Mertonfest

Town Hall Meeting Apr. 17

2011-04-15T03:24:00.000-07:00

What a great year this is shaping up to be!

We'll meet at 2 p.m. this Sunday (Palm Sunday), Apr. 17, for a "town hall" style meeting to discuss the upcoming 12th General Conference of the ITMS June 9-12 at Loyola University (Lake Shore Campus). Members who have attended past conferences will participate in a panel discussion, sharing their recollections of past conferences so you'll have a better idea of what an ITMS conference is like.
Jim Forest, keynote speaker at the 2007 ITMS conference in Memphis, will be the featured speaker at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Cenacle Retreat and Conference Center, 513 Fullerton Parkway, Chicago. Tickets will be available at Sunday's town hall meeting. The Cenacle Sisters are hosting this event, and tickets are required, available for $10 by sending a check payable to CC-ITMS to Mike Brennan, 4537 N. Melvina Ave., Chicago, IL 60630, by April 28. Seating is limited to 100, and we have sold 50 tickets so far. I have attached a brochure and press release with parking info on the back. Parking is very limited and most will have to park at the Children's Memorial Outpatient lot at 2515 North Clark Street for $6 with Cenacle validation, so consider carpooling!
Jim is launching his new book, "All is Grace - A Biography of Dorothy Day," and he will speak on the friendship between Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. Copies of some of Jim's other books will also be available, including "Living With Wisdom - A Biography of Thomas Merton." For more information about Jim's books visit: http://www.jimandnancyforest.com/books/. He will be available to sign books after the talk.
Deadline to register for the ITMS conference at Loyola is May 15. Brochures will be available at Sunday's meeting, or reply to this email if you would like one mailed to you.
Jonathan Montaldo, former ITMS president, writer and editor, promotes the legacy of Thomas Merton and his teaching on the monastic contemplative tradition. We are working out details of having Jonathan as retreatmaster later this year at the Cenacle. It appears the weekend of Dec. 9-11 will work best. This will give us an opportunity to have our annual Mass commemorating Merton's life at the Cenacle Chapel on Saturday, Dec. 10. The Cenacle will cosponsor this retreat, which will be open to CC-ITMS members as well as the general public. More information should be available by the time of Jim Forest's talk May 5.
The schedule for next fall and spring is still being determined. Speaker suggestions are welcome!

With prayers for you and your families as we begin Holy Week, and for a very Happy Easter,

Mike

Jim Forest, Brother Paul Quenon at Chicago Cenacle

2011-04-06T07:54:00.001-07:00

Thomas Merton OCSO

Seventy years ago, a young man named Thomas Merton entered the Abbey of Gethsemani near Louisville, Kentucky. Merton went on to become an acclaimed 20th century author whose brilliant writings have been revered worldwide. He inspired a generation of Catholics with a modern story of conversion in The Seven Storey Mountain, and called them to a deeper inner life with Seeds of Contemplation. His vital capacity to inspire people to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its radical depth continues to invigorate readers and motivate activists.

Two men who were very close to Thomas Merton will be visiting the Chicago area this spring for talks hosted by the Cenacle Sisters at the Chicago Cenacle, 513 Fullerton Parkway, Chicago, and cosponsored by the Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society. This is a rare opportunity to hear personal stories about Merton, who remains much loved and appreciated, and whose writings continue to enlighten and energize people around the world.

Jim Forest

Jim Forest will discuss “Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton: A Special Friendship,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Cenacle. Jim became a close friend of Merton in the early 1960s, and his life work promoting peace and reconciliation was nurtured by his friendships with both Merton and Dorothy Day. In his own right, Jim is a model of Christian hope, compassion and social action. A founder of the Catholic Peace Fellowship and former General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, he is the author of many books, including Living With Wisdom – A Life of Thomas Merton; Praying with Icons; The Ladder of the Beatitudes; and The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life. Together with his wife Nancy, Jim is is co-Secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship. He is also editor of the journal In Communion. In 1989, he received the Peacemaker Award from Notre Dame University's Institute for International Peace Studies. He is currently launching his new book, All is Grace: a Biography of Dorothy Day, and will sign copies following the talk (books will be available to purchase).

Dorothy Day

Seating is limited. Tickets are $10 and may be ordered by sending a check payable to CC-ITMS to ITMS, P.O. Box 31931, Chicago, IL 60631. Registration deadline is April 28. Discounted parking is available at Children’s Memorial Hospital parking garage for $6 with Cenacle validation. For more information, email merton2011@gmail.com or call 773-447-3989. Hosted by the Cenacle Sisters and cosponsored by the Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society.

