There is a mysticism for everyone. The mysticism Francis offers is for all believers, a mysticism that he illustrates through the gestures of his own life. The Franciscan mystic is the ordinary Christian mystic who is brother, sister, bride and mother of Christ by means of a fidelity, made possible by the Holy Spirit, in doing God’s will, in carrying Christ within and through love and a pure and sincere conscience and in giving birth to Christ by the charity of good works. In all of this is intimacy with God, and an intimacy with God that results in charity is practical mysticism.
—from the book Mystics: Twelve Who Reveal God’s Love
by Murray Bodo, OFM
