Path of Union

As we continue examining The Mystical Path in our "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts, we consider the importance of trust in the hidden work of transformation that the Lord is doing in the soul. We must learn to trust through many a dark night and interior struggle, even on the Path of Illumination. But soon, the light will break through the darkness and the distinction between the Path of Illumination and the Path of Union will disappear -- when the sense of being a "separate self" disintegrates altogether. Now Divine Reality is not only perceived and enjoyed as a “beholding,” but the soul becomes one with it. This exalted state of soul is pure gift. It cannot be earned or attained by human effort. While the soul may receive divine messages, intuitions, revelations, and even experience visions and locutions, these are not absolutely necessary. What IS necessary is maintaining single-pointed contemplation in unconditional love. And that means total surrender to the will of God.
We discuss guidelines for the discernment of spirits and the importance of having a wise spiritual guide on the Mystical Path, especially if there are visual or auditory experiences involved. We also  consider how the practice of meditation is often misunderstood -- as selfish or self-centered -- when, in fact, it is grounded in Christ's own love and the Spirit's own "sighs and groans" for all creation! We reflect on the power of contemplative prayer to develop both compassion and loving-kindness in our hearts, and the many ways in which these virtues become expressed in our daily lives. And we discover that it is precisely through an ever deepening union with the divine that we perfect our relationships with all other beings.

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