Mystic Monday: John of the Cross

today dear children you get a big dose of John of the Cross because I am immersed in the writing of my final paper of the semester for my Spiritual Direction Internship and it happens to be on the writings of this holy mystic. Happily for us the excerpt for today's meditation also goes right along with our Lenten journey of denial of our appetites in order to make room for God who will enter into the space left behind.


John says:

We are not talking here about giving up things, because that does not
strip the soul if her affective drive remains set on them. We are talking
about stripping away the craving for gratification (gusto, apetito) in those
things. That is what leaves the person free and empty in their regard,
even though she still owns them. Because it is not the things of this
world that take up space in the person or do her harm. [...]No, it is the will
and the hunger for them that dwells inside her.

The person has only one will, and if this gets caught up in a particular thing, it will not be free, complete, single or pure - yet that is what is needed if got is to transform it.

So, you see dear children. When we give up those things we think we can't live without we allow space in our lives for God to enter in and transform our lives. This is the basis for our Lenten fasting, and even though it is already the fourth week of lent, what in your life are you craving to the point of distraction that you can let go of these last three weeks to allow God room to transform you?

Pax