Speaker Series
On November 7th, Carmelite Fr. Robert Colaresi reflected with over a 100 parishners the life of our patron saint, St. John of the Cross. The event opened with songs and prayers inspired by the poetry and writings of St. John of the Cross.
The image of St. John of the Cross is an austere saint, one who is other worldly. St. John of the Cross was not afraid to be alone, to listen and ascend to the freedom that God’s love gives us. And from him, we know that each of is able to be alone in God’s presence and able to listen for his whisper and to feel his love.
Roots
Like us all, St. John of the Cross’ life is rooted in the story of his life, beginning when his father who was from a Jewish converso family. His father was raised by an uncle who became wealthy through the silk trade. When his father met Catrina, a poor seamstress, he fell in love and married her even though it meant being disowned by his uncle.
His father chose love and Catrina. Juan de Yepes y Alverez, was the youngest of their three sons and his father died not long after his birth. In the face of true love, his father had tossed aside his worldly possessions to marry Catrina. Juan’s life took root in this as well as his mother’s loving guidance in poverty and his brother’s passion for helping others. His family and his history is one of conversion, poverty and charity and Juan was guided by these throughout his life and when he finds love with God he leaves everything.
He studied with the Jesuits through scholarships and then secretly joined the Carmelites. As part of the reform of the Carmelites, he is locked in a dungeon for eight months. And in this place of darkness, with rats and rotten food, he turned the darkness into light. He found communion with God. The journey of St. John of the Cross is a journey to be free, to hear God and to see what he sees.
Hearing God
In our own darkness, we experience pain. If we let the pain transform us, when we are in its center and feel the pain, we can be freed by the darkness. From St. John of the Cross’ life and writings, we can learn how the darkness frees us because:
- In this center we experience an earthly mysticism when we are still and hear God’s whisper.
- When we root ourselves in God, everything else peels away and his love purifies us.
- We are defined not by worldly goods, but by God.
St. John of the Cross was not afraid to be alone, to listen, to ascend to the freedom that God’s love gives us. Suffering can make you larger, if you listen and allow God’s love to transform you. At the end, when we stand before God, it is not with worldly possessions or the list of our good works, but alone in the presence of God and here we must hear his whisper.