Our “Telos” is the goal of our theological endeavors, as St. Gregory says, it is the contemplation of our Creator, seeking His beauty and dwelling in the solemnity of His love. We describe the pilgrimage toward our telos as a “pneumatic” event, because it is an event that is fully the work of the Holy Spirit. It is by the grace of the Holy Spirit that we enter into our telos. The journey began for each of us at our baptism and will continue until our bodily death.
Just as throughout the entirety of salvation history, the Holy Spirit is at work putting things in order. We first learn of the Spirits existence when He is said to have “moved over the waters” in Genesis 1:2, just as the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, causing her to be pregnant with God; the pinnacle pneumatic event in human history.
The Holy Spirit, who then was sent to us after Christs’ ascension, is now at work in another mystical way, transforming the children of God, me and you, into new beings. This transformation occurs gradually throughout our lives. We will encounter many spiritual “milestones” on this pilgrimage, also called the “Ascent of Mt. Carmel”, according to the writings of St. John of the Cross. Of these milestones, one that is central is docility to the Holy Spirit; the death of our will; detachment from things that we are attached to that are not of God; surrender of our will to the will of the God who loves us beyond our understanding and wants to be united with us. Desires of worldly accomplishments and the desires of the flesh are roadblocks to this docility. Our conformation into Jesus is impossible without our first being open to the mutual possession of the Holy Spirit, who is God. What makes this union with God or “theosis” possible is the Holy Spirit, who enters the soul and begins His spiritual direction; teaching and molding us into the likeness of God.
In Christ through Mary,
Latrell
One Voice for Jesus Ministries 