Mystics, Biographies and Narratives

8/3/2019 Mystics, Biographies and Narratives

1/3

NOTESONSPIRITUALITYFOROURTIMES

CCCCONVIVIUMPRESSCCCCCCCC

Mystics,BiographiesandNarratives

We could begin this discussion by quoting numerous definitions of the mystical experience cognitioDei exp

mentalis as it is called in classical theology, following the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas.What seems m

important today, however, is to focus on some characteristics that, although typical of Christian mysticism,

also be applied to all authenticmysticalexperience,whatever the religion or tradition.

The first characteristic isthat themysticalexperienceis a theo-pathicone, which is rooted in a primordial passiv

that takes in and suffersGods loving action. This is experienced before any concretepossibility for actionor d

sionmadein freedomand openness,andit reconfiguresones life,realizing throughit theNew Creation.Mystics

thinkers of different schools of thought have talked about this pathos in various ways.For example,Simone W

speaks ofactionnonagissante, while EmmanuelLevinas claimsthatthehumanbeingis a hostage of theOther,

forthissamereason,inspiteof himself,he isa Messiah.

The second characteristic is the one of Divine Otherness,who is at the center of the mystical event and has an

thropologicalelement thatconstitutesitsidentity.InChristianitythis iscertainly evidentonce theexperienced G

kenoticallyassumes human flesh and shows a human face in His Revelation (Phil:-).Inthisway,allthatisnrated in the mystical experience cannot be separated from what is truly human.Mysticism is paradoxicallyin r

cal proximity to everything human even if the human conditionis thoughtof as weak,contingent and provisio

Addressing head-on the accusationthatmysticismis alienating and disconnectedfrom reality,mysticism,from

upside-down perspective, is continuously challenged to discover its identity, its place, its paths, turning its gaze

ward the human as the necessary path towards the Divine. Additionally, as Simone Weil says, mysticism is c

lenged to turn its gaze toward human suffering and human needs, with an eye illuminated by grace, seeking

finding concrete and historical answers for these issues. Ecstasy is thus, very concretely and truly, not only the r

ture that thruststhe mystic beyondconsciousness withextraordinaryphenomenaoccurring inhisbody,senses

psyche, butmore significantly, it is that experience thatleads him to embracethe Others difference,feeling hisandpains,servingandsufferinghispain.

The main source of the content of mystical experience is the testimonies of the mystics themselves. They are

and foremost the theoreticiansof their experience. The biographyof the believer is the conditionforthe possib

of a theological reading of the mystical experience and its message in todays world even more so if those affirm

tionsandreflectionsspringfromtheChristianfaith.

LETTERFROMTHEEDITOR7REGISTERTODAY

ATWWW.CONVIVIUMPRESS.COMANDRECEIVEOURLATESTPRESSRELEASES,VIDEOSANDLETTERS

FROMTHEEDITOR

C


2/3


Many contemporary theologians stress the importance of going from a highly speculative theology to a narra

theology in which the revealed mysteries can be told,narrated, and then reflected upon. There is also an incr

ing emphasis today on the importance of building a theology not only based on texts, but also on the testimon

the witnesses. The connection of thefaith with the praxis of following Jesus implies that this cannot be done

through reflections or historical research. Theology is to a certain extent forced to think by using the followinJesus as a starting point.It canbe called theology only when this following defines its own place of reflection,

also when reflectionitself isthepractice of an existential commitmentand of thefollowing itself.

When this happens, the reading of the life of the mystics will be the reading of the very revelation of God, wh

writing with the Spirit in the body and life of the mystics. Saint Paul refers clearly to this in Cor :: and

show that you are a letter from Christ delivered byus, written notwith inkbut with theSpirit of theliving God,

on tablets of stonebut on tablets of human hearts.Thus,the theological reflection doesntoccupy itself with G

as an external object, but with Godin a person that imposes itself onto human thought through the ecstasy

believer.

As Gustavo Gutirrez very appropriately says, What comes afterwards is the theology, not the theologian.In

context,thetheologian iscalled tobe a committedperson,a spokesperson of thewitnesswhoselife he orsheis re

ing and narrating. The commitment sometimes implies risks, dangers and always the death of the wisdom of

wise and the intelligence of the intelligent (Cor :).For this reason, it is possible to say that to speak of first

secondmomentsinthetheological activityisnotonly an issue of method,butalso of lifestyle.Finally, itisa prob

of spirituality.Ourmethodologyis ourspirituality.

From this point of view then, the theologicalreflection is derivative of mystical and spiritual experiences and t

visibility in the world and in history. The task of the theologian is thus to look most attentively at Gods actio

humanlives,sothathecanintegrateitinaspacefromwhichhecanquestionChristianlife,thechurchandtheolo

cal thinking itself. On the other hand, the theologian is invited to consider seriously these experiences in orde

question himself andothersas well.

Mysticism is not a synonym of morality. It is the irruption of God through human history, generating answer

historical challengesand giving tothese experiencesanddeedsa normativesenseforall thecommunityof believ

This is the reason why it is so important to value twentieth century mystics.The so-called godless century was

empty of Gods presence; however, perhaps this presence happened and made itself visible in a different way.

medieval world and the beginnings of modernity were modeled bya Christian cultureandcivilization.In a god

century, ina secularera in whichthetracksandvestiges of Godare almost invisibleand wherereligionseemsto t

a somewhat vague and nebulous form,the mysticsexperiences keep happening, strongandunexpected,butwi

differentsynthesisthantheonetheyhadbefore.

LETTERFROMTHEEDITOR7

BUYITAT:

WWW.CONVIVIUMPRESS.COM

C



3/3


Nolonger are mystics found onlyor mainly in the cloisters of religiousorders.We canfind them in factories am

the noise and stressful clattering of industrial machines, or in the streets among the poorest of the poor and th

rejected by progress, or in jails becausetheir activityand commitment areconsidered dangerousbythe authori

orin thehell of Lagersand Gulagsof alloriginsandshapes that isto say, inverysecular situations.How do

know that they are mystics and not only political activists,ethicaland honest people engaging thebig battles ofmanity alongside the believers of any tradition? We know it by the sign of Gods love. That love which conscie

moves and transforms life is the reason they are there and not somewhere else, in spite of their weakness, th

frailty, and in spite of their indignity. Their lives,their words, are precious material fortheology, and perhaps a

in which ourcontemporaries can rediscover the life-meaningforwhich theythirstand thatsurelycannot be fo

in frantic consumerism or in superficial and volatile sensations, or in weak affective relationships, provisional

ephemeral.

MCB

DepartmentofTheo

PontificalCatholicUniversityofRiode Ja

DownloadallourLettersfromtheEditoratwww.conviviumpress.com

ConviviumPress,Inc.

LETTERFROMTHEEDITOR7

BUYITAT:

WWW.CONVIVIUMPRESS.COM

C


Documents

Mystics, Biographies and Narratives