Brother Paul Quenon OCSO

Brother Paul Quenon, OCSO, a passionate poet, artist and photographer who melds the solitude of being a Trappist monk with universal spirituality, will share his wisdom and gentle wit from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at the Cenacle. Brother Paul was a novice under Thomas Merton at Gethsemani Abbey, where he remains a member of the monastic community. He will speak on "What Really Matters: Reflections from a Contemplative Life," sharing remembrances of Thomas Merton, who was his spiritual director, and reflecting on his 50 years as a Trappist monk. He will also read poems from his three poetry collections, as well as poems of Thomas Merton that open a window on the contemplative life. Accomplished in his own right for being a talented writer who weaves emotion, vivid imagery and spirituality into his poetry and books, Quenon is a powerful presenter whose quiet presence and universal wisdom speaks to the soul. His book Monkswear includes simple yet profound images of monastic life portrayed through poetry and photography. His work incorporates humor, reflective passages and personal accounts that inspire readers to step out of the modern world and into one of gentle beauty. It should be a great event and chance to be with Brother Paul in an informal setting. There will be refreshments and the program is open to the public. A freewill offering will be taken.

Jim will be available after the talk to sign copies of his biographies of Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.

The International Thomas Merton Society is holding its 12^th General Conference June 9-12 at Loyola University’s lakefront campus, and featuring Dr. Martin Marty, Esther de Waal, Bishop Robert F. Morneau and Dr. Douglas Burton-Christie, as well as some 35 speakers, workshops and presentations. For more information or to register, visit www.merton.org/chicago or contact Site Coordinator Mike Brennan at 773-447-3989.

2011-01-09T05:08:00.001-08:00

Our next three meetings of the CC-ITMS:

Sunday, Jan. 16: Sr. Suzanne Zuercher, OSB - "Doing Lectio Divina with Thomas Merton"

Sunday, Feb. 20: Marcia Whitney Schenck - A performance about St. Therese of the Little Flower as seen through the eyes of her sister, Sr. Agnes

Sunday, Mar. 20: Mark Quinn - "Thomas Merton, Sophia, and Spirit"

in the Immaculate Conception Church Rectory Assembly (the lower hall of the rectory next door to the church), 7211 W. Talcott (at Harlem) in Chicago.

Fall 2010 Speaker Series

2010-08-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

We're calling this our "Franciscan Fall" because all the speakers belong to the Franciscan religious order. All meetings are held from 2-4 p.m. on the third Sundays of September, October and November in the Immaculate Conception Church Rectory Assembly (the lower hall of the rectory next door to the church), 7211 W. Talcott (at Harlem) in Chicago. The church is less than a half mile north of the Kennedy Express (I-90) Harlem exit in the Norwood Park neighborhood. Signs will be posted, and there is ample free parking. Presentations are followed by a question & answer period. Freewill donation (suggested amount, $6). Refreshments provided. For more information or to RSVP, contact Chapter Coordinator Mike Brennan at 773-447-3989.

Sr. Margaret Guider, OSF

SUNDAY, SEPT. 19, 2010
"The Beginning of Love": Thomas Merton's Influence on the Evolution of Women's Spiritual Consciousness, with Sr. Margaret Guider, OSF

In the late 1960’s, Merton, like many others, began to reflect on women’s roles. His reflections focused on the situation of women religious, and in conferences and retreats in Kentucky and California he talked about “the feminine mystique.” At Gethsemani in May 1968 he challenged the male and female stereotypes. Women are not “passive” and “mysterious.” Stereotypes of gender and race are “not true” (Springs of Contemplation, 162). “I think you have an absolute duty to rebel, for the good of the Church itself. Otherwise, you are creating and perpetuating this image of the mysterious, veiled, hidden woman who is an ‘enclosed-garden.’ The truth is not that there’s all this ‘femininity’ locked up in the convent. The truth is that there are people loving God” (163). In the beginning, religious life was “a real liberation” for women, “a chance to be a person,” but that no longer was the case (164). Merton was only beginning to work out the ideas expressed here. One wonders what he would say about women today.
– Christine M. Bochen, The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia (541).

Sr. Margaret is one who wonders. She once wrote a paper on “Merton’s Subterranean Feminism,” and in this talk offers an expansive view of Merton’s contribution to the development of women’s spiritual consciousness.

Merton’s prophetic and inspiring perspectives on the Church, social justice, war and peace, ecology, monasticism and interfaith dialogue are well known. Less well known and appreciated are his views on the vital role of women in the Church and in the world. It is a real privilege for the Chicago Chapter-ITMS to welcome Sr. Margaret to our first meeting of the fall. Please join us for this timely and insightful talk.

