That’s the piercing question suggested by St. John of the Cross, whose feast day is today. His spirituality was fortified by the firm rock of faith, not on the fleeting sands of emotion. It thrived even in the midst of hunger and dryness, a model for all the dark periods in our life.
St. John has sharp words for those of us who build our faith on warm feelings and (gasp!) an excess of spiritual reading:
“All their time is spent looking for satisfaction and spiritual consolation; they can never read enough spiritual books, and one minute they are meditating on one subject and the next on another, always hunting for some gratification in the things of God.
God very rightly and discreetly and lovingly denies this satisfaction to these beginners. If he did not, they would fall into innumerable evils because of their spiritual gluttony and craving for sweetness. This is why it is important for these beginners to enter the dark night and be purged of this childishness.”
Credit for the quote goes to Dr. Tom Neal, who to me is akin to St. John himself. Dr. Tom wrote his doctoral thesis on the spiritual giant and says that reading St. John is like eating enriched uranium: even tiny portions of his doctrine have immense transformative, explosive power if taken into the spiritual life.
My favorite introduction to St. John’s spirituality is Fr. Thomas Dubay’s masterwork, Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel on Prayer (Ignatius Press, 1990). As the title suggests, the book is also a guide to St. John’s friend and fellow Doctor, St. Teresa of Avila.
Finally, here’s some poignant commentary on the saint from Fr. Steve Grunow, the brilliant Assistant Director at Word on Fire.
(Image credit: Icons-Interfaith)