Simply be with mystery

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to launch from the insight of philosophy and theology to the inner journey in the Presence of the Mystery.

Journey within

The reading from Acts outlines the experience of Paul in Athens and his Speech at the Areopagus.

* [17:22–31] In Paul’s appearance at the Areopagus he preaches his climactic speech to Gentiles in the cultural center of the ancient world. The speech is more theological than christological. Paul’s discourse appeals to the Greek world’s belief in divinity as responsible for the origin and existence of the universe. It contests the common belief in a multiplicity of gods supposedly exerting their powers through their images. It acknowledges that the attempt to find God is a constant human endeavor. It declares, further, that God is the judge of the human race, that the time of the judgment has been determined, and that it will be executed through a man whom God raised from the dead. The speech reflects sympathy with pagan religiosity, handles the subject of idol worship gently, and appeals for a new examination of divinity, not from the standpoint of creation but from the standpoint of judgment.1 

Psalm 148 is a hymn inviting the beings of heaven (Ps 148:1–6) and of earth (Ps 148:7–14) to praise God.

 * [Psalm 148] A hymn inviting the beings of heaven (Ps 148:1–6) and of earth (Ps 148:7–14) to praise God. The hymn does not distinguish between inanimate and animate (and rational) nature.2

Jesus declares the coming of the Advocate to reveal truth in the passage from the Gospel of John.

 * [16:13] Declare to you the things that are coming: not a reference to new predictions about the future, but interpretation of what has already occurred or been said.3

Amy Hoover spends more time in contemplative silence or time in nature. These practices allow her to withdraw whatever projections she has placed on the divine and simply be with mystery.

Lastly, I am reminded that although we find ourselves oftentimes groping for God, the Mystery that is the divine is where “we live and move and have our being.”  The Mystery is right here within us and around us. So, as we go about our day today we might ask: What are we being called to let go of, our attachments and ideas about God, so that the Spirit can guide us in Truth to experience the Mystery in all things?4 

Don Schwager quotes Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) who explains the progressive work of the Spirit, with citations on love and knowing from 1 Corinthians 13, in guiding the disciples of Jesus in all the truth.

"Accordingly, when he says, 'He will teach you all truth' or 'will guide you into all truth,' I do not think the fulfillment is possible in anyone's mind in this present life. For who is there, while living in this corruptible and soul-oppressing body (Wisdom 9:15), that can know all truth when even the apostle says, 'We know in part'? But it is effected by the Holy Spirit, of whom we have now received the promise (2 Corinthians 1:21), that we shall attain also to the actual fullness of knowledge that the same apostle references when he says, 'But then face to face' and 'Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known' (1 Corinthians 13:12). He is not talking about something he knows fully in this life but about something that would still be in the future when he would attain that perfection. This is what the Lord promised us through the love of the Spirit, when he said, 'He will teach you all truth' or 'will guide you unto all truth.'" (TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 96.4)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 17:15, 22–18:1 comments that If Paul needed a community of believers shoring him up, so do we!

Far from being a lone ranger, Paul was a team player who saw the value in community. Consider one of the metaphors that Paul used to describe the Church: a body composed of many members, each of which was vital to the body’s functioning (1 Corinthians 12:12).6 

The Novalis Living with Christ website quotes Thomas Merton, “Ultimately, faith is the only key to the universe.”

Friar Jude Winkler relates the progress of the speech of Paul at the Athens “Areopagus” from acceptable to rejection by his audience. Pseudo Dionysius’ Apophatic theology method is that anything we teach falls short because God is filled with mystery that we are not to over define or pin down. He is loosely connected to the Acts Dionysius disciple. Friar Jude notes the Gospel message that the Spirit will guide us into all truth and call us to remain in Father and Son resonates with the understanding of Augustine that we must look within.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Christians in the West have focused on abstract ideas instead of actual transformation into our own incarnate humanity. Now that very humanity has grown tired of disembodied spiritualities that allow no validation or verification in experience.

For example, insisting on a literal belief in the virgin birth of Jesus is very good theological symbolism, but unless it translates into a spirituality of interior poverty, readiness to conceive, and human vulnerability, it is largely a “mere lesson memorized” as Isaiah puts it (29:13). It “saves” no one. Likewise, an intellectual belief that Jesus rose from the dead is a good start, but until you are struck by the realization that the crucified and risen Jesus is a parable about the journey of all humans, and even the universe, it is a rather harmless—if not harmful—belief that will leave you and the world largely unchanged.7 

The Mystery in which we are invited to simply dwell is explored through inner journeys and basic initiation experiences that Fr Richard senses are often considered peripheral to “true religion.”

References

1	(n.d.). Acts, chapter 17 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 29, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/17
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 148 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 29, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/148
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 16 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 29, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/16
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved May 29, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 29, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). 6th Week of Easter - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations .... Retrieved May 29, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/05/29/
7	(2019, May 29). Meeting Christ Within Us Archives — Center for Action and .... Retrieved May 29, 2019, from https://cac.org/going-to-the-depths-2019-05-29/