SJC6 - Intense Certitude of Love - St. John of the Cross with Fr. Donald Haggerty

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:33 — 23.2MB) | Embed

Intense Certitude of Love – St. John of the Cross: Master of Contemplation with Fr. Donald Haggerty

Fr. Donald Haggerty and Kris McGregor use the works of St. John of the Cross to discuss the importance of aligning the human will with God’s will, as true spiritual union is found in this conformity. St. John’s focus is not on extraordinary mystical experiences but on living a life of love and charity through small, intentional acts, as exemplified by saints like St. Thérèse of Lisieux. These daily acts of love deepen one’s union with God and cultivate sensitivity to His presence in prayer and life.

The need for discernment in spiritual experiences, cautioning against becoming overly attached to consolations or mystical aspirations, is true spiritual maturity: it involves perseverance through the “seasons” of prayer, including times of dryness and challenge. Drawing on scripture and sacramental life, St. John of the Cross tells us to focus on God Himself rather than seeking personal emotional experiences, allowing love and a desire to please God to guide their actions and deepen their contemplative journey.

Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions

The Role of Love in Spiritual Growth: How do you ensure that your daily actions and spiritual practices are rooted in love and charity?
Aligning Your Will with God’s Will: What steps can you take to conform your desires and decisions more fully to God’s will?
Embracing Small Acts of Holiness: How can you incorporate small, intentional acts of love into your daily life to deepen your spiritual union with God?
Discerning Spiritual Experiences: How do you discern whether a spiritual experience or inspiration is truly from God?
Perseverance in Prayer: How do you remain faithful in prayer through times of dryness or spiritual challenge?
Avoiding Attachment to Consolations: What practices help you focus on God Himself rather than seeking personal emotional or mystical experiences?
Scripture and Sacraments as Foundations: How can you use scripture and the sacraments to enrich your prayer life and relationship with God?
The Call to Serve Others: How are you responding to God’s call to care for the poor, lonely, or suffering in your life?
Balancing Interior and Exterior Devotion: How do you balance personal prayer and contemplation with active love and service to others?
Living a Life of Trust and Surrender: How can you grow in trust, allowing God to guide your life even when His plans are unclear?

An excerpt from St. John of the Cross: Master of Contemplation

“The initial insecurity of a darkened experience in faith, advancing by unknowing, surely requires some adjustment and an assimilation. However, the insecurity need not continue interminably. The deliberate refusal of satisfaction for the intellect in prayer may be for a certain period of purification a radical austerity for the intellect. But the result in time can be to sense a door opening into a purer encounter with God himself. He who is infinite mystery in his being must be approached in the unknown truth of his infinitude as Someone known and loved. Intensity of faith accompanies the more intense love that unites us personally to God. As heard earlier in this chapter and worth repeating: “Only by means of faith, in divine light exceeding all understanding, does God manifest himself to the soul. The greater one’s faith, the closer is one’s union with God” (AMC 2.9.1). A pure, naked faith will come to know the presence of God in a more intense certitude of love. Every other sense of understanding God must be subjugated in prayer to the truth of God as the exceedingly Almighty One who is loved. In the following passage, Saint John of the Cross insists on the vigor of an intense desire needed for the pursuit of God precisely when our intellect in faith is submerged in an incomprehension of God’s ultimate mystery. This longer quotation conveys how narrow and serious is the road into the night of contemplation where a blessed contact with God awaits the depths of a soul in its prayer.”

Haggerty, Donald. Saint John of the Cross: Master of Contemplation (pp. 78-79). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.