, he comforts with words of love and understanding. Â He demands, but at the same time, understands the frailty of human nature. Â He holds up an ideal but makes room for human weakness. He feeds us with the solid meat of the spiritual. He is austere but at the same time poetic and eloquent. He speaks of mortification and detachment but always in the context of loving. He reminds us that we are special and loved by God. He reminds us that we have been bought by the blood and death of Jesus and that nothing – no suffering, no trial, no persecution- can ever make us repay what He did out of love. Except to love Him back.
Saint John wrote his major works of The Dark Night, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Spiritual Canticle and Living Flame of Love. He also wrote some prose, prayers and Counsels. We have some surviving letters he wrote.
Saint John of the Cross is known as the Doctor of the Dark Night. That is an inaccurate description. His dark night was only a means to the greater end of transforming union in love. He is a Doctor of Love as the late Father Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD would entitle one of his books. Only if we see him in this light, will we cease to be afraid of him and his doctrine.
Modern Day Relevance
Why do I speak of St. John in the 21st century? How is he relevant? I believe first and foremost that he, like John the Baptist", is the voice that cries out in the wilderness, "make straight the way of the Lord!" His voice bears the impact of conscience. Our lives can become filled with so many imagined needs, unquenched longings, inordinate attachments, selfish ambitions and plans. We find our plates full, and yet, still go away hungry and thirsty. We find ourselves in a world of options and freedoms, and yet, find ourselves enslaved and limited. We find ourselves soaring so high in our spiritual search for meaning, and suddenly, find ourselves on a rapid descent and a fatal crash on the ground of life's reality. What does John of the Cross say to all these? "On the way to the mountain, nothing, nothing, nothing. And at the top of the mountain, still nothing." (Ascent of Mount Carmel). God is much greater than all the goods of this earth. Much greater than the loftiest of our spiritual experiences. Much greater than our mind can conceive. He teaches us that the ascent to union with God is accomplished in darkness and nakedness. He teaches that God is not found AFTER the darkness passes, but that God is IN the darkness, and to embrace this darkness is the surest way to find God. Faith, Hope and Love, the three things that last. In the end, these are the surest guides we can depend on. We are living in these times of faith-crisis. We look for signs and miracles. We exalt grand spiritual experiences and gravitate to what our intellect can understand and our senses can grasp. We are confronted by worldly idols and created some ourselves. We put out our hands and frantically grab whatever makes us happy, only to be disappointed, because our strongly cherished idols make us feel empty. In short, we look for God in all the wrong places. St. John invites us to journey WITHIN.
Sr. Helena
See: The Power of Love In Saint John of the Cross – Carmelite Institute of North America