The Garments of Love!

Saturday, December 14, 2024

Sir 48:1-4, 9-11; Mt 17: 9, 10-13

Today’s Gospel highlights the end that befalls the faithful and committed God’s ministers.

The truth is explained through the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus.  

St. John the Baptist is talked about in terms of Elijah (also in Mt 11:14) who was grossly misunderstood, while Herod got him killed. 

But when Jesus talks of John, he also remembers that a similar fate to that of his predecessor was awaiting him. 

But why would God’s ministers be targeted and unjustly tortured?

Their love of God and proclaiming God’s message in all its radicality put them in direct conflict with the world. But they do not hesitate to meet their end out of their love for God. 

But we must also remember that such misfortune occurs only to those who do not compromise with God’s mission. 

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. John of the Cross, whose life becomes an example of the fact that our love of God reaches its depth when it is refined through pain and suffering. 

St. John of the Cross is one of the Doctors of the Church because the Church believes that his writings and preaching are useful to Christians ‘in any age of the Church’s life.’ Doctors of the Church like St. John of the Cross have manifested their depth of understanding about Christian truths. 

Moreover, St. John of the Cross was known as the ‘Doctor of Detachment’ because he not only explained the importance of detachment to the spiritual life but also lived it out in his life. 

Shortly after his ordination, John of the Cross met Teresa of Avila, and she invited him to join in her work of reforming the Carmelite Order. John committed himself to this effort and became the first member of the monastery of Discalced (‘Barefoot’) Carmelite Friars. But soon, he came to experience the price of reform through increasing opposition, misunderstanding, persecution, and imprisonment. 

In 1577, St. John of the Cross was abducted by fellow Carmelites. They blindfolded him and handcuffed him. They locked him in a tower in a narrow room with only a very small window. He was confined in darkness for seven months. In addition to being confined, St. John of the Cross was flogged and psychologically tortured by his guards. The guards would have conversations that made it sound as though they planned to kill him. After seven months, St. John of the Cross escaped. He was able to loosen the screws on the door and push it open. He then used sheets to create a rope and hoist himself down the side of the wall. When St. John of the Cross found refuge at the convent, the nuns took him to the chapel to pray. When the nuns sang the following words, St. John of the Cross was moved to tears and wept for an hour: ‘Whoever knows nothing of pain knows nothing of love since pains are the garments of love.’

If we can analyse the lives of Jesus, St. John the Baptist, and St. John of the Cross, we can understand that they were all united in their suffering for God’s love. 

As regards Christian discipleship, it is true that ‘There are things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.’

The saints of God suffered for God, and through their sufferings, they purified their love for God.

Let us pray that we may glorify the Lord through a faithful and committed life. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar