Despite his conquests, in his personal and collective experience modern man encounters the abyss of the abandonment, the temptation to nihilism, and the absurdity of so much physical, moral and spiritual suffering.
The dark night, the trial through which we touch the mystery of evil and which requires the openness of faith, at times acquires epocal and collective dimensions... John of the Cross, with his experience, invites us to trust, and to allow ourselves to be purified by God. In the interweaving of faith with hope and love, the night begins to give way to the “light of dawn”. It becomes as illuminated as Easter night...
How I wish that the dark nights that gather upon individual consciences and on the collective experience of our time could be lived in pure faith, with the hope that “obtains all that it hopes for”, and in the burning love of the power of the Spirit, so that they are transformed into light-filled days for suffering humanity, the victory of the Risen one who frees with the power of his cross!
Pope John Paul II
Celebrazione in onore di San Giovanni della Croce
Segovia, 4 November 1982