Dear Friends: I must confess that even a calambuco like me (if you need a translation of “calambuco” I am afraid you are ineligible for consecration as a Santero), St. Joan of the Cross was a quite unknown entity in the Catholic Martyrologium. If I had heard her name mentioned in passing, I would have mentally converted it to “John of the Cross” – but, no, there was a Joan of the Cross, and her life is a piece of wonder. Dom Maruca sent me the email I am responding to, which response I share with you. She brings forth all kinds of evocations and flashes of luminous wonder, shining upon us from within the bowels of our common Christian tradition – yes, saints are everybody’s property, not just Catholics . . . I have kept the precis of her life below.
Again, I am posting this in my Blog: https://sixtogarcia.wordpress.com/
P.S. SUPER-IMPORTANT!!! If ANYONE of you already knew about Joan of the Cross, you area a worse calambuco than me, and certainly possess all the abilities needed to run a successful Botanica.
In communion of prayers
Sixto
Fr. Maruca:
I didn’t know anything about St. Joan of the Cross, either. I agree with you, hers is a beautiful story – I cannot help but see all kinds of connections here: First, to 1 Corinthians 1: 25-28: The folly (the Greek words Paul uses, the noun “moria” and the adverbial form “moron” have stronger senses [IDIOT, IMBECILE – cf. Zerwick, Fitzmyer, Collins] ) is wiser, deeper, than our self-styled arrogant knowledge. Paul goes on to say that God has chosen (v. 28) ” those who are not (lit. in Greek) to confuse those who are” – The beggar, reputed to be insane – did she not bring God’s “moria” to Joan, and thereby a radical conversion to Wisdom Himself? Then, again, Ignatius’ Third Kind of Humility is in evidence here: Joan “wanted and chose” (Fleming’s translation) a total turnabout, from wealth and financial power, to “poverty with Christ poor” . . .
It is true, we never know, and it’s best we don’t, know who will call us to a deeper, more passionate, riskier, more vulnerable love for Jesus Christ – if we only had eyes to see . . . the eyes that Joan of the Cross had . . . to see into the faces of the “street people,” unemployed, poor, wandering aimlessly around – No, we don’ t like to “see” those faces – they remind us of the painfully uncomfortable truth about poverty, homelessness, marginalization, that dwell not far from us, in our “downtowns,” coexisting with spanking-new shopping centers – if we onloy had the eyes of humility, the eyes that can allow us to “see,” rather than merely “look,” into the awesome, paschal mystery of Jesus shining in the face of a demented begging woman, in the face of someone “who is not, perhaps someone with a foreign face, looking lost and not very smart in the eyes of our world . . . if we only had the eyes given to us by the Third Kind of Humility . . . risky, dangerous, eyes, because they just might reveal to us a wonderful but dangerous invitation to true joy and freedom.
Oremus pro invicem.
Sixto
At the sunset of our lives, we
will be judged by love
St. John of the Cross
“Sayings of Light and Love,” 59
From: Dominic Maruca <DMaruca@loyola.edu>
To: “sxtogarc@bellsouth.net” <sxtogarc@bellsouth.net>
Sent: Wed, August 17, 2011 10:33:21 AM
Subject: FW: Saint of the Day (August 17, 2011) – St. Joan of the Cross
Sixto:
I had never heard of this Saint! Marvelous!
From: AmericanCatholic.org [goodnews@americancatholic.org]
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 6:04 AM
To: dmaruca@
Subject: Saint of the Day (August 17, 2011) – St. Joan of the Cross
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
St. Joan of the Cross
(1666-1736)
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An encounter with a shabby old woman many dismissed as insane prompted St. Joan to dedicate her life to the poor. For Joan, who had a reputation as a businesswoman intent on monetary success, this was a significant conversion.Born in 1666 in Anjou, France, Joan worked in the family business—a small shop near a religious shrine—from an early age. After her parents’ death she took over the shop herself. She quickly became known for her greediness and insensitivity to the beggars who often came seeking help.
That was until she was touched by the strange woman who claimed she was on intimate terms with the deity. Joan, who had always been devout, even scrupulous, became a new person. She began caring for needy children. Then the poor, elderly and sick came to her. Over time she closed the family business so she could devote herself fully to good works and penance.
She went on to found what came to be known as the Congregation of St. Anne of Providence. It was then she took the religious name of Joan of the Cross. By the time of her death in 1736 she had founded 12 religious houses, hospices and schools. Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1982.
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Sixto
At the sunset of our lives, we
will be judged by love
St. John of the Cross
“Sayings of Light and Love,” 59
Love and Truth will Meet 