The National Gallery, Carlo Crivelli, 'St Peter and Paul'
Are you ready to ascend Mt. Carmel on the wings of a bird? Are you tired of being tied down by the things of this earth? Everything that God created is good. But He made the physical world as a means of drawing us towards Himself. One day, it will have served its purpose and be gone. Will you be ready to leave it behind when God calls you? “You can’t take it with you” - not to Heaven, and not up the mountain. Let’s follow St. Paul in enjoying the things of this earth without being consumed by them (1 Corinthians 7:31). St John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Book One, 11.4. “May grace and peace be accomplished and perfect in you in the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, as all things of his divine power that pertain to life and piety are given us through the knowledge of him who called us with his own glory and power, by whom he has given us very great and precious promises, that by these we may be made partakers of the divine nature” [2 Pt. 1:2-4]. These are words from St. Peter in which he clearly indicates that the soul will participate in God himself by performing in him, in company with him, the work of the Most Blessed Trinity because of the substantial union between the soul and God. Although this participation will be perfectly accomplished in the next life, still in this life when the soul has reached the state of perfection…. she obtains a foretaste and noticeable trace of it in the way we are describing, although as we said it is indescribable. St. John of the Cross. Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 39.
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