Reflection on the Feast of St. Peter of Alcantara

St. John of the Cross reveals that to draw more deeply to union with God, we must leave any pursuit of experience behind - we must not trust or seek sensual experience or we will find ourselves on the path of fools. By God's grace, he also reveals the way to a deeper knowing beyond the senses. This reflection provided by Dan Burke is part of a series on St. John of the Cross' Spiritual Canticle. You can listen to more by becoming a member of this site and then joining the Reflections from the Heart of the Charism group.   Photo by Dan Burke - St. John of the Cross - Segovia Spain - 2018

What does it mean when we say that mortification and prayer prepare the way for contemplation? An audio reflection (see above). Here is the text from Divine Intimacy 143 Mortification frees the soul from every obstacle which might retard the growth of grace, which might hinder the soul's love for God and its flight toward Him; whereas prayer which consists essentially in intimate conversation with God feeds this love and quickens this flight. Mortification prepares a suitable place for a loving meeting with God; prayer effects this meeting, and by placing the soul in real contact with God, the source of living water, it quenches its thirst and reanimates it. It is in this sense that the saints, and particularly the contemplative saints, have always seen in the living water promised by Jesus, not only sanctifying grace, but also those special graces of light and love which are its consequences and which the soul attains to in prayer, in the moments of intimate contact with God. This light and love are not the fruit of the activity of the soul alone; but rather, God Himself by means of the actuation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, infuses them into the soul, causing it to acquire a completely new "sense" of God. This does not mean new ideas and concepts, but rather an experimental knowledge derived from love - especially from the love which God himself awakens in the soul. It means a profound "sense" of the divinity, by means of which the soul becomes aware - not by reasoning or demonstration, but more by way of experience - that God is so different from creatures, so unique, so great, that He truly deserves all the love of the heart.  This new way of loving God, this new experience of God and the divine things is really living water which quenches the soul's thirst. It is the living water of prayer, which, as a result of divine action, has now become deeper, more intimate, more contemplative; it is the living water of contemplation. This contemplation is a gift of God. "He gives it," says St. Teresa of Jesus, "when and as He wishes" (Life, 34). Although He offers it to all, in one form or another, He will grant it only to those souls who apply themselves generously to mortification and prayer. Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen Divine Intimacy - Meditation 143 - Baronius Press