Grace & Peace!
I think what’s important here is to arrive at a mutually acceptable definition of the term “mysticism” and move on from there to understand it in a Christian/Catholic context. It often seems as if Christians (with the notable exception of the Eastern Orthodox churches) seem to eschew it entirely, mistrust it in the extreme, or do not understand it at all.
The goal of Christian mysticism, as is the goal of mysticism in every religion that I know of, is union with God. Someone mentioned this already. And Christianity understands that union as culminating in theosis–divinization. I forget who said it (I believe it was Maximos the Confessor), but this understanding of the goal of grace has been formulated as–What God is by nature, we shall be by grace. Or, as Athanasius wrote (and I paraphrase), “the Divine became Man that Man might become divine.”
Partaking of the Eucharist does indeed mean partaking of Divinity itself by receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, but the claim that the Church doesn’t need any sort of mysticism because of the nature of the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, is not exactly true. The Church’s mysticism is indeed sacramental and focused on the sacraments, but it is more than just participating in the liturgy.
Christianity is unique in that it proclaims its mysteries publicly (sometimes to its own detriment!–recall the disciplina arcani of the ancient church). The liturgy and the sacraments are indeed profound, deeply deeply deeply profound mysteries. But while participation in those mysteries does indeed qualify as a mystical participation, one may consent to all the doctrines of the church concerning the Eucharist, for instance, but it still remains possible to receive Christ only on the tongue and not also on the heart. In such a situation, grace is still given and received (as that is the nature of the sacrament), but one could argue that the disposition of the heart prevents a full reception of the gifts given in the mystery. The grace of a sacrament is not something done to the believer, it is something given by God and received by the believer. And God will not force one to receive what one does not want to receive.
For this reason, a personal discipline of prayer, study, meditation and contemplation (or as the church has classically defined her mystical way–Purification, Illumination, Contemplation/Union) are important to opening the soul to the movement of grace. Rote prayers are fantastic! But mindlessly employed, their usefulness is limited–not because God is not eager to rain on the soul the graces the prayer requests, but because the soul is not disposed to receive them with an equal eagerness. Sacrament and individual devotion, therefore, go hand in hand in conforming the soul to the contours of glory–that is, to Jesus Christ. The Sacraments, however, remain the chief means of grace, the practical focus of Christian mysticism. It is only fitting, therefore, that the keystone of Christian mysticism is grace.
The presence of the sacraments, therefore, do not obviate the need for Christian mysticism–they confirm it–indeed, they are the wellspring of Christian mysticism as they represent (among other things) a constant invitation to a deeper walk with God. It is not enough to receive the Eucharist and call it quits. The Eucharist demands engagement–it demands that one’s entire life, every aspect of it, become Christ. It demands Eucharistic living, such that the transformed believer becomes Eucharist for the world. It demands that we become the Body and Blood ourselves, and that we “do this” not only during the liturgy, but at every moment of our lives. Mere participation is not mysticism, nor is it devotion. Christian Mysticism is indeed the total and radical response to the call of the Eucharist to total and radical transformation–to theosis. It is the journey of grace, by grace, to grace.
Just my two cents, at any rate.
Under the Mercy,
Mark
Deo Gratias!
