What Is the Catholic Mystical Life? Featuring Matthew Leonard

[Music] [Music] as you move in to and begin to study the spiritual life you'll discover their different ways to describe it and one of the most common titles is the mystical life and that phrase can conjure up all kinds of different images there was a particular grad school professor of mine whom I really enjoyed and I learned a ton from him now that said he wasn't the biggest fan of what he called mysticism he thought it was a little dangerous and misunderstood and that people can get confused by it one day he said that the problems of mysticism are seen in the word itself it begins in the mist it centers around the eye and it ends in schism now he was obviously being facetious to a degree but he touched on something real there's a lot of misinformation about the mystical life floating around out there there are a lot of people teaching things that are supposedly Catholic but which are really at odds with what the ancient tradition of the church is and we'll get to those in later lessons but for now I want to begin to define exactly what we mean when we talk about the mystical life this is really important because it's exactly what we're entering into that's what these sessions are really all about now perhaps not all of us are called to be mystics per se but all of us are called to the mystical life if you were to give a very short definition of the mystical life it would be that the mystical life is the hidden life it's the interior process of becoming more and more like Christ of being transformed by him it's our evolution into perfection it's a process of formation and growth through which we become what we were made to be from the very beginning the image and likeness of Jesus Christ I'll unpack this more in a later session but realize that while Adam and Eve are created in the image and likeness of God back in the beginning there's a sense in which we are not we are made in the image of God but humanity lost its likeness to him when sin entered the picture the whole Catholic life is all about trying to get that likeness to God back that's the underlying goal of the mystical life and notice that a moment ago I said this is a process of formation and growth different sayings have described this movement in different ways st. Thomas Aquinas refers to it as spiritual stages of growth similar to how we grow up in the natural life an important 20th century Spanish theologian Father John Aron Tarot describes it as a mystical evolution st. Teresa of ávila says it's like moving through rooms of an interior castle and we're gonna get to all of that but the point for now is that this is a lifelong organic process yes there are some people to whom God grants an incredibly special grace and once converted the immediately rocketed to the heights of the spiritual life they get visions and amazing infused knowledge from the Lord and they didn't do anything to deserve it so to speak God just gifts them with a Ferrari and puts them in the spiritual Fastlane these are the people we would traditionally call mystics or contemplatives Saint John of the Cross is a good example of one of these people I mean he was obviously endowed with special Grace's to ascend to incredible heights of the spiritual life now technically speaking when we say mystical we're talking about our inner experience of God and by contemplative we're traditionally talking about the highest form of prayer which is given by God mystics seem to be in an almost perpetual state of contemplation or the highest form of Prayer and we'll get into all that too in fact we'll discuss some of the great figures of the spiritual life individually and the particular teachings and advice they bring to the table so we can learn from them so we can move more deeply into God now just because God Grace's a few select people with Rocketfuel graces to quickly ascend the spiritual ladder while on earth and doesn't mean that the rest of us are supposed to stay on the ground every single one of us is called to the mystical life now that said most of us take the more traditional route through what we call a now the phrase ascetical life may conjure up images in your head of some guy in a bearskin livin in a cave eating wild berries but in reality it's just the name of the ordinary path the stages of Christian perfection and I'm talking about the basics of the science of sainthood like learning how to meditate well how to grow and virtue and root out the Weisse that strangles our spiritual life it's all the things that we do in the purgative and even some of the illuminative and unitive ways the three main stages of the interior life and if you're wondering what the purgative illuminative and unitive stages are don't worry I mentioned them before but we're gonna dig way into them because they're the backbone of everything in the spiritual life now as we said before mysticism is like the other end of the ladder it's the top end mysticism is a kind of experimental knowledge of those who have reached the higher stages of the spiritual life it's the prelude to glory or foretaste of future happiness so st. Thomas Aquinas it's where the soul seems to actually taste touch and feel the things of faith instead of just seeing them from afar now while we're going to talk about mysticism I'm gonna tell you right now that while I'm trying I'm not a mystic in fact my bet is that you aren't either there aren't a whole lot of hanging around which is probably why there's so many problems in the world today not enough of us are progressing in the spiritual life and there's a sense in which you can't fully describe the mystical state unless you've really had some experience with it now that doesn't mean we can't have some knowledge of it I've never been to the moon but I know something of what it's like and I've been reading and studying many of the great mystics for a number of years now even so a lot of the language used by them really it's just not as clear as we'd like in fact sometimes it's as clear as mud they use terms and phrases like the dark knowledge of God or the fragrance of God to describe what it is they're experiencing now we can't blame them for not being crystal clear they're trying to use natural language to describe the supernatural indwelling of God in their very being it's like trying to describe astrophysics to a toddler they're tasting eternity they're teetering as it were on the last rung of the mystical ladder and it's really hard to describe what it's like to those of us who were on the lower rungs and yet they keep trying because they're desperate for us to get to where they are you know when you're climbing up a mountain or some other height and you get there in front of the other people you're with and you cannot believe the incredible view do you just stand there and take it in no you're always shouting to the people still climbing come on you know you got to see this it's amazing well it's the same with the spiritual Giants of our faith they're trying their best to communicate what they're experiencing they want us all to taste and see what they do they are overwhelmed by the light and love of God they're beginning to palpably experience the deep relationship the waterfall of the love of God cascading into their soul the intimate union with him for which we were made that's what this is all about that's what we're after but realize it doesn't just happen all by itself it takes some effort and that again is why a lot of people aren't progressing because of original sin we all want the easy route we want the gifts of God to be given to us freely well I Got News for you salvation may be free but it ain't cheap it's gonna cost us some things that we are loath to give up well we have to always keep in mind though is the reward we have to remember the amazing gifts that are available to those who will make the firm decision to point the bow of their spiritual boat in the right direction and plow through some rough seas navigating the spiritual life is difficult we struggle with temptation and sin we sometimes get off course or encounter heavy swells and stormy weather even so we need to set our rudder toward heaven and through the grace of God hold that course to the best of our ability and that's the final point I'll make in this session in these opening lessons I'm describing some very lofty things and to some of you they may seem out of reach you're thinking there's no way I'm gonna get there Matt I'm no mystic I'm no saint no one's ever gonna see my face on one of those holy cards and I can totally empathize with that sentiment I often feel the same way but I want to remind you of a couple of things as we begin this journey together first it's exactly that a journey one that lasts a lifetime when you pack up and go on vacation you know full well it's gonna take some time to get there you also know that getting there isn't always easy in fact lots of times the trip is painful but you go because you know the reward of your labor and the reward for making this trip through life toward God it's way better than a few days at the beach somewhere it's an ecstasy that defies description secondly we've got help the point of the science of sainthood is provides step-by-step navigation to give you a GPS to God we've got 2,000 years of spiritual direction from our brothers and sisters who have already made this journey Jesus blazed the trail they've charted the course and given us the map that's what I'm going to lay out in the most understandable and practical way possible and don't forget that you're not alone in this you are a member of the mystical body of Christ there are other people in this science of sainthood community that are going through the same spiritual pilgrimage as you so don't hesitate to reach out and engage them don't hesitate to join them in discussion we are literally the family of God and as members of the family we have a responsibility to help one another in our journey to help each other climb to heights of holiness through the power of Jesus Christ you can do this you were made to do this so let's do it together god bless you [Music] you

Channel: Matthew Leonard

Views: 9,165

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Id: MXCUfi-J-gM

Length: 11min 19sec (679 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 06 2020