Mystical Experiences

I've been thinking about mystical experiences this week. I had an in-person conversation with a friend on Wednesday that has continued via email the past few days. In the process, I've been thinking a lot about some really amazing mystical experiences I had a few years ago.

I was really struggling to understand the miracle of the Real Presence of the Eucharist. Not just to accept it on faith, but to really understand it. I was praying a lot, both in adoration and before/during/after receiving communion. I just wanted to know that what looked like bread and wine was actually Jesus.

My prayers weren't answered right away, and certainly not in the way I had expected. But they were answered, and my faith grew so much deeper as a result. In time, I fell in love with Jesus... completely and totally, head-over-heels in love. And the more I loved Him, the more I needed to be with him. In order to be with Him, I went to mass and adoration more often. The more time I spent in mass and adoration, the more I loved him. (Sort of a Catholic adult version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie").

Anyway, this week I was blessed to hear of two other mystical experiences. One was of physical healing. My college friend's uncle had a tear in his Achilles tendon that had been medically diagnosed and would require several surgeries and 6 months or more of therapy to heal. His family was making the necessary arrangements for the surgery/lifestyle change, and some friends came to pray with him. His ankle was healed. This story is amazing. It sounds unreal. I have met this Aunt and Uncle, though, and I believe every word of it. The doctor himself was amazed, humbled, and awed by the healing.

The second mystical experience was spiritual. Today a friend shared with me something that happened to her last night. I cannot share her story here... it's hers to share. But I am so happy... for her, for me, for all of us. God is so incredibly amazing.

My friend had spent so much time approaching her spiritual struggle from an intellectual place... trying to reach the emotional through the mental. I understand completely. I approached the Real Presence in the exact same way. But God didn't answer me intellectually... He came to me physically, in physical sensation and a noticeable change in my body temperature. Last night, he answered my friend in a way that was completely unexpected, and also exactly what she needed.

God is so very good. He meets our needs in ways we could never expect or anticipate... and with a gentleness that can be hard to comprehend.