What does a mystic do? First, we need to know what a mystic is. A mystic would be someone who purposely seeks union with God. Some would describe it as absorption into the mind of God.
The term “mind of God” is itself a confusing phrase when one considers that God is “mind” and doesn’t have a mind. It’s understandable that we reach for ways to clarify what cannot be clarified, and use the term to describe what we imagine to be the deepest “thoughts,” “motivations,” or “essence” of God, as if there is the same kind of layering or compartmentalization in God as in the human person and personality.
God’s call and grace are necessary.
For Catholics, it is also important to understand that a mystic is called by God to be such, and is given the grace to answer that call. Many religions call believers to become mystics. The fact that those who seem to accomplish this feat, in the eyes of others at any rate, are usually known by name attests to the apparent difficulty of the challenge. Yet there are probably moments, at least, during which any believer who consciously makes the attempt seems to succeed.
In Christianity, the rule for this success may simply lie in the verse “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.” Still, it is of utmost importance to recall that, without God’s call and grace, mysticism is usually a dangerous pursuit and lethal to the soul.
With this in mind, we may conclude that mysticism itself speaks of the “mind of God” in that it is simultaneously a greatly difficult and supremely simple endeavor. This is borne out among the Catholic saints who are also known by reputation to have been mystics. Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Theresa of Avila, Saint Thérése of Lisieux, for example, link simplicity and mysticism in their teachings as well as in their very lives. The first two were stigmatists; the latter taught that perfect unity with God could be attained by following what she called the “Little Way.”
Some Catholic mystics, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas, were geniuses who recognized the limits of the human mind seeking to know God, and completed their lives in contemplation rather than research. Others, such as Saint Joseph of Cupertino, were considered to be simpletons — in the case of Joseph, too stupid to be permitted to celebrate the Mass, yet able to enter into such ecstatic union with God that he would levitate.
Sometimes I feel that mysticism is like connecting the dots. As children we enjoyed that coloring book puzzle wherein we were unwittingly taught how to count. We were fascinated by the picture that formed before our eyes as we joined what seemed to be unrelated bits and pieces.
The mystic, I think, has learned how to see each fact: each thing, each thought, each action, each sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch as having a direct connection to God. The resulting picture is like the Sun — a source with an infinite connection to an infinite array of points. It is the simple picture of unity with, and absorption into, God.
What is a mystic in the Catholic Church?