Sister Margaret Guider, OSF, is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate and the congregation’s vice president and councilor for mission. She lectures widely and, in recent years, has been noted for her work on intercultural communication, racism and racial privilege, the Franciscan missionary charism, and consecrated life in the context of a world church. A gifted scholar and author, she is an Associate Professor of theology at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, and author of Daughters of Rahab: Prostitution and the Church of Liberation in Brazil (Fortress, 1996) and editor of Doing What Is Ours to Do: A Clarian Theology of Life (Franciscan Institute, 2000). She is the past-president of the American Society of Missiology and has served as an advisor to missionary societies, religious congregations, and Catholic institutions. She gave one of the main talks for the U.S. Catholic Mission Association’s 2003 conference, “Mission and Transformation: Our Mission of Solidarity in a Globalized World.” Her teaching interests include World Christianity and Mission Studies, Contextual Theologies, Mariology, and Contemporary Issues in Religion, Culture & Society. Current research focuses on the Church in Brazil, the contemporary relevance of the Franciscan theological tradition for Christian life and practice, and Consecrated Life in the 21st Century. You can view a recent talk by Sr. Margaret given last April at Marquette University: http://www.marquette.edu/umi/grants.shtml

Daniel Horan OFM

SUNDAY, OCT. 17, 2010
“Thomas Merton the ‘Dunce’: Identity, Incarnation and the Not So Subtle Influence of John Duns Scotus,” with Daniel P. Horan, OFM

The influence of key figures in the early life of Thomas Merton, such as the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and Columbia University professor Daniel Walsh, has been observed and studied for many decades. However, there is a significant thread of theological and philosophical contiguous insight that has been largely overlooked, both in its direct influence and its more indirect or subtle influence through these two intellectual and spiritual guides. The missing link of continuity is the medieval Franciscan thinker John Duns Scotus. Renown for his theological and philosophical originality, his logical and nuanced approach to complicated metaphysical questions and his difficult-to-penetrate work, Scotus – known as the Subtle Doctor – was a thinker that captured the attention of the young Thomas Merton and remained present in the background of his thought and writings until his death. This lecture will present two major themes in the writing of Merton in light of their resemblance and likely indebtedness to the original work of John Duns Scotus; namely, the True Self and the Incarnation. In addition to being another infrequently considered dimension of Merton’s Franciscan impulse, the influence of Scotus in the 20th Century monk’s work can help us appreciate Merton’s innovative spirituality even more. Perhaps like Merton we too can be numbered among the dunces of history, that is, in its original meaning – a follower of the school of Scotus. – Daniel Horan, OFM
Dan Horan is a Franciscan friar of Holy Name Province (NY) and a member of both the International Thomas Merton Society and the Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain and Ireland. A former Daggy Scholar, he is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University (NY) and the Washington Theological Union (DC). His work has been published in journals such as America, The Merton Annual, The Merton Journal (UK), The Merton Seasonal, Heythrop Journal, Review for Religious, Spiritual Life, The Cord and others. He has delivered papers at the general meeting for the Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain and Ireland as well as the Eleventh Conference of the International Thomas Merton Society (2009). He has also delivered invited public lectures on Merton in Boston and Washington, DC. Dan will begin teaching in the Department of Religious Studies at Siena College (NY) in Fall 2010. It is a privilege for the Chicago Chapter-ITMS to offer this presentation by an outstanding young Merton scholar.

Fr. Albert Hasse, OFM

SUNDAY, NOV. 21, 2010
“Overcoming the Seduction of the False Self,” with Fr. Albert Haase, OFM

A central theme that weaves its way through Thomas Merton’s writings is that sanctity consists in discovering our true identity. The essence of the spiritual quest is our search for our true, or real, self. In an early work (1949) he writes, “For me to be saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self” (Seeds of Contemplation, 26). In the same chapter he identifies what is at the heart of the problem of discovering one’s true identity: “every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self” (28). Thus, very early in his writings, Merton introduces two terms (that will recur repeatedly in his later writings) that we must understand if we are to grasp what he has to say about the achievement of personal identity. The goal in the quest for self-identity is the “true self”; the villain who obstructs the way is “the false self….” He does not, it seems, intend primarily to see the false self as “false” in a moral sense, as if the false self were untruthful, sinful, immoral. No doubt it can, and perhaps often does, have that meaning. But such a meaning is derivative and does not catch the primary sense in which he uses the term “false self.” Merton is thinking more in ontological terms. This is to say that the adjective “false” conveys the notion of unsubstantiality, of lacking in any fullness of being. The false self is deficient in being – deficient in the sense that it is impermanent, not enduring….The false self is a self of changing emotions – now up, now down. It exists not at any deep level of reality, but only in our egocentric desires: the desire to manipulate, to be recognized, to be praised, to possess, to accumulate. “The tragedy of a life centered on ‘things,’ on the grasping and manipulation of objects, is that such a life closes the ego upon itself, as though it were an end in itself, and throws it into a hopeless struggle with other perverse and hostile selves competing together for the possession, which will given them power and satisfaction” (Birds of Appetite, 82). Such a false self has no voice of its own; it speaks the voice of the anonymous collectivity. In our time the media generally are the source from which it derives its judgments and opinions. It has objectified itself; that is, it has made itself into an object that can be talked about and described. This means that it has lost touch with its own subjectivity and therefore, quite literally, does not (and cannot ever) know itself….Life’s most pressing task is to unmask this false, illusory self and become “aware of the presence within us of a disturbing stranger, the self that is both ‘I’ and someone else. The self that is not entirely welcome in his own house because he is so different from the everyday character that we have constructed out of our dealings with others – and our infidelities to ourselves.” – William H. Shannon, The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia (417-418)

