Homily in memory of Saint John of the Cross ( December 14th)
At the Closing Mass of the Plenary Council of the Institute of the
Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA)
Saturday, December 14, 2024, at the Néocatéchuménat Center in Divo
1st reading: 1 Corinthians 2, 1-10
Psalm: 36, 3-6, 30-31
Gospel: Luke 14, 25-33
Reverend Sisters,
On the occasion of this Eucharistic celebration marking the end of your meetings, and in particular of the plenary council, His Excellency Msgr. Jean Jacques KOFFI OI KOIFFI would like to extend his warmest congratulations to you and encourage you to generously apply the good resolutions of this time of reflection and prayer that has occupied you for three weeks. To make this wish come true, I have exceptionally chosen to solemnize the celebration of the memory of Saint John of the Cross in order to ask for his intercession on your behalf and to offer you his spiritual guidance.
As you all know, Saint John of the Cross is a master of the spiritual life, a mystic who devoted his life to union with God in pure and total love. His life and writings invite us to reflect on the path that leads to God, a path often marked with the need for complete detachment and trials, yet illuminated by the radiance of God’s plan.
In the first reading from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle’s praise of God’s divine wisdom is situated in the perspective of the cross of Christ, the source and summit of God’s love. The Apostle therefore associates wisdom with the mystery of the cross of Christ. It is to us,’ he says, ”that God has revealed this wisdom through the Spirit”.
Saint John of the Cross was a man who sought divine wisdom through prayer and inner self-denial. For him, true wisdom lies in union with God, and this union requires leaving behind everything that disorderedly attaches us to the things of this world. This detachment is not a rejection of creatures, but a liberation to love God and His creatures with a pure heart.
As he says in his writings: ”To attain everything, desire nothing”. In this way, he teaches us that only those who put God first can fully taste the joy and the light that He gives.
In the Gospel we just listened to, Jesus makes a strong appeal to the need for a spiritual life: ”Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”. Saint John of the Cross lived out this call in a concrete way.
His journey of holiness was characterized by crosses: misunderstandings, persecutions, imprisonment by his own brothers, dark nights of the soul. But he understood that these crosses, far from being obstacles, were means of being conformed with the crucified and risen Christ.
He testified that the dark nights, those moments of trial when God seems absent, are in fact times when God purifies our souls so that they can love him more. He wrote: ”The dark night is a brighter light than the day”. Through these nights, he discovered that God works in silence and in depth, even when we don’t perceive Him.
Dear Sisters, as I conclude this reflection, which is aimed at inviting you to take up the patronage of Saint John of the Cross, I would like to share with you the following recommendations in the light of his spirituality:
- Seek God in silence and prayer:
In a noisy world, we need time of solitude and silence to hear God’s voice.
- Accept our crosses as paths to God:
Life’s trials, however difficult, are opportunities to grow in faith and love. Instead of running away from them, let us ask for the grace to live them in trust and selflessness.
3) Detach ourselves to love better:
Only by freeing ourselves from worldly slavery that blocks our hearts can we love God and our neighbor with purity and generosity.
On this day when we honor this great Doctor of the Church, let us ask him to guide us on our spiritual journey. May he help us to pass through our nights with faith and perseverance, to arrive at the light of Christ, our only true possession.
Saint John of the Cross, pray for us.
Amen.
Rev. Fr. Félicien GUESSE
Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Gagnoa