December 14--St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"  That line from Monty Python's Flying Circus sets off comedy sketches about the ineptitude of the inquisitors.  However, our saint of the day was not beset by British comics pretending to be ruthless interrogators; St. John of the Cross actually spent nine months in a jail cell being investigated by the Spanish Inquisition.

How is it that a saint who was the co-founder, along with St. Teresa of Avila, of the Discalced Carmelites, a mystic who wrote amazing poetry and described the dark night of the soul in which it seemed that God abandoned him, was arrested and thrown into prison?  It was because of his association with St. Teresa that he helped start the reform of his religious order in Spain.  Due to his efforts and misunderstandings by his superiors he was imprisoned and eventually released.  Through his sufferings he came to realize that "the soul must empty itself of self in order to be filled with God."

What is in our souls?  Is it desire pleasure, power, or prestige?  There is nothing wrong with the good things of this earth that bring us closer to God, but we must remember Jesus' admonition:  "No one can serve two masters.  He will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt. 6:24).  Is God at the center of our lives?  "For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be" (Mt. 6:21).  Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, but the difficulties and sufferings we face may help us to realize that we are utterly dependent upon God, who is our only treasure.