So how does one overcome this powerful seduction in a culture that often seems dedicated to promoting superficiality, celebrity, and an endless procession of titillating distractions? A culture in which every egocentric desire, especially the accumulation of possessions, is enshrined? Fr. Albert Haase has been pondering these questions for some time, and offers his timely perspectives. Ordained a Franciscan priest in 1983, Fr. Albert is a popular preacher, teacher, spiritual director and radio personality. A former missionary to mainland China for over eleven years, he is the author of five books on popular spirituality. Fr. Albert is the director of the International Institute for Clergy Formation based at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ. He is also the co-host of Spirit and Life, a radio show heard every weekend on the Relevant Radio Network, Baraga Broadcasting and The Presence Radio Network. Copies of his latest book, THIS SACRED MOMENT: Becoming Holy Right Where You Are will be available for purchase (no checks, cash only please), and Fr. Albert has will be happy to sign copies during the break and following the question & answer period.

Visit his web site at www.AlbertOFM.org – and read Fr. Albert’s article on Spiritual Direction in the November, 2007, issue of St. Anthony Messenger Magazine at:

http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Nov2007/Feature2.asp

Annual Chapter Picnic Next Sunday, Aug. 22

2010-08-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

The CC-ITMS Annual Picnic will be held beginning at 1 p.m. next Sunday, Aug. 22, in the Passionist Monastery yard (behind the monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago). Park by the rectory assembly and follow signs posted. Please bring a dish to pass and a lawn chair. To help us plan for meats and refreshments (provided by the Chapter), please RSVP to Penny Jaworski at 847-375-9291. We also invite you to bring your favorite Merton passage to share. We will move indoors if it rains. An update on plans for the 2011 ITMS Conference at Loyola will be given. For more information, contact Mike at 773-447-3989.

Readers Begin "Contemplation in a World of Action" July 26

2010-07-20T06:24:00.001-07:00

The Chicago Chapter—ITMS readers will begin discussing Thomas Merton’s Contemplation in a World of Action at its next meeting from 7-8 p.m. next Monday, July 26, in the library of the Immaculate Conception Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago. Fr. Francis Cusack is the moderator of this discussion group. The format is to read the book in advance and discuss it, usually chapter by chapter, at the meeting. For more information, contact Fr. Francis at 773-631-1686, ext. 241.

"When I speak of the contemplative life I do not mean the institutional, cloistered life . . . I am talking about a special dimension of inner discipline and experience, a certain integrity and fullness of personal development. . . . Discovering the contemplative life is a new self-discovery. One might say it is the flowering of a deeper identity on an entirely different plane. . . ." —Thomas Merton, from the book

The spiritual and psychological insights of these essays were nurtured in a monastic milieu, but their issues are universally human. Merton lays a foundation for personal growth and transformation through fidelity to "our own truth and inner being." His main focus is our desire and need to attain "a fully human and personal identity."

“To me, [Contemplation in a World of Action] is [Merton’s] most eloquent book, for in it he speaks more directly of the contemplative life than he ever had before, and in so doing, distilled the wisdom gained from his own contemplative experience.” —Julius Lester, New York Times Book Review

“Many years ahead of his time—as all serious prophets are—Merton saw the necessary link between contemplation and social action.” — Values and Visions Reviews Service

Merton, Marxism & Threads of Ideology April 18

2010-04-09T17:44:00.001-07:00

Marc Boswell, a Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary doctoral candidate, will speak on "Beating Down the Phantoms: Merton, Marxism and the Threads of Ideology," at 2 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 18, at Immaculate Conception School's Providence Hall, 7211 W. Talcott, Chicago. Signs will be posted by the entrance, which is across the parking lot from where our chapter usually meets.

Mr. Boswell will be examining Merton's social analysis and, particularly, his commentary on advanced industrial society's effects on human knowledge and the human spirit. He is interested in illustrating the structural similarities (and differences) between Merton's thought and the work produced by Marxist social theorists of the Frankfurt School of philosophy. This comparison will be done with a careful eye on Merton's analysis of the myths, falsehoods, and ideologies of late-industrial and globalized societies (both capitalist and communist), and we will see if these Marxist-informed critiques may be of continued relevance for Christians in the 21st century.

