EITHER OR - 

LIGHT OR DARKNESS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Either Or - Light or Darkness”.

That’s the thought that hit me this morning - when working on a homily for the Feast of St. John of the Cross - today December 14^th.

SOME PEOPLE

Some people don’t like “Either Or’s”. They like one’s. They like singular answers. Some people like variations. There’s more than one way to skin a fox. There are options.

We have a family story. We were in a restaurant with my mom somewhere along the line and she ordered salad and the waitress asked, “Blue Cheese, Vinaigrette, Russian, or Thousand Island?” And she said, “Yes!”

It didn’t make any difference to her. She would put on her salad whatever dressing she pulled out of the refrigerator at home - or put two or three on - depending on the amount left in the bottle or what have you.

JOHN OF THE CROSS

John of the Cross preferred the Apophatic Approach to God - that is the removal of all images. There’s a whole tradition in spirituality about this approach. The opposite is the way of light - the way of images - the way of pictures. It’s called the Kataphatic Approach.

So John of the Cross wrote about the Dark Night of the Senses and the Dark Night of the Soul.

Either Or or Both And can bring us to God.

Sometimes we experience God when looking at a great sunrise or sunset.

Sometimes we experience God in the deep dark of the night. You might have heard the often quoted words of F. Scott Fitzgerald: “In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning.”

Sometimes when we can’t sleep, we turn to God.

Sometimes people only experience God or come to a God awareness moment when they lose everything - and they are in the dark about what’s next. A spouse dies. A spouse leaves for a younger partner. Kids go haywire. A home is lost in a storm or fire. Someone is fired.

Sometimes we experience God in the midst of light - and joy - and celebration. I was just sitting there at Thanksgiving in this big, big room that had all kinds of sections. I was off to the side - before the big dinner - and there were about 30 people in that big, big room, laughing, playing cards, playing Boggle, playing Scrabble, - all in different areas. A few were just talking. There  was laughter and joy everywhere. I was  thinking: all these people are here because my brother met and fell in love with Joanne, my sister-in-law. Thank You God. Thank You.

Either - Or - we can meet God.

Good Friday is good - so too Easter - so too Christmas - so too Advent.

CONCLUSION

In today’s gospel - Matthew 11: 16-19 -  Jesus goes after the Pharisees. They are not happy whatever Jesus does. If he would call for fasting like John the Baptist or if he was having a great meal, either way they would be unhappy. They are like kids in the market place. You sing a sad song, someone complains. You sing a joyful song, someone complains.

Life is morning and night, the joyful, sorrowful, glorious and light bearing mysteries. Someday when I’m made pope, maybe I’ll propose that we have the dark bearing mysteries as well?

OOOOOOO

Pictures and Paintings

On top: Interior of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain - 2011.

Near Bottom: Drawing by John of the Cross of the Crucifixion and  then the famous Corpus Hypercubus [1954] by Salvador Dali - inspired by the drawing by John of the Cross.