The Dark Night

It is fitting that the Memorial of St. John of the Cross, the noted mytical writer, Doctor of the Church reformer and author of the classic, DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL, should fall in the middle of the dark days of December.  Based on his nine-month imprisonment in a dark dungeon, the book poetically allegorizes the soul's battle with the darkeness of rejection, doubt, abandonment and emptiness.  On a dark night, John was able to escape from the dungeon into the light of day, and used this experience to inspire hope in others who walk in darkness.  It confirms the optimism of Isaiah whose message of a "new order" has been resounding during these weeks of Advent.  Even John the Baptist who had declared, "Behold the Lamb of God" (Jn 1:29)  had doubts and sent his disciples to ask if, indeed, Jesus was "the one." (Cf. Lk 7: 18b-23) The darkness comes to us all at different times; it's a normal phase of spiritual growth, so may we take heart that others, greater than we have experienced it, and eventually have found the light.  Surely, the heavens filled with singing angels on Christmas Night is a sign that darkeness will turn to light.
Bro. Rene