04: A Science

It is always a real pleasure and a passion to speak to you about Spiritual Theology and share my thoughts on it.

What is Spiritual Theology (or Mysticism)?

It is a Science.

Till today, it is considered a branch of Theology. (I speak of course only for the Catholic Church) A minor branch sadly, and quite weak today.

It should be not only a Major Branch in Theology, but it has in itself enough capacity and resources to be an independent Faculty, equivalent to Theology, Psychology, Philosophy,... It can provide a complete first Cycle in University Studies.

What defines a Faculty, a new Faculty is a new science. One can easily understand this by studying the (recent) history of Psychology. This Science, and its Faculty didn't exist before Freud's efforts and discoveries and what came after.

A science is defined by its object and by the light under which one can see the object.

In the case of Psychology the object that we study is the Soul. In the case of Spiritual Theology, the object is the Soul and the spirit (or heart). The lights here and there are different.

Spiritual Theology, or Mysticism is very close to Theology of course, because it relies on the supernatural light of Faith. But is goes much beyond the simple light. The more God gives His graces, the more the light that results is greater.

It is a Science. What for?

It helps us in our journey to reach God, to receive God himself and be united with Him.

This Science teaches us the journey (and its steps) toward the Union with God and the Fullness of Love. It shows us the means to use in order to grow and be transformed and reach the Goal (Union with God).

As we can guess, being a science, doesn't mean that it is at the reach of any person. It is a supernatural Science (it uses the super-natural Light of God), and much much higher than mere Theology. It requires a deeper experience of God in order to be understood properly.

This science is about the experience of God. It has a theoretical aspect, certainly, a rational side, but only because the Loving Light of God falls in our brain. But without that loving light, it turns to be a real ordeal for the person who delves in it. It is all practical, in the sense that it explains what to do in order to grow, to make one more step toward the Union with God.

Spiritual Theology is the science of the Masters of spiritual life. Formators/Educators in Spiritual Life should be Masters in Spiritual Life.

A Spiritual Master is the person that forms into spiritual life, transmits it to another person, by teaching, by spiritual direction, by his prayer. The Master in spiritual life has in himself three characteristics, united and combined harmoniously in him: Experience of God, Science of Spiritual life (Spiritual Theology), and finally Discernment.

As we can see, Spiritual Theology is the most important Science, the most useful one.

For me, "The Good Samaritan" symbolises "Spiritual Theology" that takes great care of the human being, bringing him from a "half dead" state to the participation to Divine Life

There is a great thirst today to learn about the ways to reach God, to enter in contact with Him. This is why there is a real urge to revive Spiritual Theology, to change its situation from poor to very healthy and Leader of other Sciences.