I learned of a new potential saint in the Church, Servant of God Cora Evans. Born into Mormonism in in Utah in 1904, she died a Catholic in California in 1957. Her Cause for Beatification and Canonization was opened in 2012.

Her appeal is based upon numerous mystical visions she experienced, including many which revealed new details on the life of Christ and St. John the Baptist. I won’t go into details here, rather than duplicate efforts I strongly urge you to read 20th Century California Mystic, On The Road To Sainthood: Servant of God Cora Evans on Glenn Dallaire’s excellent blog, Mystics of the Church.

The reason why I am making this Servant of God known to you is that there are some interesting teachings contained in her writings from these visions. Namely, the “the Mystical Humanity of Christ, a way of prayer that encourages people to live with a heightened awareness of the indwelling presence of Jesus in their daily lives.” (From the Mystics of the Church blogpost on Evans.) This is not a new teaching, no private revelation ever has anything new to add to the Sacred Deposit of Faith. But revelations can emphasize certain “old” teachings or present them in a new way, perhaps to remind us of something forgotten or to prepare us for whatever is coming up in human history.

This “Mystical Humanity of Christ” appears to be a re-presentation of the Pauline doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ; the divine indwelling of Jesus in each of us baptized is nothing new, either. But apparently her writings teach a manner of prayer where this can be maintained constantly. Even that isn’t really new, for we are exhorted in the New Testament to “pray unceasingly.” Perhaps Evans offers a practical method. (I have not read any of her writings beyond what is excerpted on her Cause’s site: The Writings of Cora Evans. If you spend time on that site and study Glenn’s post on his Mystics… blog, you’ll know as much about Cora Evans as I do.)

If this “heightened awareness of the indwelling presence of Jesus in their daily lives” is legit, then this is an excellent spiritual exercise for all Catholics, but especially for those of us struggling with addiction (regardless of how long sober or clean.)

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)