Marc Boswell grew up in Saratoga, NC, which is in eastern North Carolina. He is an ordained minister in the Free Will Baptist tradition, but he considers himself an "expansive Protestant," as he has served in United Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian congregations. He completed his M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, VA, and is finishing his first year of course work in Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary's Ph.D. program in Theology, Ethics, and History. He and his wife, Kate Fiedler Boswell, moved to Chicago in the fall of 2009, and they reside in Rogers Park. He has enjoyed being able to work with E. Glenn Hinson this semester, and they enjoyed a trip to Gethsemani in February.

Please join us for this talk and discussion. Refreshments will be served. Suggested donation is $5 for non-members. For more information, call Mike at 773-447-3989.

"Can the Warrior God of the Old Testament Be a God of Peace?" Sunday, Mar. 21

2010-03-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

The Chicago Chapter-ITMS presents a talk by Pauline Viviano, Ph.D., "Can the Warrior God of the Old Testament Be a God of Peace?" at 2 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 21, 2010, at Immaculate Conception Rectory Assembly, 7211 W. Talcott (at Harlem), Chicago.

The image of God as Warrior is one of the earliest and most pervasive images of God in the Old Testament. In this lecture, Dr. Pauline Viviano will focus on understanding this image in its historical and theological contexts and suggest ways in which we as Christians can make peace with the Warrior God of the Old Testament. The issue of peace was enormously important to Thomas Merton and we think you will find Dr. Viviano's presentation insightful. She is a member of our chapter and it is an honor to feature her as a presenter.

Dr. Viviano is an Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola University Chicago. She received her doctorate in Biblical Languages and Literature from St. Louis University. Besides articles in academic and popular journals, her publications include reading guides for the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings and Ruth, for the Catholic Study Bible published by Oxford University Press (April 1990) and a commentary on the Book of Genesis in the Collegeville Bible Commentary series. She is presently working on a commentary on the Books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. In addition to University teaching she often lectures at parishes in and around Chicago. Her specialty is Hebrew Scriptures, and her research interests include: Old Testament: Deuteronomistic History, formation; Genesis; Jeremiah; Hebrew poetry; Hebrew narrative; literary critical method; Bible: Methodology, methods of interpretation and history of interpretation.

Dues-paying members free, visitors $5. No registration is necessary. For more information, contact Mike Brennan at 773-447-3989.

Note: Immaculate Conception Parish will be hosting a St. Joseph’s Day table at 12 noon March 21 in Providence Hall, in the school, directly across the parking lot from the rectory. Also, the parish offers Catholic Mass at 12 noon. We invite you to come early for Mass and/or the St. Joseph’s table.

By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet. — Thomas Merton

The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton Discussed Sunday, Feb. 21

2010-01-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

Vaughn Fayle, OFM will discuss "Sophia - The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton," a new book by Xavier University (Ohio) Professor Christopher Pramuk, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, in the Rectory Assembly of Immaculate Conception Parish, 7211 W. Talcott, Chicago.

Below is a description of the book from amazon.com, and two reviews:

While numerous studies have celebrated Thomas Merton's witness as an interfaith pioneer, poet, and peacemaker, there have been few systematic treatments of his Christology as such, and no sustained exploration to date of his relationship to the Russian "Sophia" tradition. This book looks to Thomas Merton as a "classic" theologian of the Christian tradition from East to West, and offers an interpretation of his mature Christology, with special attention to his remarkable prose poem of 1962, Hagia Sophia. Bringing Merton's mystical-prophetic vision fully into dialogue with contemporary Christology, Russian sophiology, and Zen, as well as figures such as John Henry Newman and Abraham Joshua Heschel, the author carefully but boldly builds the case that Sophia, the same theological eros that animated Merton's religious imagination in a period of tremendous fragmentation and violence, might infuse new vitality into our own. A study of uncommon depth and scope, inspired throughout by Merton's extraordinary catholicity.

Reviews
"Pramuk's work is, far and away, the most sophisticated theological study ever done on the writings of Thomas Merton. It sets a very high bar for anyone else who intends to comment on the writings of the monk whose writings, nearly a half century after his death, still exert such a powerful influence on contemporary religious seekers." --Lawrence S. Cunningham, John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology, The University of Notre Dame

Christopher Pramuk's Sophia: the Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton is, dare it be said, a gorgeous book. Its beautifully crafted pages are full of insight about Merton and his "sapiential" theological method, the poetical and mystical manner in which he lived into the rich symbolic matrix of faith and drew from it living wisdom, made luminous by his engagement with non-western religions, Eastern Orthodox thought and the kataphatic and apophatic modes of knowing of his own tradition. Moreover, Sophia invites the reader into a compelling meditation on the doing of theology in the contemporary world. It affirms the need for a bold theological imagination and a faith intensely aware of Sophia, the divine presence alive in the world. --Wendy M. Wright, Professor of Theology, John C. Kenefick Faculty Chair in the Humanities, Creighton University

About the speaker:
Franciscan Fr. Vaughn Fayle was born in South Africa in 1960 into a musical and literary family: his father was a pipe organ builder, his aunt a concert pianist and his uncle on his mother’s side, Denis Brutus, an international poet and activist who was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela, who died Dec. 26, 2009.

