THE "SCIENCE OF SAINTHOOD MINI-COURSE" with MATTHEW LEONARD
WHAT IS THE MYSTICAL LIFE?
It's important to define the mystical life up front. Not all of us are called to be mystics, but we're all called to the mystical life.
WHAT THE SAINTS SAY:
"However quietly we speak, He is so near that He will hear us: we need no wings to go in search of Him but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon Him present within us."
St. Teresa of Avila
LECTIO DIVINA
“I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!"
Luke 12:49
MEDITATION
It's common for people to read this verse and associate it solely with anger, judgment, and destruction. And certainly there are instances in Scripture where this is the case.
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire in Genesis 19. The sons of Aaron were devoured by fire when they offered unholy sacrifice in Leviticus 10.
Christ even describes fire as the means by which the city which rejected the king's wedding feast was destroyed.
So there's certainly a negative connotation with fire. But Christ is talking about something different.
He's talking about setting the world on fire with the Holy Spirit.
"This fire is that of the Holy Ghost which animate, inflame us, purify us, renew and perfect us, transforming us even to the point of deifying us," says the great Spanish Dominican Fr. John Arintero.1
As John the Baptist declared, “I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Jn 3:15).
1 The Mystical Evolution Volume 1
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Stay tuned! Your next Science of Sainthood Mini-Course video will come in a couple of days!
SOS Mini-Course Video 1 What is the Mystical Life?
SOS Mini-Course Video 2 The Desire for Divinity
SOS Mini-Course Video 3 The 3 Stages of the Spiritual Life
SOS Mini-Course Video 4 Overview of Meditation & Contemplation
