Mystical Theology

29 July 2014

Review of last class

• Difficulties of pre-conciliar spirituality• Points of contact between Zen and Catholic

spirituality• The curious case of Matteo Ricci and Far

Eastern inculturation• Psychic energy and the mystical experience• Discernment and extraordinary mystical

phenomena

Review of last class

• The sanjuanist nada could well provide a point of dialogue between Christians and Buddhists.

• Nada in the life of Jesus• We also need to recognize the utter

uniqueness of the Christianity, namely, Jesus Christ.

• Aspects of faith: obedience, two kinds of faith, faith and understanding

Review of last class

• The purgative way finds it roots in the first act of the Pascal Mystery, death.

• Discussion of sin and concupiscence, follow up• Some words from the Tradition of the Church• Denzinger 1515, from the Council of Trent

(1545-1563)’s Decree on Original Sin

Review of last class

• The holy council, however, professes and thinks that concupiscence or the tinder of sin (fomes peccati) remains in the baptized.

• Since it is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ. Rather, “one who strives lawfully will be crowned” [cf. 2 Tim 2:5].

Review of Last Class

• Of this concupiscence, which the apostle occasionally calls “sin” [cf. Rom 6:12-15; 7:7, 14-20], the Holy Council declares:

• The Catholic Church has never understood that it is called sin because it would be sin in the true and proper sense in those who have been reborn, but because it comes from sin and inclines to sin.

• If anyone thinks to the contrary, let him be anathema. [lit. accursed]

Review of Last Class

• The Church has condemned as heretics those who conflate sin and concupiscence.

• Purgatory is not for concupiscence, but for unrepented venial sins (1 Jn 5:16) and the temporal penalty of actual sin (1 Cor 3:11-15).

• But, the purgative way refers to the struggle wherein we fight against the tinder of sin in us and subdue it by the help of grace.

Review of Last Class

• The purgative way focuses both on sin a reordering our concupiscence.

• Rom. 8:13, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

• Col. 3:5 , “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

• Gal. 5:24, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Sharing on Homework and Questions

• How is the prayer going?• How has what you have learned impacted

your prayer?• Any other questions?• …Now onward to….• The Dark Night, Bride and Bridegroom and

Union

Purification: The Dark Night

• As we begin with Saint John of the Cross’ idea of purification…

• Johnston wants us to remember the social nature of sin

• Can we talk about the purgative way for societies?

• How would that look?

Purification: the Dark Night

• Sanjuanist anthropology: the Trinity is in some sense hidden in the soul.

• Memory (Father), Intellect (Son) and Will (Holy Spirit)

• Another source of the divine is the infusion of mystical knowledge (knowledge in the Biblical sense)

• The process of purification aims at clearing away the barriers between the soul and God.

Modern Psychology

• Unconscious/conscious• The shadow self• “problems are never solved, they are

outgrown” (Jung)• Many psychologists would say that knowledge

of the shadow self is necessary for spiritual growth.

What is the Dark Night?

• “An inflow of God into the soul, which purges it of its habitual ignorances and imperfections, both natural and supernatural…”

• “God teaches the soul secretly and instructs it in the perfection of love without its doing anything or understanding how this happens.”

The night of the senses

• The process of purification is like a mother weaning her child off breastfeeding to eating normal food.

• Different kinds of purification• Passive purification: a loss of appetite for the world• Active purification: renunciation of sensible

pleasures (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, etc.)• In the night of the senses we become detached from

sensible pleasures.

The night of the spirit

• The suffering comes from:• The strain of being pulled into a higher pitch

of being • Latent sinfulness• Let’s focus on the first• The strain of being pulled into a higher pitch

of being

The anthropology of the Dark night of the spirit

• In the Old Testament, it was widely believed that one could not see God and live.

• Scholastics came to terms with this problematic by the postulate of the lumen gloriae

• At the same time, we desire to see God in the flesh

• Saint Teresa of Jesus, “muero porque no muero.”

The Dark Night of the Spirit

• In the Dark Night of the Spirit, the soul learns to seek God alone rather than “spiritual experience.”

• This weaning from spiritual consolations can be very painful.

• The soul learns to rest in God alone• and finds joy in the pain of separation from

God (e.g. Ecstasy of Saint Teresa).

The Saint’s own words• I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there

seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God.

• The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it.

• The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying.

The Dark Night of the Spirit

• Now on to the second part of the Dark Night of the Spirit:

• Latent sinfulness• The soul needs to learn to make peace with

her shadow side.• After passing through the Dark Night of the

Spirit, a reintegration of the passions becomes possible.

Sexuality and Spirituality

• After passing through the Dark Night, the mystic is ready for spiritual marriage.

• 1 Cor 6:17, “he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

• The mystic’s relationship with God is fruitful, she brings forth man spiritual children

• Remember that spiritual union is not like sexual union.

• Sexual union is like spiritual union.

Illumination (espousal)

• The fire of love (uncreated energies)• The wine of love (sober inebriation)• The wound of love• “Henceforth send me no messengers. I want no

messengers. I want you alone.”• We experience love as a gift primarily and a

precept secondarily.• We begin to love as God loves; we love the good

and the bad alike.

Illumination (espousal)

• When we speak of divinization, we must remember that we always remain creatures.

• The spousal nature of the spiritual life• Truly loving God becomes possible when the

passions are re-integrated.• Mi casa sosegada (my house stilled)

The paradox of the Spiritual Marriage

• John of the Cross, “For the property of love is to make the lover equal to the object loved…”

• But we always remain creatures before God.• We need to remember that every image for

relations between God and world is an analogy.

Mysticism and Sexuality

• Origen, Jerome and Augustine have given us a somewhat negative view of sexuality.

• Johnston is correct in observing that the mystical path can be tread by married people.

• Sexual pleasure is definitely compatible with a deep spiritual life.

• The important thing is that sexuality be integrated.

Mysticism and Sexuality• 1 Cor 7:32-34• I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is

anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.

• But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife,

• and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.

Mysticism and Sexuality

• Matthew 19:10-12• The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man

with his wife, it is better not to marry.” • But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this

saying, but only those to whom it is given. • For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and

there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Mysticism and Sexuality

• Domestic life (a home, children, career, etc. ) is the greater barrier to the mystical life than sexual pleasure in se.

• The inauthentic living of celibacy can tend to obscure this point.

• Digression on celibacy…

Union

• Union with God is possible because of the Incarnation, which was God’s way of uniting Himself to humanity.

• The union is first with the Church, the spotless bride of Christ.

• Johnston needs to clarify what he means when he writes that the Church is “faithless and sinful” (211).

• He does recognize the importance of the community believers for the individual mystic.

Union

• Why can mysticism not be a private affair?• Sin and ignorance can lead to poor

discernment in the spiritual life.• Love of neighbor is a profoundly

communitarian affair.• In the Church we are forced to get along with

all kinds of people.

Union and the Communal Mystical Experience

• This happens above all in the sacred liturgy.• If we are to experience union with God together,

we must be in union with one another.• “This is the sacrifice of Christians: we, being many,

are one body in Christ. And this also is the sacrifice which the Church continually celebrates in the sacrament of the altar, known to the faithful, in which she teaches that she herself is offered in the offering she makes to God” (De civitate Dei, X,6).

Union and Friendship

• “I call you friends…”• Different words in Greek for love• Storge, philia, agape, eros• “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn

13:34).• There are numerous examples of this in the

history of the Church