Letting Things Go
One
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
As Jesus was leaving the Temple, His disciples paused, overcome by its beauty. They marveled at the grand stones, the rich decorations, a sign of Israel’s glory. It was, in many ways, a crowning achievement for God’s chosen people. The Temple was their pride, their identity as a nation, and the visible sign of God’s dwelling among them. But Jesus responded soberly, “Do you see all these things? Truly, I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another” (Mt 24:2).
Why does the Lord rain on their parade? Why does He have to dampen their enthusiasm about their beautiful Temple? Because even the best things in life, when clung to, can become obstacles to what is infinitely greater. St. John of the Cross teaches, “When you delay in something, you cease to rush toward the all.”
(Ascent of Mount Carmel, I.13.12)
God desires to give us Himself, the All. To receive Him fully, we must desire Him more than any earthly good. We must love and want Him above all else. We must be free in our hearts, so as not to delay our journey to Him by clinging too tightly to what is passing.
Two
What the Jews Prized
The Jewish people had been entrusted with extraordinary gifts: The Temple, the Law they thought saved them, their land and their nation. All these were good gifts from God. They were meant to draw the people closer to Him. But if we cling to the gift in our desire, instead of moving freely toward the Giver, we become weighed down and hindered. As St. John of the Cross explains, “In coveting something, the soul tires itself.” (Ascent of Mount Carmel, I.13.13)
The goal was not the Temple, nor the Law, nor the land or nation. The goal was transforming union with God through the Messiah. But when Jesus came, they chose their Temple, their Law, their Land, and their Nation instead of Him. Jesus did not come to restore an earthly kingdom. He came to share His divine life, making them heirs of a Kingdom that never ends. Those who rejected Him clung to what was passing and lost even that.
Three
God Gives Us Many Good Things
God gives us countless gifts today: Life, family, friendships, work, health, strength, and intelligence, beauty, success, and comforts. But we must guard our hearts against confusing the gifts for the Giver. St. John of the Cross is clear, “To reach satisfaction in all, desire satisfaction in nothing.” (Ascent of Mount Carmel, I.13.11)
This doesn’t mean we reject good things. It means keeping our loves in proper order: to love lesser things less and greater things more. It means loving and desiring God above all good things. God desires to fill us completely with Himself. But He can only do so if we are willing to be emptied of lesser loves, “The immense blessings of God can only enter and fit into an empty and solitary heart.” (Letter 15)
Lent calls us to be honest about what we love most, what we think we can’t live without. Are we more attached to God’s gifts, or to God? Will we sacrifice what competes for our heart’s desire, so we may be filled with Him?
Four
The Competition
But this is the great drama of the human heart: we are all tempted to choose some created thing over God. We believe we need these things to be happy, to be secure, to be complete. We cling to them, sometimes desperately, out of fear that without them, we will be lost.
When Jesus came offering the fullness of divine life, many rejected Him because He was not giving them what they wanted.
Caiaphas, speaking for them all, said, “It is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” (John 11:50). In other words, “We would rather kill the Christ than lose what we love most,our nation, our status, our security.” They chose their nation over their God.And so they crucified Him.
But we do the same when we cling to anything more than God, when we prefer our own plans, comforts, or security to His will. We repeat that choice in our hearts.
Lent is the season when we ask: What do I want more than God? And then we do two things: Actively renounce and sacrifice those attachments, to train our hearts to prefer God. Passively accept when God strips them away, trusting that He does so in love, to make room for greater gifts.
St. John of the Cross says, “When you delay in something, you cease to rush toward the all.” Let us not delay in rushing toward God.
Five
God Takes Away to Give Greater Gifts
Everything in this world is temporary. With time, we lose physical strength and beauty, mental sharpness, reputation and influence, even our freedom of movement. Yet this is no loss if our will is set on God. God removes the lesser to make room for the greater.
The Temple was destroyed but God raised up a new and greater Temple: the Body of Christ, made present in the Catholic Mass. And when we receive His Body in the Eucharist, we become temples of God, “The soul becomes God through participation in God.” (Spiritual Canticle, 39.4)
The Mosaic ritual prescriptions were replaced by Baptism and the New Law of Love. The Nation of Israel was replaced by the Catholic Church. The Promised Land was replaced by Heaven. What matters is not clinging to what passes away, but reaching for the eternal. “To come to possess all, desire the possession of nothing.” (Ascent of Mount Carmel, I.13.11)
Caiaphas chose to cling to what he could not keep. Let us choose instead the One who can never be taken away.
The best practice to keep us choosing God above all is daily meditation on the Word of God, a daily resolution that keeps us moving forward toward Him, and a daily examination of conscience that keeps us on track. And to all who set their hearts to desire God above every other good thing, St. John of the Cross offers this encouragement, “Seek in reading and you will find in meditation; knock in prayer and it will be opened to you in contemplation. The further you withdraw from earthly things, the closer you approach heavenly things and the more you find in God.”
(Sayings of Light and Love, 158-159)
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Consciously thank God for His blessings while reminding yourself that they are meant to lead you to Him, not replace Him.
As a way to train your heart in freedom and detachment, give up something minor each day in love for God: chocolate, coffee, music, snacks.