As I’m reading the latest posts, I’m thinking about something else that’s related, but completely other. When Mystical Theologians or Spiritual Theologians look at the saints or the mystical life, we’re less interested in what the person did than in his soul, even for canonization. The accomplishments or apostolic works of the saints or of mystics are the starting point that tells us a little about the soul of the person. When we’re looking at saints through the science of Mystical Theology, we’re really looking at their souls. I’m speaking about how they kept their souls alive and how they reached communion with God, because that’s the end goal of sanctity, to reach communion with God.
St. Catherine of Siena called it the Mystical Marriage. St. Teresa of Avila simply called it the union of the soul with God. St. John of the Cross called it the Ascent to Mt. Carmel, St. Francis of Assisi called it Holy Poverty and Mother Teresa called it touching Christ. Whatever you call it, it boils down to the same thing. Each of us has to find the route that will lead us to that place where we will be in communion with God without the need for anchors.
It was very interesting, as much as people like Mother Teresa, Catherine Doherty, Dorothy Day, John XXIII and John Paul II loved the Eucharist and the Church, these were means, not ends in themselves. They continued to celebrate the Eucharist, to follow and serve the Church, and to do many corporal works of mercy. However, all of these were part of a cycle. To celebrate the Eucharist worthily and serve Christ in their neighbour, they had to pray. The more time that they spent in prayer, the more intensely they felt the closeness of Christ in the sacraments, the Church and others.
Show me a person of intense prayer and I’ll show you a person on his or her way to sainthood. Intense prayer always leads us to Christ in the Eucharist, Christ in the Church and Christ in the poor. If our prayer does not lead us to the Eucharist, Church, and the poor then there is something that is interfering. This is where our search for detachment must begin.
We have to find what is interfering with our spiritual development and get rid of it. This is what Christ meant when he said “If your arm causes you to sin, cut it off.” Obviously he was speaking metaphorically. Christ would no more have us mutilate our bodies than he would ask us to mutilate another person. He is speaking about something much deeper. He’s speaking about detachment, letting go of whatever interferes with our life of prayer. Without a healthy life of prayer, we will never enter more deeply into the mystery of the Eucharist, Church and the poor.
Some of you mentioned Peter. I was speaking about how Mystical Theologians look at the soul through the works of the saint. One of our greatest mystical theologians, not the greatest, but right up there, was Silvanus, the author of Peter’s letters. Silvanus captures Peter’s soul in these letters. He truly represents Petrine spirituality and theology. The letter begins by reminding Christians to remain faithful. Fidelity was an important issue for Peter who had denied Christ three times and then was commanded three times to take care of Christ’s flock in John’s Gospel. Silvanus captures Peter’s soul. Fidelity was paramount to Peter and he passes this on to the world, the call to fidelity. At the same time, Silvanus wrote Peter’s letters from sermons that Peter preached to the Christians in Asia Minor. These Christians had been converted by Paul, but they missed their Greek customs and religious community. They felt isolated from their neighbours. Peter reminded them of Christ’s resurrection and the future hope that it provides. .
Peter is able to offer such a glimmer of hope, not because he had seen the resurrection, but because he had embraced it as a way of life. It was not just an historical event. It was a life changing event. How did it change Peter’s life? Obviously, if you see someone get up and walk around after being dead that would leave a mark in your memory. However, there was more to it. Christ tells the Apostles two important things. He commands them to forgive sins and to preach the Good News. Not only did Peter see the risen Christ, but he had a new mission. He was no longer a fisherman. He was a messenger of Good News and of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Finally, Christ said to Peter, three times, “Feed my sheep.” The fisherman is asked to take over for the Good Shepherd. Peter knew nothing about being a shepherd. He has spent his life on the water. Now his is responsible for a human community. His life is turned upside down.
The apparent simplicity of Peter is not so simple when we look at his soul. He had undergone an ontological change. He would never be the same man again. Now he had to nurture that change for the sake of those who depended on him. This is where suffering enters into the picture. The only way to nurture the change and keep it alive was to accept the change, even if it meant suffering. This is why Peter can eventually accept the cross. He becomes detached from his own past, his former identity and eventually from his physical life. Why? Because once he goes deeper and deeper into relationship with Christ, he begins to change. In the end his soul reaches the communion with Christ’s soul of which the mystics speak. That communion is signified by dying on the cross as his master had died. But Peter realized that the communion was not perfect and would not be perfected until he reached Heaven. He asks to be crucified upside down, to remind himself and the world that the final union of the soul and Christ comes in the next life.
JR
it’s a piece of cake compared to the past. 
I’m teasing you my friend. 
but what about the Saints today? Who do we consider a Saint? I know Mother Teresa is our modern day Saint. But who else in the Church has shown signs of Sainthood in our more recent times?
That’s not always a good approach. 
) trying to let the Holy Spirit work through love instead of argument.