Ben Johnson from Western Orthodoxy comments on people seeking a mystical experience in every liturgical service in A Thirst for Spooky Religion. He works off a post on the same subject by Huw Raphael.

He states that people are looking for:

…something otherworldly, exotic, cryptic, ethereal, irrationally exuberant, a spiritual high, etc…

The experience of liturgies and most especially of the Holy Mass is to lift the eyes of our hearts and minds to God. The architecture, the music, the prayer, the postures and actions we undertake are meant to set us apart —“ for a time. It is a time of refreshment and nourishment for our souls. Each experience of the Holy Mass is a moment in the presence of the Godhead.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus and the apostles couldn’t even get away to rest. They didn’t have time to eat. We too are only allowed a brief break before we get back to working on our own journey to God and to witnessing Christ’s truth to others.

I agree. Seeking the ‘other worldly’ all the time, to the exclusion of our brothers and sisters in the world is sinful. It is escapism rather than acting in accordance with our mandate and our gifts.

Pope Benedict XVI stated in commending terrorists to a cloister’s prayers:

“Contemplative life, rich in charity opens heaven to humanity, which so needs it, as today in the world it is as if God did not exist. And where God is not, there is violence and terrorism,”

Contemplative life can indeed lead to the mystical experience of God. It can open us, and through us the world, to the experience of heaven. However, like all gifts and crosses, it is not for everyone.

Those truly called to such a life have received the grace necessary for the journey. Those seeking that unity with God have a very long and hard road to follow —“ often a lifetime’s journey —“ that may still leave them desiring at the point of death.

Each of us is on a path to God with gifts necessary for the journey. We simply need to remember that:

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.