Making Mysticism Accessible: St. John of the Cross Offers Lessons for Today’s Catholics
- Sheryl Tirol
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Cardinal J. Francis Stafford spoke before a crowd at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver last week, exploring the work of a 16th-century Spanish mystic whose writings have intimidated Catholics for generations. He was joined by Father Angel Perez-Lopez, the seminary’s rector, and Daniel Campbell, director of the seminary's Lay Division, who moderated the evening's conversation.
"John of the Cross has a reputation of being scary, frightening, intimidating, overwhelming," said Campbell. "But really, what it's about is getting deeper into a relationship with Jesus Christ and the true joy that comes from him."
The event, part of the seminary’s Catholic Imagination series, drew many lay faithful eager to understand a saint whose very name evokes both reverence and trepidation. For many Catholics, St. John of the Cross represents the spiritual elite, his writings on purification and the “dark night of the soul” seeming beyond reach.
“The mystical life is for all of us.”
Father Perez-Lopez, a native of Segovia, Spain — where the saint’s tomb is — challenged that perception directly.
"John of the Cross is not writing for the elite," Father Perez-Lopez told the audience. "He's not writing for the weirdos. We are all called to be mystical people who live in these mysteries. That's what mystical means."
The priest, who holds a doctorate in philosophy and has published extensively on St. John of the Cross’s influence on Pope St. John Paul II, emphasized that the saint’s teachings apply to everyone seeking holiness, not just religious orders or spiritual virtuosos.
"The Second Vatican Council said we are all called to be holy, the same holiness," Father Perez-Lopez said. "The mystical life is for all of us."
Born Juan de Yepes in 1542 in poverty-stricken Spain, St. John of the Cross entered the Carmelite order and later joined St. Teresa of Avila in reforming it. His major works — Ascent of Mount Carmel, Dark Night of the Soul, Spiritual Canticle and Living Flame of Love — emerged from both mystical experience and intense suffering, including nine months of imprisonment and torture by fellow Carmelites who opposed the reform.
Rediscovering the Heart of His Message
The challenge for modern readers, the speakers emphasized, lies not in the content but in the approach.
"Everybody begins reading the wrong book," Father Perez-Lopez said. "You guys begin reading through all the diet and training, the spiritual diet you need to do. No, let's look at the endgame."
That “endgame,” he explained, is spousal union with Christ, a relationship of such intimacy that it mirrors the eternal conversation within the Trinity itself.
For those intimidated by the saint’s reputation, he offered a simple starting point: Sayings of Light and Love, a short collection of spiritual maxims reminiscent of The Imitation of Christ.
"They are brief spiritual advices, two sentences, three sentences," Father Perez-Lopez said. "That's the best way to start. It's not difficult. Everybody can read it."
The maxims, he added, address a distinctly modern problem: spiritual clutter rather than spiritual poverty.
"Many of us think, 'Oh, I'm so behind. I don't know if I can be holy. I'm lacking so many things,'" Father Perez-Lopez said, paraphrasing the saint. "Actually, you have too many things. You have way too much stuff. You need to get rid of it."
That stripping away — the famous nada or “nothing” of St. John of the Cross — serves not as an end but as a means to loving God completely, with what the saint called “all the powers of your soul.”
"I always ask that I do it here, even if it takes me a longer time, some weird sickness or something," Father Perez-Lopez said, emphasizing that this purification will happen either in this life or in purgatory. "Whatever it is, I sign up now."
Encountering Holiness in Ordinary Life
Cardinal Stafford, 93, who served as Archbishop of Denver from 1986 to 1996 before Pope St. John Paul II created him a cardinal in 1998, spoke movingly about encountering St. John of the Cross as a young seminarian.
"When I went into the seminary, I don't think I really thought of the spiritual life as a song, a hymn, a melody that is always available if you wish to listen to it," the cardinal said. "That's giving us a hint of the joy that God wishes us to have as his creatures."
His reflections ranged from theology to vivid pastoral memories, including a Christmas Eve encounter with a struggling alcoholic that illustrated the costly nature of Christian love.
"We're not talking about kid stuff here," Cardinal Stafford said. "We're talking about heroes of the spirit, where they don't put themselves first."
That same vision of spiritual heroism will animate the foundation of a new institute launching at the seminary in 2026. Its mission: to form the lay faithful in relationship with Christ in the same vein as St. John of the Cross, the “Mystical Doctor” of the Church known for his profound writings on union with God. The forthcoming institute is the result of a six-month collaboration between Cardinal Stafford and seminary leadership to expand the Lay Division’s current offerings through additional academic degrees, culminating in a Licentiate in Moral Theology inspired by St. John of the Cross.
Love as Friendship with God
The evening’s speakers frequently returned to the relevance of mysticism for contemporary Catholics, particularly its emphasis on charity — understood not as philanthropy, but as friendship with God that transforms all human relationships.
"He who says that he loves God that cannot be seen, and then doesn't love his brother is a liar, and truth is not in him," Father Perez-Lopez said, quoting Scripture. "The proof is in the pudding in the love of our neighbor."
Cardinal Stafford extended this principle to marriage, describing sacramental love as both profound and demanding.
"When a husband and wife speak of sacramental nature, and they touch one another, that is profoundly sacramental," the cardinal said. "The human body is a sign of love, of God's love."
Looking Ahead
The seminary’s Lay Division already offers courses on the theology of St. John of the Cross, with plans to expand to academic degrees through the new institute. The timing is significant: 2026 will mark 100 years since John of the Cross was declared a Doctor of the Church.
For Campbell, that anniversary highlights the enduring need to make mysticism accessible — not as an abstract ideal, but as an invitation to intimacy with Christ.
"What we really want to do with this is foster for the lay faithful an encounter with Jesus Christ and a deeper engagement in relationship with him," Campbell said. "Which is exactly what John of the Cross is all about."
