“There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love." - St. Bernard of Clairvaux (What kind of knowledge are you seeking these
days?.) |
Rv 21:9b-14; Ps 145:10-13, 17-18
Jn 1:45-51
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
"We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus son of
Joseph, from Nazareth."
But Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of
him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Reflection on the Scriptures
Throughout this short (Gospel) reading, “seeing” is used carefully and
purposefully as the method of knowing. When we truly see something, it has a way of passing through our minds and entering our hearts. Seeing with our heart seems to have a depth of knowing that far exceeds the mind's ability to know. As the new school year begins and I get wrapped up in course content and effective teaching methods, today’s gospel reminds me that “knowing” doesn’t just happen with the mind, which sometimes can be skeptical and doubting. Knowing that comes through our lived
experiences with Jesus gives us the depth to know him with our hearts as well. This type of knowing can allow us to “see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” by Tom Lenz
St. John of the Cross and the Beginning of Contemplation by James Arraj From St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. J. Jung, Part II, Chapter 3. Inner Growth Books, 1986.
Writings on the Passage to Contemplation
Three of St.
John's four major works concern us directly because they each contain a long passage devoted to the beginning of contemplation: the Ascent of Mount Carmel, its companion piece the Dark Night of the Soul, and the Living Flame of Love. The latter deals with the highest reaches of mysticism, and its treatment of the passage to contemplation is incidental to the main theme of the work. In the Ascent and Dark Night, however, this doctrine is found in the context of
the development of the whole life of prayer.
Reading St. John
The first reading of the Ascent or Dark Night can be disconcerting, for it is hard to find the proper perspective in which to view them. These two books, though conceived as parts of one over-all plan, form only a loose unity. The Ascent of Mount Carmel started as a commentary on the poem, "On a Dark Night", and was, as well, an exposition of a diagram that St. John had drawn illustrating how to ascend the mount of perfection which he used as an
aid in spiritual direction. These original purposes were gradually submerged under the force of the logical flow of his explanations. Only the first stanzas of the poem were ever commented on, the diagram of the mount receded into the background, and the entire treatise of the Ascent was never finished. The book the Dark Night tends to complete the original undertaking, but it has the marks of being written separately with its own terminology and point of view. The Ascent-Dark
Night is a disconcerting mixture of poetry and prose, psychological descriptions and scholastic doctrine that is saved from confusion by the unrelenting intent of the author which turns it into a masterpiece of the interior life. This intent is to actually guide the reader to the goal of union with God.
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