Tearing the Veil of This Sweet Encounter: Day-By-Day with the Mystics

By Philip Krill

In 1884, Karl Rahner predicted that ‘the Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all.’ These many years later, Rahner’s words are no less prophetic. As organized religion continues to atrophy at an unstoppable rate, the need for a contemplative spirituality continues to grow.

Tearing the Veil of this Sweet Encounter is a modest attempt to meet this need. Fr. Philip Krill’s personal mission is to ‘promote a trinitarian vision of deification and contemplative prayer.’ The author prays that all who read this book will be inspired to seek God, not in the moral platitudes of religion, but in the silent depths of contemplative prayer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665527477

Philip Krill

PHILIP KRILL is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO

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2021 PHILIP KRILL. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/27/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-2748-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-2747-7 (e)

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Revised Standard Version

Scripture taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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O living flame of love

That tenderly wounds my soul

In its deepest center! Since

Now you are not oppressive,

Now consummate! If it be your will:

Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

St. John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love

To

Anne Agar-Krill

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Āmi tōmākē anēka bhālabāsi!

Introduction

In 1984, Karl Rahner predicted that ‘the Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all.’ Today, Rahner’s words are no less prophetic. Morality is no substitute for a mystical relationship with God. Where a contemplative vision is absent, ethics fills the vacuum.

As organized religion continues to atrophy at an unstoppable rate, the need for contemplative spirituality continues to grow. Tearing the Veil of this Sweet Encounter is a modest attempt to address this need. Philip Krill’s personal mission is to ‘promote a trinitarian vision of deification and contemplative prayer.’ The author prays that all who read this book will be inspired to seek God, no longer through the moral platitudes of religion, but in the silent depths of contemplative prayer.

Pentecost, 2021

Contributors

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher and teacher. Author of several influential theological and philosophical books, he is best known for his vision of Christogenesis and Christ as the Omega Point of creation.

Teresa of Avila (1515–1582), was a Carmelite nun, prominent Spanish mystic, religious reformer, author, theologian of the contemplative life, and Doctor of the Church.

Karl Rahner (1904-1984) was a German Jesuit priest and theologian, and is considered one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century. Rahner’s mystical writings envision God as Absolute Mystery, transcendentally present in and beyond creation.

Julian of Norwich (1343-1416) lived in permanent seclusion as an anchoress in her cell, which was attached to St. Julian Church in Norwich, England. Her most famous mystical treatise is Revelations of Divine Love.

Eckhart Tolle (1948 -) is a self-described ‘spiritual teacher,’ He is also a best-selling author, most famously known for his book, The Power of Now. He gives frequent retreats and conferences on the mystical power of Presence.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion. His autobiography, The Seven Story Mountain, remains a classic. His more mystical writings include, New Seeds of Contemplation, Contemplative Prayer, and The Inner Experience.

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), known as ‘the Sibyl of the Rhine,’ was a German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary, and polymath of the High Middle Ages. She is best known for her spiritual concept of Viriditas – ‘greenness’ - the cosmic life force infusing the natural world.

David Bentley Hart (1965 -) is an American philosopher and Orthodox scholar of religion whose work encompasses a wide range of subjects, including art, literature, religion, philosophy, film, baseball, and politics. His philosophical and theological vision is no less mystical than it is erudite.

Simone Weil (1909-1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist. Her book, Waiting for God, is a spiritual classic.

Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) was a German theologian, philosopher, and mystic. A Dominican priest, his writings, comprised mostly of sermons, were considered heretical during his lifetime but are now considered the mystical gold standard of the Middle Ages.

Jeanne (Madame) Guyon (1648-1717) was a French mystic, accused, during her lifetime, of advocating Quietism because of her emphasis on the prayer of the heart. She was imprisoned from 1695 to 1703 for publishing her book, A Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer, a spiritual treasure.

Abhishiktananda (1910-1973), born Henri Le Saux, was a French monk who, having moved to India in 1948 in search of a more radical form of spiritual life, adopted sannyasa in accordance with Indian tradition and became one of the pioneers of Hindu-Christian dialogue. His two books, Prayer and Saccidānanda, disclose the heart of his mystical vision.

Contents

Introduction

Contributors

January - Teilhard De Chardin

February - Teresa Of Avila

March - Karl Rahner

April - Julian Of Norwich

May - Eckhart Tolle

June - Thomas Merton

July - Hildegard Of Bingen

August - David Bentley Hart

September - Simone Weil

October - Meister Eckhart

November - Madame Guyon

December - Abhishiktānanda

January

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Teilhard De Chardin

January 1

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but are spiritual beings having a human experience.

MEDITATION

The Source of our existence lies outside ourselves, yet is mystically present within us, drawing us into the fullness of His ineffable Love.

PRAYER

Show Yourself as the Life of our lives, O God. Show us that we belong to ourselves, even as we owe our existence to You.

January 2

Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.

MEDITATION

In Presence, we experience the joy of existence. In Joy, we experience the Presence of God.

