Want to Pursue a Higher Form of Love? Learn from St. John of the Cross

By Kevin J. Banet

01/25/2023 • View profile

Want to Pursue a Higher Form of Love? Learn from St. John of the Cross

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash

As a Christian and a Catholic, have you ever wondered…how can I grow closer to God in love…and how can I become more united with Jesus, and parlay that love to those around me?

And if you are young, or recently had a conversion of some kind in your life, you are likely feeling this same thing with a certain intensity.

The inclination that you have is truly a pursuit of your soul – put there by God Himself. In fact, St. John of the Cross, a Carmelite saint, teaches that,

“In the first place, it should be known that if anyone is seeking God, the Beloved is seeking that person much more” (Living Flame of Love, 3.28).

In other words, it is God who inspires our love for Him in the first place.

And yet as serious in intent as we are in the beginning, the cares and concerns of everyday life seem to pull us away from this desire to grow to a higher level of love.

Let’s face it, our hearts tend to cool off. Yes, we say our prayers. We fulfill our obligations as Christians. And yet there is a feeling that we are falling short of all that we should be.

Years ago, St. John of the Cross followed a similar path. He experienced a deep devotion as a young person. He felt the same tug of the heart toward God. He entered the seminary, pursued his studies, taught others, and became ordained a Carmelite priest.

Learn about why Detachment from Creatures is so important in our walk with Christ

John Was Determined

But he discovered that as good as these pursuits were, they were not an automatic path to union with God. John knew there was more. He was very determined. So he made plans to become a Carthusian monk where he would pursue the most austere lifestyle of prayer and contemplation.

But before he made the switch, he met St. Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun, who was reforming her Order. She convinced him that his vocation was to stay in the Carmelite order and find his path to holiness there. Together, these two saints founded the Discalced Carmelite Order.

A Higher Form of Love

And what is this higher form of love?

St. John begins one of his most famous poems, “O Living Flame of Love,” with these lines:

“O Living Flame of Love,
That woundest tenderly
My soul in its inmost depth!”

St. John explains this part of the poem with these words,

“This flame of love is the Spirit of the Bridegroom, the Holy Ghost, of whose presence within itself the soul is conscious, not only as fire which consumes it, and transforms it in sweet love, but as a fire burning within it….”

The bridegroom is Jesus Christ, and the bride of course is our own soul. The Holy Ghost is the Holy Spirit.

And so, as Catholic Christians, when we discover a higher love, we are not lulled into complacency but are fired up, as it were – and even wounded – and transformed in God’s sweet love.

It is only when we are fired with God’s love - that’s what makes this life attractive, what keeps me in it, and what inspires me to be faithful.

Me…a Carmelite Friar?

If you’re a Catholic man age 18 to 35, have you thought about becoming a religious friar? Maybe God is calling you to a Carmelite vocation in our Anglo-Irish Province in the UK!

Contact me, Fr. Alex, Carmelite Encounter Director, at +44 (0)7477 673932, fralex@carmelite.org.uk