Come, Holy Spirit, Come.
Come as Holy Fire and burn in me
Come as Holy Wind and cleanse me
Come as Holy Light and lead me
Come as Holy Truth and teach me
Come as Holy Light and dwell in me
Come as Holy Power and enable me
Convict me, Covert me, Consecrate me
Until I am wholly thine for thy use
Amen.

Reflecting on my journey to ordination, I remember the first day of seminary – write a paper regarding: what is your favorite gospel and why?

I knew right away – John – because I love his images of light, and sheep, and bread, and water, and wind, and the vine, and the branches.

Later in that same class I learned that John is known as the mystic of the evangelists because of the use of these symbols in his writings.

For instance, in today’s gospel, which is the one appointed for the celebration of St. Matthias whom we honor today – Jesus says, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”

That is an example of John the mystic teaching a passage about the mystical life and how to experience oneness with God.

Later Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you, abide in my love.” Another version of the Bible says, “Remain in my love”.

The words of a mystic.

I have always had a special interest in the mystics. And so on my first sabbatical as a priest, I called my three-month time of study: “Walking in the Footsteps of the Mystics.”

I studied:
         Teresa of Avila
         Catherine of Siena
         Hildegard of Bingen
         Mechtilde of Magdeburg
         Bernard of Clairvaux
         Benedict of Nursia
         Therese of Lisieux
         John of the Cross
         Meister Eckhart
         Ignatius of Loyola
         Simone Weil

I spent almost three months in Europe traveling alone on local trains and occasional buses, staying in convents and monasteries.

I went to the places the mystics were born, grew up, did ministry, and where they are buried – all of the time, reading their works.

I came to understand that mystics have a certain set of characteristics:

a.    They believe that God is within them.
b.    They peer into deeper realities that lie hidden beneath ordinary experiences.
c.    They surrender themselves to God in order to be close to God.
d.    They ask the questions “Why are we here?” and “Why am I here?”
e.    They believe that there is a plan behind everything, and they trust God even if they don’t know what the next moment will bring.
f.     They do not try to force their future; they allow it to unfold.
g.    They feel a connection to every living thing.
h.    They trust in their own intuition.
i.      They believe that religious ritual is not done to appease a powerful God but to connect to God and to trigger insights and transformation.
j.      They believe that love powers everything.
k.    They believe that love does not originate with us but flows through us.
l.      They believe that they don’t know everything but there is always more mystery to discover.

Did you resonate with these characteristics? Did you recognize them?

Well you should! I’ve been with you long enough that I can tell you – and I have absolutely no doubt about this – this church is a community full of mystics.

No wonder so many people who end up here say they can feel the love the minute they walk in the door.

Or they feel something different about the place, they just aren’t sure what it is, but they want more.

You are all mystics! Look around you. Look at the person next to you. That’s what a mystic looks like.

It shouldn’t surprise you that the One we emulate, Jesus, was a mystic.

He taught in a mystical way, he said things like “the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.”

He taught things in such a way that he pushed his followers to the edge of what they understood about the spiritual life. Things like “Abide in me as I abide in you.”

As a mystic, what he wants for his disciples, his heart’s desire is that they would become mystics so that they could enjoy life in the Spirit as he did.

There was a method to his madness. He pushed his disciples to the point that they would see the impossibility of the task he was teaching about, hoping that in exasperation they would say – “It would take the grace of God to do that” or “God help me, how do you expect me to do that or to understand that?”

Jesus knew if the person really wanted to achieve what he had set before them and knew it was humanly impossible, just maybe they would open their heart and allow God to do it through them.

That step, that surrender, that giving up, is what opens the door to God working in and through us – well, almost.

In today’s gospel Jesus talks about abiding and bearing fruit.

And what is the fruit of one who is abiding? It’s love! Love of God, and love of neighbor.

And where do those fruits, that love come from? From God who is within you.

That is if a person gives up trying to do it on their own and instead asks for help.

See – to bear fruit – you have to take dancing lessons.

And here are the steps of the dance of love:

a.    Know what love looks like
b.    Want to do it
c.    Know it is impossible
d.    Ask for help from God
e.    Let the love flow through you

That’s the dance of love – that’s how to bear fruit in the Kingdom of God.

That’s pretty much the way a mystic abides in God. That’s how a mystic does ministry.

May we continue to practice the dance steps of love, to abide in God the way God abides in us.

May we continue to be a community that abides in God and bears much fruit.

Continue to be the mystics you are – doing the loving thing.