(9/24/09 - My Catholic column for Newman University newspaper The Vantage)
Mysticism and Christian union with God
If you listen to pop music regularly you’ve likely heard the new song from the band The Fray called You Found Me with the opening lyrics, “I found God on the corner of First and Amistad” with the great chorus, “Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me.” The song then goes on to express the loss of a close loved one, after which, within a period of loss and desperation, God finds him.
If you listen to pop music regularly you’ve likely heard the new song from the band The Fray called You Found Me with the opening lyrics, “I found God on the corner of First and Amistad” with the great chorus, “Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me.” The song then goes on to express the loss of a close loved one, after which, within a period of loss and desperation, God finds him.
We don’t exactly know in what manner God “found” him, but in its simplicity this song reflects the experience of conversion in Christian mysticism. The initial conversion experience can happen in various ways, from the simple reception of a clear articulation of the Gospel message, to the grandiose of what is known as “mystical experience,” such as through visions and symbolic dreams.
Yet, herein one needs to carefully discern someone who claims to have had such experiences because, as Christ and the Apostles warned, there have been and will continue to be “false prophets.” Such persons use the reality of these experiences to their own advantage, for instance, 1) drawing people to themselves and 2) founding a new (false) religion.
An authentic prophet and authentic religion are 1) supported by the miraculous endorsement of God. Think historically now. The Old Testament is chronicled with numerous miraculous experiences, confirming the Jews in their faith while at the same time convicting the pagans to their idolatry as they recognized the presence of God with the Jews. At the same time the Jewish prophets 2) pre-announced a coming savior. Complimenting this, the New Testament is also chronicled with numerous miraculous experiences provided by Jesus Christ confirming His Messiahship, as well as organically fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies pre-announcing His coming – it was not a “new” religion.
In contrast to this, in the seventh-century we have a man rise up and claim to be a prophet of God. No miracles and no prophetic pre-announcement of his coming. He gathers people to himself as the “Last Prophet” and founded a new religion.
Twelve-hundred years later another man rises up and claims to be a prophet of God. No miracles and no prophetic pre-announcement of his coming. He gathers people to himself as “the prophet” and founded a new religion.
Within 30 years of this man a woman rises up and claims to be a prophetess of God. No miracles and no prophetic pre-announcement of her coming. She gathers people to herself as “the prophetess” and founded a new denomination.
Clearly I am being somewhat vague to be respectful of those who adhere to these religions, while at the same time defending certain religious principles of authentic divine revelation, principles established by God before such individuals rose up. Those who are interested can do the math and look into it. I know what this is like, as I used to belong to the last denomination before I learned these classical principles for discerning true and false prophets.
Getting back to mysticism then, authentic experiences of God lead individuals into authentic religion. People continually ask the important question, “How can I know what is true religion?” Last year I wrote an article in my column on these principles of discernment and I usually drop some of them here and there as I write all my articles, such as above. As I stated in another article last year, the word “religion” comes from the Latin religāre, “to bind,” implying a relationship. Thus authentic religion draws one into a relationship with God, as covenant theology explains. Authentic mysticism is union with God through a deepening of the covenantal relationships He has established.
Within my three examples there is an odd emphasis on the “prophet” and a total break with the progressive covenant relationships that God formed with humanity, first with Israel as one nation under God, and then with the Church as “all nations” (Mtt 28:19) under God.
Authentic religion, then, will not be without mystical experiences of God. Thus we find the history of the Catholic Church filled with the mystical experiences of God. Visions, dreams, the stigmata, levitation, bi-location, miracles of the Eucharist, etc. Yet, such experiences are not just “for the saints,” as some might perceive. The saints are who they are precisely because they denounced sin and sought after God with all their heart, mind, and strength. In other words, anyone who cares enough about knowing God can find Him. Or rather, He finds us, as the Holy Spirit draws into seeking after Him, since on our own we are but confused sinners. After He finds us, however, scales fall from the eyes (Acts 9:18) and we begin to see more clearly, especially matters of good and evil, sin and virtue.
The fist aspect of being able to enter into the mystical life is having the humility to be able to recognize one’s own sin. I am more than honest with the fact that I have moral weakness. In fact, before my conversion at the age of twenty in 2000, I can say “I was personally living a sinful life.” I had sinned against God in my pride. I often spoke blasphemously. I sinned against God in my lusts. I was a fornicator. Am I “judging” myself? No. I am acknowledging my sins – my brokenness – just as I should acknowledge when my car gets a flat – its brokenness – and need “healing” with a new tire. Thanks be to God for the forgiveness of sins at my baptism that year! Thanks be to God for the blessings from the gift of confession ever since!
Christians are not to judge people; rather, they are to acknowledge the evil of sin. Sin is already condemned by God, as by its very nature it is a distortion of the good, whereas people are inherently good and can repent of sin and turn to God. Some people throw around the phrase “don’t judge me” in attempt to shut people down from calling attention to sin. But they often fail to recognize we are not judging them, but rather the evil nature of sin. Sin has both extreme and subtle expressions.
Another basic level of the mystical life is growing in union with God through “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Eph 1:17). Christ said, “no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Within this knowledge of Christ is the understanding of the New Covenant, wherein Christ offers up Himself as a sacrifice on our behalf, as only He is able to withstand the judgment of God on sin. Those who cannot recognize their own sins cannot apply Christ’s sacrifice to themselves as they remain unrepentant. However, the sacrifice of Christ for the repentant is applied through repentance in baptism and confession, and through covenant union with Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Lastly, an essential aspect of the mystical life is growing ever deeper in prayerful union with Christ, as though intimate friends. This is where mystical experiences begin to take place. I encourage everyone to pick up books on the lives of the saints in order to be inspired in one’s own desire for a greater union with God. First, you have to want it!
Young Padre Pio showing the stigmata. (May 25, 1887 - September 23, 1968
Picture retrieved from: