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Some Freeing Spiritual Truths from St. John of the Cross Msgr. Charles Pope • December 14, 2016 • Yesterday’s feast of St. John of the Cross points to a rich vein of teaching from the spiritual master. Among St. John’s teachings is that deep union with God requires a growing purification from the things of this world and from inordinate passions. The path to this is often not easy. In this post I would like to ponder some hard spiritual truths that will set us free.In calling them “hard truths,” I mean that they are not the comfortable bromides...

Some Hard Spiritual Truths That Will Set You Free – A Meditation on a Teaching by St. John of the Cross Msgr. Charles Pope • October 14, 2015 • I am in Avila today, meditating on the great teachings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. The following is a re-post of a blog I wrote two years ago:In this post I would like to ponder some hard spiritual truths that will set us free.In calling them “hard truths,” I mean that they are not the usual cozy bromides that many seek. They speak bluntly about...

It may seem improbable to consider that St. John of the Cross, the Spanish Civil War, and JRR Tolkien have anything in common. However, all three share one important connection: the South African poet Roy Campbell, and therein lies a tale of intrigue, bravery and faith. This remarkable narrative is set against the upheaval of the Spanish Civil War of the 1930’s. There was much unrest in Spain leading up to the elections of February 1936, as ordinary Spaniards from various factions sought to oust the Republican junta. This tension evolved into full-blown riots that swept through the entire...

A Love for Which He Suffered. A Meditation on the Poem of St. John the Cross: Un PastorcicoBy: Msgr. Charles Pope Many of you have read the allegorical poem adapted by St, John of the Cross called Un Pastorcico (A little Shepherd).  It is a poem about a shepherd boy who grieves that his beloved shepherdess has forsaken and forgotten him. In his love, and in his grief he climbs a tree, and there spreads his arms and dies, his heart by love torn open pitifully.It is an allegory of Christ, indeed of God’s love for us, and for...

Let it be also said that John chose the perfect nickname, for his life was one "cross" after another. Although John's grandfather was a rich silk merchant, his dad was disowned from the family fortune for marrying a poor girl, and thus John was born into poverty. When his father Gonzalo died, John was only one, and poverty soon turned into destitution. When one of his brothers died of starvation, John was sent to an orphanage. It was there John learned how to read and write, but when the orphanage tried to teach him a trade, John (who like...

December 14, 2002Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church Psalm: Saturday Week 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Families Adults Reading ISir 48:1-4, 9-11 In those days,like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijahwhose words were as a flaming furnace.Their staff of bread he shattered,in his zeal he reduced them to straits;By the Lord's word he shut up the heavensand three times brought down fire.How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!Whose glory is equal to yours?You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,in a chariot with fiery horses.You were destined,...