st. john of the cross

Day 2 – Silence – An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart – Discerning Hearts Podcasts


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An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart:
Prepare your heart for Christ through Scripture, the saints, and the gentle practice of daily listening.

Week One: Awakening the Listening Heart

DAY 2 – Silence

“For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.”
Psalm 62.5 RSV

Silence is the doorway through which the listening heart begins to hear God. Advent invites us into a quieter interior space, not by removing every sound, but by creating room within the soul where God’s presence can be received. Silence is not emptiness. Silence is a posture of readiness.

In the spiritual life, the greatest obstacles to hearing God often come not from the outside, but from within. Thoughts run ahead. Worries circle. Interior noise fills the mind. Silence teaches the soul to slow down, release the clutter, and rest in the presence of the Lord who speaks gently.

Sacred silence is not the absence of activity. It is the presence of attentiveness. It teaches the heart to lean in. It helps us let go of control so grace can soften the places that have become tense or hurried. Silence honors God’s desire to speak in a personal and intimate way.

The discerning heart learns that silence is not something we create. It is something we enter. It is the humble space where God waits for us.

Journey with the Saints –

St. John of the Cross

“The Father spoke one Word, which was His Son, and this Word He speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul.”
St. John of the Cross, The Sayings of Light and Love, 99

St. John of the Cross teaches that God speaks His Word within the depths of the silent heart. He reminds us that silence is not a technique. It is the environment of intimacy. Only in silence can the soul receive the One whom the Father continually pours out.

For John, silence purifies the heart’s attention. It clears away the noise that distorts our vision and helps us recognize Christ’s gentle inspirations. In silence, we are not trying to make something happen. We are consenting to God’s presence. Silence frees the heart to listen with love rather than effort.

John of the Cross learned that silence is not emptiness. It is communion. It is the place where the soul rests in the truth that God is already near.

Reflection for the Listening Heart

Today invites you to notice your inner landscape. Where is there noise inside you. Where do your thoughts run quickly. Where does worry or distraction pull your attention away from God. Silence is not about pushing these things aside. It is about letting them settle so the heart can remember who is with you.

Listening begins when the interior noise quiets enough for Christ to be received. Even a few seconds of genuine silence can open a space for grace to enter. Ask the Lord to help you listen in that silence, not with strain, but with trust.

Ask yourself: Where is God inviting me into a deeper quiet today. What would it look like for me to enter silence instead of resisting it.

A Simple Practice for Today

Set aside one intentional moment of silence today. Sit or stand quietly, slow your breathing, and simply say, “Here I am, Lord.” Let your mind settle without trying to control it. Return to that quiet later in the day by pausing for a single slow breath and saying, “Lord, I receive Your peace.”

Prayer

Lord Jesus, draw my heart into silence. Quiet the thoughts that pull me away and soften the places that feel restless or crowded. Teach me to enter the stillness where You wait for me. Speak Your Word into the silence of my soul and help me to listen with love. Amen.

For more of the episodes of
An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart with Kris McGregor visit here

Citations for Day 2

Psalm 62.5 RSV
St. John of the Cross, The Sayings of Light and Love, 99

© Discerning Hearts. All rights reserved.

St. John of the Cross – Living Flame of Love, My Soul is a Candle

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The Living Flame Of Love

St. John of the Cross

Songs of the soul in the intimate communication of loving union with God.

1. O living flame of love
that tenderly wounds my soul
in its deepest center! Since
now you are not oppressive,
now consummate! if it be your will:
tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

2. O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
that tastes of eternal life and pays every debt!
In killing you changed death to life.

3. O lamps of fire! in whose splendors
the deep caverns of feeling,
once obscure and blind,
now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
both warmth and light to their Beloved.

4. How gently and lovingly
you wake in my heart,
where in secret you dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory,
how tenderly you swell my heart with love.

 

Thank you to Deacon Omar Guiterrez for giving voice to this poem of St. John of the Cross

 

IP#150 Vivian Dudro – Jose Luis Olaizola’s “Fire of Love” on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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IP#281 Vivian Dudro - Meriol Trevor's "Shadows and Images" on Inside the Pages 1
Vivian Dudro

What a delight to be joined once again by Vivian Dudro to discuss the work of Spanish novelist Jose Luis Olaizola and his book “Fire of Love: A Historical Novel on the Life St. John of the Cross”!  Olaizola is an award-winning Spanish writer, who is known for his acclaimed works on great historical figures such as El Cid, Hernan Cortes, Bartolome de las Casas, and Patricio Escobar.  In this book, he richly offers the life of the great Spanish mystical doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross.

Jose Luis Olaizola
Jose Luis Olaizola

Fire-of-love-195x300

You can find the book here

This historical novel paints a striking portrait of one of the most revered saints in history, in a landscape that makes the life and times of John of the Cross relevant to our own age. Here is an extraordinary adventure that explores the thorny challenges that every soul must face: avoiding the trappings of this world that lead to darkness, and embracing the radiance of the fire of Divine Love. Having performed the life of this great saint as an actor, I found Jose Luis Olaizola’s portrayal very true to the passion and dramatic intensity of this great mystic. Fire of Love rekindled in me the fire ignited by Saint John of the Cross in his poetic plea, ‘Love Him intensely, as He deserves to be loved.’ May all who read this literary work examine their own souls profoundly, in order to have the greatest of all adventures – finding God Himself. —Leonardo Defilippis, Film Actor & Director, John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross – Living Flame of Love, My Soul is a Candle – Discerning Hearts

The Living Flame Of Love

Songs of the soul in the intimate communication of loving union with God.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (860.3KB) | Embed

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1. O living flame of love
that tenderly wounds my soul
in its deepest center! Since
now you are not oppressive,
now consummate! if it be your will:
tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

2. O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
that tastes of eternal life and pays every debt!
In killing you changed death to life.