Vaughn began music studies at the age of five, studying piano and later on pipe organ and harpsichord. After high school he studied music at Rhodes University with John Birch, Rupert Mayr, Christine Lucia and private studies in orchestration and composition and completed his LRMS degree from the Royal School of Music, London. Poor eye sight due to juvenile glaucoma forced him to turn from music performance to composition, musicology and philosophy. He completed graduate studies in philosophy and theology in Europe and came to the USA in 1990 to direct a department of undergraduate philosophy of religion in Texas. He taught both religion and philosophy at Our Lady of the Lake University.

In 1997 he studied the use of music and the lives of composers in the concentration camps in Europe and composed a set of Three Hebrew Chanukah Songs for orchestral harp and choir, which was premiered by the San Antonio Choral Society under the direction of Dr. Gary Mabry at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has since composed works for choir and for various small instrumental ensembles including incidental music for Provision Theater Company’s 2004 production of A Christmas Carol, Actor’s Workshop Theater’s 2006 production of Proof.

At the suggestion of his uncle, exiled South African poet Dennis Brutus he began setting Brutus’ Robben Island poetry to music and then began studying the poetry of the American poet and spiritual writer, Thomas Merton. In July 2007, the International Thomas Merton Society awarded him the 2007-2008 Shannon Fellowship for his setting of the poetry of Thomas Merton.

Since 1999, Vaughn has served as director of philosophy studies and adjunct professor of the philosophy of religion at Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park, where he has taught courses on Thomas Merton’s political philosophy. He is a member of the American Composers Forum, the American Guild of Organists and the American Philosophical Association.

Vaughn has been a frequent presenter for the Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society, and participated in the 2009 ITMS conference in Rochester, NY. He serves on the ITMS 2011 program committee.

Chicago Chapter - ITMS 2010 Meetings

2010-01-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday Speaker Meetings are held in the Immaculate Conception Parish Rectory Assembly, 7211 W. Talcott, Chicago, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Monday Reading Group Meetings are held in the Passionist Monastery Library, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago, from 7 to 8 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 17: Suzanne Zuercher, OSB: "Living and Loving: Merton's Last Task, Revisited"
Monday, Jan. 25: Reading Group: Seven Storey Mountain, part 3, section 1 & 2.
Sunday, Feb. 21: Vaughn Fayle, OFM: "Sophia - The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton," a discussion of Christopher Pramuk's new book.
Monday, Feb. 22: Reading Group: Seven Storey Mountain, contined.
Sunday, Mar. 21: Dr. Pauline Viviano, "Can the Warrior God of the Old Testament Be a God of Peace?"
Monday, Mar. 29: Reading Group
Sunday, Apr. 18: Mark Boswell, Ph.D. candidate, Garrett Theological Seminary, Talk title TBA

Monday, Apr. 26: Reading Group
Sunday, May 16: TBA
Monday, May 24: Reading Group

There are no speaker meetings in June, July or August
Picnic TBA

Monday, June 28: Reading Group
Monday, July 26: Reading Group
Monday, Aug. 30: Reading Group
Sunday, Sept. 19: Meg Guider, OSF, Talk title TBA
Monday, Sept. 27: Reading Group
Sunday, Oct. 17: Daniel Horan, OFM: Talk title TBA
Monday, Oct. 25: Reading Group
Sunday, Nov. 21: Fr. Albert Haas, OFM: Talk title TBA
Monday, Nov. 29: Reading Group
Wednesday, Dec. 8: Annual Merton Memorial Mass - Passionist Monastery

For more information, contact Chapter Coordinator Mike Brennan: 773-447-3989

Merton Mass This Thursday, Dec. 10

2009-12-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

Thursday, Dec. 10: The annual Chapter Mass commemorating Merton's death on this day in 1968 will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, in the chapel of the Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago. Fr. Francis Cusack, CP, and Fr. Vaughn Fayle, OFM, will concelebrate. Mass will be followed by a social. For more information, contact Mike Brennan at 773-447-3989.

Sunday, Dec. 20: The Chicago Chapter-ITMS is among the sponsors of a performance of The Hermit in New York at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20, at the School of the Art Institute Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan, Chicago. For reservations & full info please call 773.868.1700 x 2. The suggested donation is $20 suggested donation. Written by Teresa Weed and featuring Beau O'Reilly as Thomas Merton, A HERMIT IN NEW YORK begins on a weekend in New York when Merton met with Zen scholar DT Suzuki. It then weaves together the poetry and prose of Merton's public and privates lives, spiritual development and his advocacy for peace and justice. We urge you to print the attached flyers and share it with your family, friends and parish community. For more information, contact the Still Point Theatre Collective at 773-868-1700.

