Breathe the fresh air of the mystics

What’s so troubling about our religion today is that the clergy either don’t recognize the people’s hunger for spirituality or are unfamiliar themselves with Jesus’ way Of life and Christianity’s rich tradition of mysticism and asceticism, all well tested through the centuries. This is Christianity and application of Jesus’ teachings at its best, and we don’t teach it to our people. At the height of the Protestant Reformation, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius Loyola, and others were delineating the path of interior holiness through mystical union with God in such practical detail that even today their approach to holiness is still taught in theology courses and spiritual retreats. Sadly, the masses of the people are not taught this in their churches, so not even knowing that such guidance exists, they look outside Christianity.— Never Alone, 11