Carmelite homily for Thursday, April 2, 2020 – Lectionary 254 (John 8:51-59)
Saint John of the Cross wrote a commentary on his poem, The Dark Night, called The Ascent of Mount Carmel. There are forty chapters in two books and there are forty days of Lent. It’s a perfect Lenten practice. What is he trying to accomplish in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, but freedom! To free us from ourselves, our self-righteousness, our sinfulness, our pride. Saint John off the Cross writes, “It makes little difference whether a bird is tied by a thin thread or by a cord.” That’s what John is trying to do – cut the cords, cut the ropes, but cut even the thin threads that tie us. I think that so well ties in with all these Gospels we have in this season and it ties in well with our hearts.