PRAYER

You reveal Yourself in the Mystery of Presence, O God. Help us recognize You as the Source of all joy.

January 3

Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value.

MEDITATION

Experience transpires in the Space of Presence. Attending to the Power of Presence is more important than the experiences that arise within it.

PRAYER

Fill us with wonder at the Mystery of Presence, O God. Show us that it is Presence that makes our experience possible.

January 4

By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us, and molds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, when in fact we live steeped in its burning layers.

MEDITATION

God is No-where and No-thing. We search in vain for God in the world of objects.

PRAYER

Reveal Yourself as the Source of all that is, O God. Show us that You are the Mystery that makes all things possible.

January 5

You have told me, O God, to believe in hell. But you have forbidden me to think of any man as damned.

MEDITATION

Critical judgments obscure the beauty of creation. Hell is the inability to see heaven in everything and everyone.

PRAYER

Give us a deified, cosmic vision, O God. Help us see all things in the Light of Your Love.

January 6

Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.

MEDITATION

Our nature is ascensional. Even as our bodies wither and die, our spirits aspire and ascend to the Infinite.

PRAYER

Lift up our hearts, O God. Show us that all our aspirations are invitations to ascend to the place where we dwell in You and You in us.

January 7

By virtue of Creation, and still more the Incarnation, nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see.

MEDITATION

Awareness of God dissolves the boundary between secular and sacred. All things are holy for those who have eyes to see.

PRAYER

Sacramentalize our vision, O God. Reveal Your Presence in every particle of creation.

January 8

The whole life lies in the verb seeing.

MEDITATION

To see is to behold. To behold is to allow that which exists to present itself free of criticism and intellectual overlay.

PRAYER

Give us eyes and hearts that truly see, O God. Sharpen our vision to behold the deep-down beauty in everything that is.

January 9

If there were no internal propensity to unite, even at a prodigiously rudimentary level - indeed in the molecule itself - it would be physically impossible for love to appear higher up, with us, in hominized form … Driven by the forces of love, the fragments of the world seek each other so that the world may come into being.

MEDITATION

Reality is intrinsically coherent and convergent. Relationality defines the created world at both at the cosmic and quantum levels of existence.

PRAYER

Grant us a unified vision, O God. Reveal Yourself as the Source of unity in a universe of infinite diversity.

January 10

In the shadow of death may we not look back to the past, but seek in utter darkness the dawn of God.

MEDITATION

Nothing in creation can be annihilated. Matter converts into energy, flesh into spirit.

PRAYER

Banish our fear of death, O God. Show us that resurrection is the watermark of creation.

January 11

It is the destiny of things real to destroy those that are artifice.

MEDITATION

Nothing real can ever be threatened, and nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.

PRAYER

All negativity and darkness are destined to dissolve in Your apocalyptic Love, O God. Show us that what we call evil is a function of our fear and ignorance.

January 12

Since once again, Lord, I have neither bread, nor wine, nor altar, I will raise myself beyond these symbols, up to the pure majesty of the Real itself. I will make the whole earth my altar and on it will offer you all the labors and sufferings of the world … Over every living thing which is to spring up, to grow, to flower, to ripen during this day say again the words: ‘This is my Body’. And over every death-force which waits in readiness to corrode, to wither, to cut down, speak again your commanding words which express the supreme mystery of faith: ‘This is my Blood’.’

MEDITATION

Liturgy is a cosmic action. The whole universe gives praise and glory to God simply by being itself.

PRAYER

Attune us to the music of creation, O God. Open our ears to the symphonic splendor of the celestial spheres singing Your praises.

January 13

There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a larger vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendships between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality almost impossible to describe.

MEDITATION

Awareness of God’s immediate Presence is attractive. Like a divine magnet, it gathers like-minded mystics to itself.

PRAYER

Give us friends who seek and find You as the Inscape of creation, O God. Let the sharing of our secret be the source of our joy.

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January 14

The farther and more deeply we penetrate into matter, by means of increasingly powerful methods, the more we are confounded by the interdependence of its parts.

MEDITATION

At the deepest level of existence, matter coheres in communion. There is no non-relational dimension of reality.

PRAYER

Reveal Yourself in our desire for communion, O God. Show us that as the microcosm of Your macrocosm, we are inter-dependent persons.

January 15

Love is the affinity which links and draws together the elements of the world. Love, in fact, is the agent of universal synthesis.

MEDITATION

Even molecular valences are manifestations of God’s unifying Love. Everything in creation tends to perfect convergence.

PRAYER

Show us that Your unifying Love is the Source and Goal of all creation, O God. Give us invincible hope that in You all things find their joyful coherence.

January 16

Blessed be you, universal matter, immeasurable time, boundless ether, triple abyss of stars and atoms and generations: you who by overflowing and dissolving our narrow standards or measurement reveal to us the dimensions of God.

MEDITATION

Knowledge of nature is unlimited because the Source of its convergent diversity is Infinite. The more we learn about nature, the more we know