Memorial of St.
John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church
(Isaiah 41:13-20; Matthew 11:11-15)
We want to believe that every bad experience we have will
work out for the good. If we suffer
chronic pain, we want to believe that our trial builds up a spiritual
depository of grace to help others. If
we have setbacks in our careers, we want to believe that we are being taught
patience. If a loved one dies, we want
to believe that the person is better off with God. But sometimes such tenets of faith seem illusory. Sometimes it seems that we are just kidding
ourselves. Today’s patron saint, John of
the Cross, coined the phrase “dark night of the soul” to describe this dismal condition
of soul.
Some of the Jews in Babylon no doubt experienced exile as
a “dark night.” They could no longer live
the law without being derided by their native neighbors. One psalm shows them being bullied to sing
happy songs from Israel. Perhaps John
the Baptist had a like disillusionment.
Imprisoned, he may have seen his own days coming to an abrupt end. So he sent his disciples to Jesus asking if
he might possibly be the prophet whom he was supposed to foreshadow. It was a last ditch effort to make sense of
his ascetic and now doomed public life. In today’s gospel Jesus gives part of
his answer to John’s query.
He says that it is odd that God’s Kingdom of love suffers
so much violence. Nevertheless, he
indicates, the tide has turned with his coming.
Those who know him have already experienced God’s mercy. John and the rest of us in our lowest moments
have to hold on and trust. This is what Advent
hope is all about. In the year’s darkest
days (in the Northern Hemisphere) we do not yield to the cold night but hang on
and wait for God’s glory to shine.
