2023/04/03

85. Nuptial Mysticism

Just as many religions seek in one way or another the union with a higher being, such as God, the universe, etc., which they each intuit, so there are Christians who, through mysticism, attempt to reach the highest level of mystical experience, the innermost depths of divinity, to unite with God. But not everyone succeeds in it, even though they undergo the hardships and sacrifices required. What Jesus wanted His disciples to do was to take up their own cross and follow Him. One's cross emerges as a concrete event in the daily life of the Christian. And to follow Jesus is to walk along "the way of Jesus," which appears when we voluntarily establish the routine of going to the Mass in daily life. The formation of the Holy Spirit and the training of Revelation help us to do so (cf. blog № 36). This path, which leads through the Word, the truth, to the Eucharist, the life, appears again as a path towards the Mass in front of the faithful who have attained union with God and have received the blessing of the dispensation. The Mass gives us the concrete experience of the words of Jesus, who assured us that "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). This experience is that of reaching the highest level of divine reality, the innermost depths of divinity. God asks Christians only to taste it voluntarily. 

Some mystics say they have seen Jesus. And some claim they must have received a divine revelation in some form. There are also those who record these particular experiences to claim they are genuine revelations. However, the fact that the Book of Revelation, which is placed at the end of the New Testament and declares itself to be the revelation of Jesus Christ (cf. Revelation 1:1), prophesies in it the formation of the New Testament is a sign that the divine revelation has already been completed in the New Testament (cf. blog № 12). In addition, Revelation warns: "I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book" (Revelation 22:18). Therefore, if anyone is convinced that he has received a new revelation from Jesus, he must be regarded as not the one who follows Jesus, and we must be on our guard. 

For a long time now, we have been moving away from the Book of Revelation itself and focusing on the causes of incidents that could be described as catastrophes for the Church (cf. blog № 57-№ 84). Nuptial mysticism, which has the Song of Songs as its source, blossomed in 20^th-century theology, tempting those who aspired to it into the fictional world and satisfying the sensibilities and preferences of people from different positions who were attracted to the images of the groom and the bride. As a result, the understanding of the Book of Revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ, some whose parts were used as an analogy, has also been subject to a marital bias and has not been appropriately understood as a book of revelation. For it to be appreciated, we had to wait for the true nature of the nuptial mysticism to be revealed over time (cf. blog № 69, № 70) and for the following words of Revelation to be fulfilled: "[F]or his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants" (Revelation 19:2).

Maria K. M.