13 June 2019
Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church
For St. Paul, the key to mystical contemplation is the ability to get a clear view. A clear view is impossible, except for those who have accepted Jesus Christ. “Whenever a person turns toward the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Corinthians 3:16). Jesus is the one who takes away the veil. It is he who reveals God to us. By turning toward him and looking at him, we get a clear view. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
But let’s not oversimplify. There were many people who saw Jesus but did not see the Father. They were either ambiguous towards Jesus or hostile. Thus, it is not enough simply to see Jesus, one must also be free to understand him, and this is why it is so important to have received the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul explains, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). The Holy Spirit makes us free to learn who Jesus really is. “The Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything” (John 14:6).
Having turned toward Jesus, and having received the Holy Spirit, we are in a position for mystical contemplation. This contemplation works a transformation in us. “All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). We should not think that The Spiritual Exercisesof St. Ignatius Loyola has some purpose or method that is alien to what St. Paul is outlining in just three verses at the end of the third chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians: turning to Christ, receiving the Holy Spirit, gazing with unveiled face, being transformed from glory to glory.