October 15, 2021

Letters to the Editor

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Spirit of Christ calls us to be ‘everyday mystics,’ reader says

 The circumstances of life can push us to the breaking point, but they can never push us beyond the reach of God’s power, God’s wisdom and God’s love.

God has not said: You shall not be storm-tossed, you shall not be afflicted, you shall not be travailed, diseased or persecuted. God said: You shall not be overcome. There is in this a superb combination of realism and hope that I find reassuring.

It gives me cause to pause and reflect on the words of Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” In our falling down and our getting up, and in our grief, we are always kept in God’s loving embrace.

The indwelling Spirit of Christ is calling, qualifying, gifting, edifying and empowering each of us to grow in holiness and be “everyday mystics.”

Being an “everyday mystic” does not necessarily mean seeing great visions, or being favored with locutions, or experiencing levitation. It means simply to discern, i.e., to see with the eyes of faith what is hidden from agnostics and unbelievers, and discover things only dead “folk” know.

It means to live, and move, and have our very “being” in the power of love. It is love that will guide us and see us through all our difficulties.

Love is the center of holiness, and the measure of our devotion to God. As Teresa of Avila puts it, “holiness is a matter of bringing our wills into union with God’s will.” Holiness is hard, but it is attainable.

According to Teresa of Avila, the practice of mental prayer is requisite for reaching the goal of Christian perfection. Live love and pray.

- Kirth N. Roach | Order of Carmelite Discalced Secular Indianapolis

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