Thursday, December 14, 2017

Homily for 14 Dec 2017

14 Dec 2017
(School Mass)

Today we remember Saint John of the Cross.  He lived 450 years ago in Spain, and he was a poet, and a servant and a friend to God.  In fact, he always wanted to be closer to God.  At first, he worked in a hospital and grew to love people who were poor and sick.  But then he was sent away to study with the Jesuit religious order.

But when he was with them, he felt called to the monastic life.  So he joined the Carmelite religious order.  But after a while, he felt he still needed to be closer to God.  So, eventually, he joined his friend, Saint Teresa of Avila, in forming the Discalced Carmelites.  “Discalced” means someone who goes barefoot, or wears only sandals.

Remember Moses at the burning bush?  God said to Moses, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”  Well, that’s what Saint John did, too.  He was trying to get as close to God as he could.  But, you know, he was put in prison for trying to do that!  But it’s when he was in prison that he wrote most of his poetry.  So it wasn’t all bad.

Saint John believed that we get closer to God through stages.  And he called those stages “purification” and “contemplation.”  Throughout his whole life, Saint John was trying to remove anything that was a distraction from God—that’s the “purification” stage.  But then he tried to fill in that emptiness with wonder and awe of God—that’s the “contemplation” stage.  In fact, Saint John was so wise in understanding this, that he’s called a “Doctor of the Church.”

Saint John of the Cross has lots to teach us.  But most important is that: We get closer to God a little bit at a time.  One day at a time.  So if you want to be closer to God, then try to be just a little bit holier today than you were yesterday.  Of course, tomorrow you might do some really big sins.  No problem.  Just get back on the path of being holy, one day at a time, one little step at a time. 

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