1. The meaning of Christian spirituality

In speaking of the spiritual and mystical dimension of Christian life, the risk is run of understanding spirituality in a compartmentalised way as if we were treating of something that came before and was quite separate from the action. This would convert spirituality into a disembodied spiritualism which, if lived out, would have nothing to say to the men and women of today.

For this reason, it is important to begin with the concept of spirituality as a style or way of living Christian life, which is life "in Christ" and "in the Spirit", that is recognized by faith expressed in love and lived in hope within the ecclesial community. For this reason, to speak of spirituality is not to speak about a part of life but rather about the whole of life. It is to refer to a quality that the Holy Spirit stamps within us. It also deals with doing things under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.