St. John of the Cross and Humility

St. John of the Cross is not often though of as "a practical, thorough and safe spiritual guide." [1] However, one biographer says so and this author agrees. The reality is that people of all ages and vocations have the ability to grow into union with God through this saint's direction.

Specifically, it is the virtue of humility, the centerpiece of St. John's mysticism, that makes him an able director for any person who seeks to climb God's Holy Mountain. According to the saint, a person must be free from all attachments, naked in spirit (cf. Mt. 5:3), before he or she can reach intimate union with God. A single poem by St. John captures this radical teaching, often called the "nada" doctrine.

To reach satisfaction in all,
desire its possession in nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all,
desire the knowledge of nothing.
To come to possess all,
desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all,
desire to be nothing.
To come to the pleasure you have not,
you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not,
you must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not,
you must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not,
you must go by a way in which you are not.
When you turn toward something,
you cease to cast yourself upon the all.
For to go from the all to the all,
you must leave yourself in the all.
And when you come to the possession of all,
you must possess it without wanting anything.
In this nakedness, the spirit finds its rest,
for when it covets nothing, nothing raises it up,
and nothing weighs it down,
because it is in the center of its humility. (From Ascent of Mount Carmel)

So, St. John of the Cross has answered again the questions of the Psalmist from many centuries before: "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?" (Ps. 24:3) To King David's answer ("He who has clean hands and pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false..." [Ps. 24:4]), St. John of the Cross adds only one word: "nothing." In order to climb upward toward God, each and every person must think of himself or herself as lowly, nothing, in desperate need of assistance.

So, let us all pray for humility. Let us view ourselves as lowly and desperate. Let us cling to our God, and cleanse ourselves from our attachments, so that we might be brought to the fullness of life.

[1] Rengers, Christopher M., OFM Cap. "St. John of the Cross." The 33 Doctors of the Church. Rockford, Ill.: TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.