December 14th

December 14, 2022
Wednesday of the 3 rd Week of Advent
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Readings: Is 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25/Lk 7:18b-23
Ryan Griffin: English Teacher

Advent Reflection 12-14-22

In today’s first reading from Isaiah chapter 45, the Lord repeats the
following line three times throughout his address to his prophet:
“I am the LORD, there is no other” (Isaiah 45:6)
            “I am the LORD, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:18) 
            “For I am God; there is no other!” (Isaiah 45:22) 
Some of us might hear this and respond with “Okay Lord, I get it. You’re God, and
I am not.” And yet we are much like that character named Mrs. May from
“Greenleaf” who the author Flannery O’Connor describes as “a good Christian
woman with a large respect for religion, though she did not, of course, believe any
of it was true.” 
How often do we kid ourselves that we are not God when from the moment
we wake up, we don’t enter into God’s time but into the realm of “me time” – the
“me time” to entertain myself on the phone, the “me time” to do whatever I want,
the “me time” that procrastinates the toil of work to make more time for “me
time.” All this “me time” has given rise to a love of self that is blinded by the light
of our own egos. Our self-love is so bright that all we can see is ourselves as the
center of creation. When our Creator God then asks us to think of Him, we are
hostile and say, “How dare you take away my “me time”! It’s no wonder then that
the words “I am the LORD; there is no other” hurt as we perceive God to be cold,
arrogant, and demanding.
Today is the feast day of Saint John of the Cross, who was a Spanish mystic
and doctor of the church. He is most well-known for his book of poetry titled The
Dark Night of the Soul. This so-called dark night is a journey of detachment from
our inordinate self-love. Why a dark night to approach the Lord? The night dims
down the arrogance of our self-love to allow the stars in the night sky to reveal
themselves and attract our attention. Rather than looking inward all the time, we
look up to these stars seeing, maybe for the first time in years, the real needs of our
family, the hardships of our friends, the lives of saints, the needs of our school. 
During this season of Advent, let us allow our souls to journey through a
dark night. Let us set aside our self-loves – those attachments to our “me time” and
enter Christ’s time – the time of his birth. On this darkened journey, let us follow

the stars and take the time to seek not gifts for ourselves, but gifts for the Christ
child born in the manger. 
The Gospel today proclaims the healings of Christ: “the blind regains their
sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the
poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Luke 7). May the Lord help heal
our spiritual narcissism and give us the strength to not think less of ourselves but to
think of ourselves less and to think of others more often this holiday season. I pray
our journey helps us to see that the Lord’s words “I am the Lord, there is no other”
are spoken out of love for us. May we respond in worship to the one true God – our
Emmanuel! May our dark night during this journey in Advent help us to see our
faults and failures and approach the Lord with a humble confession. May a new
light shine in us. Not the light of our vainglory but the light of Christ.
 “In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and

human success, but on how well we have loved.”     

- Saint John of the Cross       

“En el ocaso de la vida, Dios no nos juzgará por nuestras posesiones terrenales y

nuestro éxito humano, sino por cuánto hemos amado.”

- Juan de la Cruz