Seven Storey Mountain this Monday, Oct. 26

2009-10-24T05:16:00.000-07:00

If you ever wanted to "get in on the ground floor" of Thomas Merton's many books, here's the place to start.

The Chicago Chapter-ITMS Merton Reading Group will meet at 7 p.m. this Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 to begin discussing the first 180 pages of Merton's first and most famous book, The Seven Storey Mountain. We meet in the library of the Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago. Fr. Francis Cusack, C.P., is the moderator. The meeting lasts an hour and there is parking in front of the monastery. The group meets on the last Monday of every month. For more information contact Fr. Francis at 773-631-1686, ext. 241. Please arrive before 7 p.m. because there is no doorkeeper.

A selection of reader reviews: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175078.The_Seven_Storey_Mountain
http://www.thefaithlab.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=417:seven-storey-mountain-book-review&catid=15:smartfaith&Itemid=100032

Tommie O'Callaghan this Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009

2009-10-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

The Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society is honored to present a close friend of Thomas Merton's and recently retired trustee of the Merton Legacy Trust, Tommie O'Callaghan, as our guest speaker at 2 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 18, in the rectory assembly of Immaculate Conception Parish, 7211 W. Talcott (just west of Harlem Avenue) Chicago. There is free parking in the adjacent lot, and signs will be posted directing you to the rectory assembly.

This very special visit was arranged by ITMS member Rev. Dr. Marilyn Hendricks, who will lead the discussion.

Tommie is flying in and returning to Louisville the same day, so the meeting will begin promptly at 2 p.m. and conclude about 3:45 p.m. so she can get to Midway Airport for her departing flight. Members are invited to come between 1 and 2 p.m. for fellowship before the discussion gets underway. A brief business meeting will be held at 1:45 p.m. just prior to the discussion. Pastor Hendricks will interview Tommie about her friendship with Thomas Merton, followed by questions from the audience.

The Merton Encyclopedia offers this biography:

Thomasine ("Tommie") O'Callaghan, wife of Frank O'Callaghan, had attended the College of the Sacred Heart at Manhattanville, Purchase, New York, where Daniel Walsh was one of her teachers. It was he who first introduced Thomas Merton to the O'Callaghan family. Merton became a welcome friend and was a frequent visitor at the O'Callaghan residence in Louisville. To the seven children of Tommie and Frank he soon became "Uncle Louie." It was his first experience in many years with any sort of family life. When Merton chose the members of his legacy trust, he wanted someone from Louisville, and Tommie O'Callaghan was the ideal choice. She has continued to be an active member of the Merton Legacy Trust. (She is the one remaining original trustee; the other two Naomi Stone and James Laughlin, have been replaced by Robert Giroux and Anne McCormick, respectively.) WHS (Fr. Wm. Shannon) (Since the encyclopedia's publication in 2002, Robert Giroux has died and was replaced as a trustee by Peggy Fox; and Tommie recently retired and has been replaced by Mary Somerville.)

Marilyn serves as a Lutheran pastor and was among three scholars awarded 2008-2009 Shannon Fellowships for a project on “The Spirituality and Ethics of Thomas Merton." She attended the 11th ITMS conference in Rochester, where she invited Tommie to visit our chapter.

We hope you will be able to attend this very special and rare event, and feel free to bring a friend.

Reading Group Schedule, Picnic August 16

2009-07-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

Our Merton Reading Group will meet at 7 p.m. this Monday, July 27, 2009 to discuss pp 77-134 of The Vision of Thomas Merton, edited by Pat O'Connell. The group meets at the Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago. Fr. Francis Cusack, C.P., is the moderator. The meeting lasts an hour and there is parking in front of the monastery. The group meets on the last Monday of every month. For more information contact Fr. Francis at 773-631-1686.

The CC-ITMS Annual Picnic will be held on the grounds of the Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago, beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16. Please RSVP to Penny Jaworski at 847-375-9291 by August 14, or reply to this email. The Chapter will provide the meats, and there will be door prizes. Please bring a dish to pass, a lawn chair, and your favorite Merton passage to share. We will move indoors if it rains. Those who attended the ITMS meeting in Rochester will be invited to tell us about their favorite parts of the conference.

