Today we continue our regular series called “Learning from the Saints.” Our guide is expert Bert Ghezzi, a dear friend of mine and the author of numerous books including Voices of the Saints, Saints at Heart, and Discover Christ: Developing a Personal Relationship with Jesus.
His more recent books are The Power of Daily Mass and The Heart of Catholicism. You can learn more about Bert and his work at BertGhezzi.com.
Today, Bert profiles St. John of Avila, whose feast we celebrate tomorrow.
“Come here, then, my soul, and tell me—in God’s name, I ask you—what hinders you from following wholly after God with all your strength? What do you love if not God, your spouse? Why don’t you have great love for him who has so greatly loved you? Had he nothing else to do on earth except to give himself up for you? And seek your benefit even to his own hurt?
“What is there for you to do on earth except to love the King of Heaven? Don’t you see that all these things must come to an end? What do you see? What do you hear? What do you touch? Taste? Handle? Don’t you see that all these things are but a spider’s web that can never clothe you or keep you from the cold?
“Where are you when you are not in Jesus Christ? What do you think about? What do you value? What do you seek beyond the one perfect good?
“Let us rise, my soul, and put an end to this evil dream. Let us awaken, for it is day, and Jesus Christ, who is the light, has come.”
— John of Avila
A young priest once asked John of Avila how to become a good preacher. John, perhaps the most charismatic preacher of sixteenth-century Spain, said the only way he knew was by loving God above all.
After studying theology at Alcalà, John was ordained in 1525. Already recognized as a gifted preacher, he aspired to go as a missionary to Mexico. But the bishop of Seville commissioned him to evangelize Andalusia, Spain’s southernmost province, that had been dominated by the Moors. For nine years John proclaimed the gospel there with great success. Thousands flocked to hear him. People of every rank turned their lives around and John set them on the path to holiness. With a vast correspondence, he kept in touch with his converts. The letters, many of which survive, contain much practical wisdom and have established John of Avila as a significant spiritual writer.
John made powerful enemies by denouncing wickedness in high places. In 1531, they reported him to the Inquisition, charging him with teaching that the rich could not be saved. Imprisoned for a short time, he was completely cleared in 1533.
Then John conducted missions in various cities including Seville and Córdoba. At Granada, he was instrumental in the conversion and spiritual healing of John of God. Among his friends were Francis Borgia, whom he had converted, Teresa of Avila, Louis of Granada and Ignatius Loyola.
For his last fifteen years John of Avila was in constant pain, but his illness did not keep him from his evangelistic work. Always enamored of the Jesuits, at age 59 he decided to enter the community. But the rigorism of the provincial at Andalusia dissuaded him. The Jesuits, however, have always honored him as one of their own. After his death in 1569 he was buried in the Jesuit church at Montilla. Pope Benedict XVI named him a Doctor of the Church in 2012.
“Love him who loved you when he was a child and who suffered cold for you and wept in the manger for you. Love him who loved you. He was only eight days old when he first shed blood for you. He could not speak then, but he could love. And as he grew older, his love grew too and was shown in the works which he did among us. As his body grew, his trials grew, his pains and tortures and crosses. Love, then, him who first loved you and loves you now in heaven.”
— John of Avila
Read more from Bert at his website www.BertGhezzi.com, or check out his many books on Amazon.