WEDNESDAY REFLECTION
Mid-week Reflection
16th December 2020
This last Reflection of 2020 points to the person of St John of the Cross, a Priest and Doctor of the Church, known to many of our students who have travelled with the school to Salamanca and Avila over the years but, sadly, but not this year! St John died this week in 1591. but still seems a fitting saint to show us what it means to wait for the coming of the Lord with patience. In the midst of turmoil throughout the Church in the sixteenth century, St. John of the Cross worked with St. Teresa of Avila to correct unfaithful Catholics and unfaithful reformers. In so doing, they faced a great deal of direct opposition from those opposed to the reformation of the Church from within. St. John and St. Teresa were members of the Carmelite order. Sadly, their reform efforts were met, even by members of their own Order, with great opposition. St. John of the Cross, for example, was unlawfully imprisoned by his fellow Carmelites for nine months in a cell only six feet by ten feet in size. This imprisonment ended only because of his escape. Reform always encounters opposition from those content with laxity or who are unwilling to face up to fresh challenges. Those who most vigorously oppose reform very often do so knowing that the reformer is right! In our braver moments, we might desire our personal reform but something in our make-up meets with opposition from within ourselves! We have become used to, and comfortable with, our own vices and our desire for comfort. Advent nights may still be dark but the light will come again. Not just the light of day but the Light of Christ.
Let us Pray:
Our Faith and Love lead us along a path unknown to us, to a place where you are hidden. Lord, you let blind people see – help me, too, to see. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Monsignor Monaghan
