Our Advent meditation today is about John of the Cross! ✝️
December 11, 2024
Dear John,
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Today’s Saint of the Day, Pope Damasus I, reminds us of the tensions and divisions that can arise from religious disagreement. History has shown us that competing, impassioned claims about the nature of God, creation, and humanity can be like conceptual dynamite in search of a lighter. At the same time, defusing a potentially explosive debate—as in a debate about religious truths—by choosing not to recognize the distinctiveness and potential value of the other’s religious beliefs can be equally off-putting. As Pope Francis reminds us, what is needed today is dialogue, humility, and a willingness to listen to the other and to be challenged by what we hear. Truth is often found where we do not think (or wish) to find it. For example, very few people thought to find the Truth wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
With profound gratitude,
Deacon Matthew Halbach, PhD President & Publisher,
To his secretary Saint Jerome, Damasus was “an incomparable person, learned in the Scriptures, a virgin doctor of the virgin Church, who loved chastity and heard its praises with pleasure.” Damasus seldom heard such unrestrained praise. Internal political struggles, doctrinal heresies, uneasy relations with his fellow bishops and those of the Eastern Church marred the peace of his pontificate.
The son of a Roman priest, possibly of Spanish extraction, Damasus started as a deacon in his father’s church, and served as a priest in what later became the basilica of San Lorenzo in Rome. He served Pope Liberius (352-366) and followed him into exile.
When Liberius died, Damasus was elected bishop of Rome; but a minority elected and consecrated another deacon, Ursinus, as pope. The controversy between Damasus and the antipope resulted in violent battles in two basilicas, scandalizing the bishops of Italy. At the synod that Damasus called on the occasion of his birthday, he asked them to approve his actions. The bishops’ reply was curt: “We assembled for a birthday, not to condemn a man unheard.” Supporters of the antipope even managed to get Damasus accused of a grave crime—probably sexual—as late as A.D. 378. He had to clear himself before both a civil court and a Church synod.
As pope, his lifestyle was simple in contrast to other ecclesiastics of Rome, and he was fierce in his denunciation of Arianism and other heresies. A misunderstanding of the Trinitarian terminology used by Rome threatened amicable relations with the Eastern Church, and Damasus was only moderately successful in dealing with that challenge.
During his pontificate, Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman state, and Latin became the principal liturgical language as part of the pope’s reforms. His encouragement of Saint Jerome’s biblical studies led to the Vulgate, the Latin translation of Scripture which 12 centuries later the Council of Trent declared to be “authentic in public readings, disputations, preaching.”
Reflection
The history of the papacy and the Church is inextricably mixed with the personal biography of Damasus. In a troubled and pivotal period of Church history, he stands forth as a zealous defender of the faith who knew when to be progressive and when to entrench.
Damasus makes us aware of two qualities of good leadership: alertness to the promptings of the Spirit, and service. His struggles are a reminder that Jesus never promised his Rock protection from hurricane winds nor his followers immunity from difficulties. His only guarantee is final victory.
It may seem strange to think of the cross during a season that prepares us for Christmas. But Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon our shoulders. As his disciples we are invited to embrace the cross, and so find life in losing it.
St. John of the Cross is a saint who lived the cross almost literally. A sixteenth-century Spanish priest who worked with St. Teresa of Avila to reform their Carmelite Order, John met resistance and persecution and spent many months in the darkness of a prison cell. His experience opened him to a profound understanding of the darkness of the soul, the power of mortification, and the challenges of embracing the cross. He articulated his spiritual journey in works such as his Ascent to Mt. Carmel. As spiritual director and theologian (he was later named a doctor of the church), John—in his mystical prose and poetry—teaches an important dimension of Christian life.
While the rigors of John’s life may not be our path, all of us can benefit from learning how God met him in the darkness, in times of suffering and loss, and in the denial of self, which Jesus tells us is absolutely essential if we are to be his disciples.
Perhaps you had a wise Irish grandmother like I did growing up. I remember my Grandma Breen sometimes saying to my siblings, cousins, and me that “words matter.” The words we use to speak over and to ourselves, they matter. The words we use to other people, they matter. What kind of language are we using toward ourselves and other people?
Pray
Jesus, you never use a harsh or mean word to me. Help me to speak life and love over myself and to all those I encounter. May the words I use only speak kindness, love, and blessing. Amen.
Act
Think about how you talk to yourself. What about the words you use to yourself, would you never use to another person? What does this teach you about the power of words?
Today's Pause+Pray was written by Patricia Breen. Learn more here!
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