3. O lamps of fire! in whose splendors
the deep caverns of feeling,
once obscure and blind,
now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
both warmth and light to their Beloved.

4. How gently and lovingly
you wake in my heart,
where in secret you dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory,
how tenderly you swell my heart with love.

 

Here is a fine teaching from Fr. Barron:

 

My Soul is a Candle

My soul is a candle that burned away the veil;
only the glorious duties of light I now have.
The sufferings I knew initiated me into God.
I am a holy confessor for men.
When I see their tears running across their cheeks
and falling into
His hands,what can I say to their great sorrow
that I too haveknown.
The soul is a candle that will burn away the darkness,
only the glorious duties of love we will have.
The sufferings I knew initiated me into God.
only His glorious cares
I now have.

St. John of the Cross – Purify the heart in order to meet Christ

VATICAN CITY, 16 FEB 2011 (VIS) – In his general audience today, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope focused his attention on St. John of the Cross, “spiritual friend to St. Teresa and, with her, reformer of the Carmelite religious family. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pius XI in 1926, he is traditionally known as the ‘Doctor mysticus’, the Mystical Doctor”, the Holy Father said.

John was born to a poor family at Fontiveros near the Spanish town of Avila in 1542 and entered the Carmelite order at Medina del Campo. Ordained a priest in 1567, it was on the occasion of his first Mass that he met Teresa, “who explained to him her plan for the reform of the Carmelites”. In his renewal of his religious profession John took the name “of the Cross” and collaborated enthusiastically in the process of reform, something “which brought him great suffering”, and even led to his imprisonment following an unjust accusation. While preparing a journey to Mexico he fell seriously ill and died in December 1591. He was beatified by Clement X inSt. John of the Cross 1675 and canonised by Benedict XIII in 1726.

St. John of the Cross, said Benedict XVI, “is considered one of most important lyric poets of Spanish literature. He wrote four major works: ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’, ‘Dark Night of the Soul‘, ‘Spiritual Canticle’ and ‘Living Flame of Love‘.

“In his ‘Spiritual Canticle’ St. John outlines the soul’s journey of purification”, the Holy Father added. “The ‘Living Flame of Love’ continues in the same line, describing in greater detail the condition of union with God. … ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’ outlines the spiritual itinerary from the point of view of a progressive purification of the soul, which is necessary in order to scale the heights of Christian perfection, symbolised by the summit of Mount Carmel”.

The Pope continued his catechesis by explaining how “the ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ describes the ‘passive’ aspect; in other words, God’s contribution to the process of purifying the soul. Human effort alone, in fact, is incapable of reaching the deepest roots of a person’s bad inclinations and habits. It can halt them but not eradicate them completely. To do this, we need a special action by God which radically purifies the spirit and disposes it to the union of love with Him“.

St. John of the Cross“The rate of increase of faith, hope and charity goes hand in hand with the work of purification and with progressive union with God, until attaining transformation into Him. When this goal is reached, the soul is immersed in Trinitarian life itself. … This is why the Mystical Doctor held that there is no true union of love with God that does not culminate in Trinitarian union”.

The Pope completed his remarks by asking whether the life of St. John of the Cross has anything to say to everyday Christians, or whether it is an example only for the few select souls who can follow the path of purification and mystical ascesis. “The journey with Christ, travelling with Christ … is not an additional weight to the already sufficiently-heavy burden of our lives”, he said. “It is something totally different. … It is a light, a power which helps us carry our everyday burden. … Allowing ourselves to be loved by Christ is the light which helps us to carry the daily burden, and sanctity is not a task we must accomplish on our own, a very difficult task. … Let us ask God to help us become saints, to allow ourselves to be loved by God, which is the vocation and true redemption of us all”.

Published by VIS – Holy See Press Office – Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Fr. Thomas Dubay, Rest In Peace and May God’s Perpetual Light Shine Upon Him! – Discerning Hearts

While my heart sings for joy because I know he must be with Lord in heaven, it’s also so sad knowing the Church Miltant no longer has one of it’s greatest contemplative teachers in its temporal midst.  Fr. Thomas Dubay died, September 26, 2010.  Fr. Dubay led me to St. Teresa of Avila.  His work on “Fire Within” and all the programs he gave us on EWTN were instrumental in my spiritual growth.  In those early days, he was like having a distant spiritual director who guided me, as well as the rest of us, toward a deeper relationship with Christ.

He told me once, “Kris, the best theology books are the lives of the saints; you study them and you won’t be led astray.”  Fr. Thomas Dubay, in a very real way, helped inspire the work of this blog and it’s mission.

It was an INCREDIBLE blessing to have had the chance to speak with Fr. Thomas Dubay about his book “Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer”…I was SO nervous, because I was so awe struck, but he made it so easy.

I’m leaving now to light a candle for Fr. Dubay at our church…it doesn’t seem like much given the fact he was such an important part of my spiritual growth, but then again I think it would make him happy knowing I was offering that “prayer” from the depths of my heart.  I can’t wait to meet him in person one day.  Fr. Thomas Dubay, pray for us.