Freeing the Heart

John of the Cross believed that the heart must be free from inordinate attachments in order to respond to the love of God. Using the analogy of an unclean window he wrote the following:

" A ray of sunlight on a smudgy window is unable to illumine that window completely and transform it into its own light. It could do this if the window were cleaned and polished.

The less the film and stain are wiped away, the less the window will be illumined; and the cleaner the window is, the brighter will be its illumination. ..

The soul on which the divine light of God's being is ever shining, or better, in which it is ever dwelling by nature, is like this window....

A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges . . . When this is done the soul will be illumined by and transformed by God”.

(John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel)

John of the Cross believed that we can only come to spiritual growth by rejecting inordinate attachments in our lives. He spoke of what is to be achieved in the following way:

To reach satisfaction in all
desire satisfaction in nothing.

To come to the knowledge of all
desire the knowledge of nothing.

To arrive at being all
desire to be nothing

Detachment is impossible unless we are passionately answering the call of God's transforming love as it is offered to us daily. The blessing in all of this is that the void left by the detachment is filled with God.

Points for reflection:

• Ask yourself what persons, things, or habits have I become so attached to that they are hindering my ability to love God and neighbour?
  
• Have I inflicted pain or hurt on anyone in the pursuit of my attachment?
  
• What were Jesus' attachments in life? Can I be like him?
  
• Choose an attachment that has begun to take hold or has already taken hold over you. In the depths of your being, your heart in which the Spirit dwells, ask yourself how you feel about this attachment. And ask yourself "What is God asking from me now?"