The Sacred Descent
The air of Holy Week is thick with the paradox of "terrible beauty." As we observe Passover and Good Friday, we are invited into what St. John of the Cross called the "Dark Night." It isn't a place of abandonment, but a place of deep, transformative stripping. Evelyn Underhill reminds us that the spiritual life is not a climb to a distant peak, but an opening of the soul to a Reality that is already here, even in the shadows.
On this day, we see the ultimate "poverty" that St. Francis of Assisi adored. Francis didn't just see poverty as a lack of things, but as a total, radical dependence on Love. On the cross, and in the sacrificial Lamb of Passover, we see a Love that refuses to protect itself. It is a Love that goes all the way down into the human experience of suffering, betrayal, and death. Thomas Merton once wrote that we must "be still and let the soul's own light be extinguished" to find the Light that never goes out.
There is a profound hope here, though it feels heavy. The hope of Good Friday is that there is no corner of human pain where God is not present. If Love can inhabit a cross, Love can inhabit your grief, your failure, and your fear. We are not being punished by the dark; we are being prepared by it. As Teresa of Avila famously said, "All things are passing," but this passing is a birth. We are passing through the narrow gate of the "self" to find the expansive life of the Spirit.
Reflective Questions
In what area of your life are you currently experiencing a "dark night," and can you imagine Love sitting there with you in the silence?
St. Francis sought "holy poverty"—what internal "possessions" or certainties might you need to let go of to fully rely on Grace today?
How does the idea that "God is in the shadows" change your perspective on the difficult parts of your current journey?
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2026@Go Deeper Ministries
