Doctrine of John of the Cross 4
one
This life will end, therefore we have much to learn from John of the Cross…He was Ordained in 1567
Then he met Teresa of Avila
· She persuaded him to help her reform the Carmelite Order
· From a life of busyness and distraction
· In which they had no time or interest in daily meditation
· We usually have no time for something when we have no interest in it
· Man always has time for what he loves
How do you think the Carmelites responded to this effort to make them change?
December 2, 1577 a group of Carmelites
· kidnapped John and took him to Toledo
· Tortured and imprisoned him in a 10 x 6 cell
· With very little light
· No change of clothes
· No bed
· He lived on bread and water for 9 months
John writes: The immense blessings of God can only enter and fit into an empty and solitary heart…
We must be emptied to be filled by God
What do you think God was doing in John during this time?
two
God did not send the Friars to kidnap, imprison and beat John
· But God allowed it and turned it in John’s favor
· For with God all things work for good for those who trust Him
· John trusted in Divine Providence
And the fruit of this experience was that
· He was totally stripped of every earthly thing he relied upon and being emptied of all things he surrendered himself totally to God - He let God do what He wanted to do through the people and events in John’s life.
· And God flooded John’s soul with His Divine Life
Finally, on August 15, 1578 John escaped; He and Teresa of Avila formed a new branch of the Carmelites and they became the two most important Doctors of the Spiritual Life
The word that John used to capture his main idea – is Nada
a. Nada means to be unconditionally surrendered to God and His will – no matter how it comes to us - so that God may empty us, make room in us so that we may be filled by God
A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges and smears of creatures, by uniting its will perfectly to God's; for to love is to labor to divest and deprive oneself for God of all that is not God. When this is done the soul will be illumined by and transformed in God. And God will so communicate his supernatural being to the soul that it will appear to be God himself and will possess what God himself possesses. Ascent 2, 5, 7
three
For John, the most important thing is making room for God
Fr Ian Matthew has the best book on John of the Cross – it is called The Impact of God. I love the image he uses to get the point across that that our effort is not to go searching for God but to make room for God to come. “Stranded and starving, somebody has to get packed up and sent off into the unknown to search for food, taking what water is left, hacking a way through the undergrowth, hoping somehow to forge a path to something somewhere. But then comes the noise of a helicopter, and rescue approaching. That changes everything. The one thing needed now is some space, so that what is coming can come…for John, God is an approaching God, and our main job will be not to construct but to receive; the key word will be not so much ‘achievement’ as ‘space’. ‘Making space for God in order to receive.’
four
There are two ways to make space for God:
1. The Active Purification
a. Daily meditation and a resolution, frequent reception of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, renouncing sin and its temptations, and the Practice of Virtue
2. The Passive Purification
a. Something occurs in your life that you
i. Did not choose
ii. Do not like
iii. Cannot change
What do we do now?
· Accept it with Trust in Divine Providence
· Offer it with Love to God
This is where God,
· by heavy trials,
· particularly interior ones,
· perfects and completes what the soul has begun on its own,
· But cannot complete on its own
That is why it is Passive
· But not In-Active
· b/c we cooperate
· by Faith, trust, acceptance and love – total gift of self to God
· rather than resisting God
five
Nada – is to be Unconditionally surrendered to God – ready to let Him do whatever he wants so that we may be flooded with His divine life.
I am all in – 100%
Well, except for this area of my life, Lord. That area is not open for discussion, OK!”
I give myself entirely to you Lord
· You can do whatever you want
· No conditions
Now, This is a dangerous thing to say
St Nicholas of Flue
My Lord and my God,
Take from me everything that distances me from You
My Lord and my God,
Give me everything that brings me closer to You
My Lord and my God,
Detach me from myself to give my all to You
take from me everything that distances me from You
· but what if I think I really need that to be happy?
· what if I have based my life on that?
· What if I found my identity in that?
· Can I let it go?
Give me everything that brings me closer to You
that is scary!!!
That prayer comes with a warning label
· Don’t make that prayer unless you mean it
· b/c God is a Reckless Lover
But if you want to experience heaven on earth
· Then by all means, pray that prayer and mean it!
So How do we make room for God?
1. Make the choice to want union with God above all things
2. Do what is in your power to make room: commit to daily meditation and a resolution; receive the Eucharist and Confession frequently; live a balanced life; fulfill your responsibilities
3. Be unconditionally surrendered to God – NADA
4. Trust in Divine Providence – that God is guiding all things to good for you and your loved ones if you trust Him