Fr. Francis Scaria

In Galatians 4:22-24, St. Paul speaks about the two sons of Abraham – Isaac by the free woman and Ishmael by the slave woman. Ishmael was born in the way of human nature; but Isaac was born of the free woman through a promise. This differentiates between what we can achieve through our human nature (of course, given by God) and what we can achieve through God. As human beings, we have our limitations. We look for human ways to overcome these limitations. In such circumstances, very often we are forced to choose the next best alternative as per our reasoning. Seldom do we think of approaching God who can help us to overcome our limitations and go beyond the walls in front of us. God can and does take us ahead, beyond and in spite of our limitations.

This is true even about prayer. Our prayer has great limitations until the Spirit of God who knows the depths of God prays in us (cf. Rom 8:26-27; Gal 4:6). This is the great truth about mysticism. A mystic is one who knowing one’s limitations allows God to take control of one’s life. In the realm of God, there are no limitations.

A Christian has to be a mystic as she/he is always drawn to what is beyond, to the other side, to the unseen but really real. The unseen reality is always a matter of faith. Only those who have experienced this unseen can proclaim the good news. It is then that we know the veracity of the words of Jesus, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29).