Homily: Dec 14 2014 - St. John of the Cross - Dark Night of the Soul

As we draw closer to the great celebration of Christmas, and as the days of the year grow darker, we honor St. John of the Cross, especially known for his writing about the journey to God through the darkness.

There are times in every spiritual journey where it seems the brightness of God’s closeness sustains us and strengthens us—when it is easy to pray, delight to pray. But there are also times of inevitable dryness, where the God seems far away, distant, even absent. 

In St. John of the Cross’ most famous work, his mystical poem, “The Dark Night of the Soul”, he describes the Christian soul going through a period of extreme dryness in prayer.  But such dryness isn’t proof that God is absent, rather, God allows the period of dryness, in order for the soul to persevere, to grow in faith, and to be free from false images and false gods.

In those last few centuries before the birth of Christ, Israel was going through a particular “dark night of the soul”; many thought that God had abandoned his people, and asked, “where was the messiah whom God had promised?” There longing and waiting lasted centuries. Biblical figures like St. John the Baptist, Simeon & Anna, Zechariah & Elizabeth, the three wise men, the poor shepherds, and of course, Mary & Joseph, show us that there was a faithful remnant who did not despair, but maintained hope in a savior.

So too on every spiritual journey, when God seems distant, when the hardships grow great, we see the brokenness of the world, and so many people falling away from the Church, instead of losing hope, we must recommit ourselves to trusting in him, that God allows us to go through the spiritual trial, in order that our faith, hope, and love may be grow.

In the Gospel today, the religious authorities did not recognize Jesus’ identity.  They could not accept the fact that God could come in the form of a poor itinerant preacher.  Another lesson from John of the Cross is that God often comes in ways that we have not known him in the past.  God allows the dark night, that we can know the joy of experiencing him in a new and unexpected way.

Yes, there are dry times when we must simply persevere in prayer, but we must also be open to new experiences of God, of deepening or expanding our prayer life, of being open to discovering God in service. Advent involves openness to both experiences: persevering in the tried-and-true spiritual practices, and also openness to new ways, reaching out in new ways to the poor, to those in need.

Because the dark night can lead to an ever deeper experience of God, John of the Cross wrote, “O night, that was more loving than the rising sun, o night, which joined the lover, to the beloved one”.

In periods of darkness, dryness, when abounding are the reasons to lose hope, let us recommit our trust in God, that our faith, hope, and love may be strengthened, that we may be made worthy of the kingdom of heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.