![]() ![]() When he found the hermit, the young man angrily declared, “You did not give me the greatest treasure!” After many sleepless nights of worry, the young man grabbed up the treasure and headed back into the forest. He became so obsessed with hiding the gems that he found no joy in having them at all. He was afraid to go out and leave the gems unprotected. Once home, the young man became consumed with the need to hide and protect the jewels. Not believing his luck, the young man grabbed up the sparkling jewels and ran home. Surprisingly, the hermit asked the young man if he would like to have the gems. When the man found the hermit, the old man gladly brought the gems out for the young man to see. One day a young man went into the forest to see these great jewels. There is an often-told, old story of a hermit living in the forest who was rumored to have the most beautiful diamonds, emeralds and amethysts anyone had ever seen. John’s colors, maybe we can begin to see these basic virtues as the treasure they are by thinking of faith as a diamond, hope as an emerald and love as an amethyst. Finally, he saw love as the royal color of purple, because love calls us to “rise to so lofty a point that we are brought near to God, and become very beautiful and pleasing to him.” He wrote that faith should be a “whiteness so pure that it completely dazzles the eyes.” He said our hope should be a lush green because all other things of this world are “dry, and faded and dead and worth nothing,” compared to a growing hope in Christ. John of the Cross envisioned these three basic virtues as colors. In his spiritual classic, “Dark Night of the Soul,” St. They are great gems, and they need polishing. But these gifts from God are not drab building materials we can ignore. We assume we have faith, hope and love because we received them in the sacraments. But today, the spiritual foundations of our world are leaking. We don’t give them much attention unless they start to leak. The foundations of our homes are often drab concrete or dusty stone. It is not surprising that the most basic virtues of faith, hope and love are forgotten. ![]() We see this in the strife that divides people over such critical issues as the coronavirus, politics, inequality, environmental concerns and justice for the poor. Yet, sadly, faith, hope and love seem to be greatly lacking in much of our public lives today. ![]() These three theological virtues should be the very foundation of our spirituality. ![]()
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