Spirituality: God’s Desire to Exalt the Soul by John of the Cross

In anything pleases him, it is the exaltation of the soul. Since there is no way by which he can exalt her more than by making her equal to himself, he is pleased only with her love. For the property of love it to make the lover equal to the object loved. Since the soul in this state possesses perfect love, she is called the bride of the Son of God, which signifies equality with him. In this equality of friendship the possessions of both are held in common, as the Bridegroom himself said to his disciples: I have now called you my friends, because of all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you… As a result they are truly gods by participation, equals and companions of God.