Wednesday, February 14 : Saint John of the Cross

What else do you search for outside, O soul!, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness and kingdom – your Beloved whom you desire and seek?… There is but one difficulty: even though he does abode within you, he is hidden… Yet you inquire: Since he whom my soul loves is within me, why don’t I find him or experience him? The reason is that he remains concealed and you do not also conceal yourself in order to find and experience him. If you want to find a hidden treasure you must enter the hiding place secretly, and once you have discovered it, you will also be hidden just as the treasure is hidden. Since, then, your beloved Bridegroom is the treasure hidden in a field for which the wise merchant sold all his possessions [Mt. 13:44], and that field is your soul, in order to find him you should forget all your possessions and all creatures and hide in the secret inner room of your spirit There, closing the door behind you (your will to all things), you should “pray to your Father in secret”. Remaining hidden with him, you will experience him in hiding, that is, in a way transcending all language and feeling.
Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team