Our next meeting with Pat O’Connell 2 p.m. Sunday, May 31st

2009-04-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

The Chicago Chapter – ITMS is proud to present Dr. Patrick O’Connell, a founding member and former president of the International Thomas Merton Society, who will discuss "Wisdom & Prophecy: The Two Poles of Thomas Merton's Mature Spirituality," at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 31, in the Rectory Assembly of Immaculate Conception Church, 7211 W. Talcott, Chicago. Pat is Associate Professor in the Departments of English and Theology at Gannon University, Erie, PA. He holds doctorates in English Literature from Yale University and in Historical Theology from Fordham University, and he has published more than two dozen articles on Merton's work and has spoken on Merton throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Great Britain and Ireland. He is coauthor, with William H. Shannon and Christine M. Bochen, of The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002), which received the 2003 award for best reference work by the Catholic Press Association, which called the volume “a comprehensive and authoritative resource on one of the most important spiritual guides of the twentieth century.” He was editor of a collection of essays entitled The Vision of Thomas Merton (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2003), and is presently editing a series of volumes of Merton’s monastic conferences for Cistercian Publications: the first, entitled Cassian and the Fathers, appeared in 2005, the second, Pre-Benedictine Monasticism, in 2006, the third, An Introduction to Christian Mysticism, in 2008; the fourth, entitled The Rule of St. Benedict, will be published in spring 2009. Since 1998 he has served as editor of The Merton Seasonal: A Quarterly Review, published jointly by the International Thomas Merton Society and the Merton Center at Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY, the major repository of Merton’s papers.

Dr. O'Connell's presentation will focus on the creative tension between Merton's "sapiential" or "sophianic" consciousness, which responds to the world not as a detached observer but with an intuitive, participatory awareness of the "hidden wholeness" of all reality, and his prophetic attentiveness to the ruptured bonds between creation and Creator, the alienation and isolation caused by the rejection of wisdom, the violation of the divine image through violence, prejudice and exploitation. It will explore how the dimensions of wisdom and prophecy complement and interpenetrate one another in Merton's life and writings and so make him a model for spiritual awareness in the twenty-first century. Copies of The Vision of Thomas Merton will be available for $10. Admission is free to CC-ITMS members and $5 for visitors.

Merton on Unredeemed and Redeemable Technology Apr. 19

2009-03-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

Fr. Vaughn Fayle, OFM, will discuss "Merton on Unredeemed and Redeemable Technology" at the next meeting of the Chicago Chapter-ITMS at 2 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 19</span>, in the Rectory Assembly of Immaculate Conception Parish, 7211 W. Talcott. Fr. Vaughn is the adjunct professor of the philosophy of religion at Catholic Theological Union, and 2007-08 ITMS Shannon Fellow. This talk is the first part of his preparation for his presentation on "Merton, Heidegger and Jacques Ellul on Technology" at the ITMS meeting in Rochester this June 11-14, Bearing Witness to the Light: Merton's Challenge to a Fragmented World.

"Merton was one of several voices that spoke against the influence of technology in our lives and society," says Fr. Vaughn. "What was the cause of his concern, and how can we understand it today when technology gives us so many benefits? Could it be that we need to hear Merton cautioning us against a technological addiction that could derail our political, intellectual and spiritual growth?" We hope you can join us! Free to members, freewill donation (suggested amount $5) for visitors.

We hope that you will all consider attending the Rochester meeting - a great experience for Merton lovers and a chance to see what we are in store for when Chicago is the host site in 2011. We will have an update on that within a few weeks.

Sunday Speaker meetings are held on the third Sunday of each month. Upcoming speaker meetings are scheduled for Apr. 19, Sept. 20, Oct. 18, and Nov. 15.

The Thomas Merton Reading Group led by Fr. Francis Cusack will continue its discussion of Mystics and Zen Masters at 7 p.m. Monday, Apr. 27, at the Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago. The group meets on the last Monday of each month. Thomas Merton was recognized as one of those rare Western minds that are entirely at home with the Zen experience. In this collection, he discusses diverse religious concepts -early monasticism, Russian Orthodox spirituality, the Shakers, and Zen Buddhism - with characteristic Western directness. Merton not only studied these religions from the outside but grasped them by empathy and living participation from within. "All these studies," wrote Merton, "are united by one central concern: to understand various ways in which men of different traditions have conceived the meaning and method of the 'way' which leads to the highest levels of religious or of metaphysical awareness." Monday Reader meetings for the remainder of 2009 are scheduled June 29, July 27, Aug. 31, Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 30, and Dec. 28. Free.

Steve Denny was kind enough to share the following information about train transportation to Rochester: "You can go from Chicago straight to Rochester via the Lake Shore Limited Amtrak train for $59 each way. Thats a coach seat for eleven hours, overnight. It leaves Chicago at 10:00 pm on Wednesday night and gets to Rochester at 10:43am on Thursday just in time for the beginning of the conference that afternoon. Coming back it leaves on either Sat or Sunday night at 11:00pm and gets into Chicago the next morning at 9:59am. Here's the Amtrak link for the schedule of trains: http://www.amtrak.com/timetable/oct08/P48.pdf"

2009-02-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

The Thomas Merton Reading Group led by Fr. Francis Cusack will begin its discussion of Mystics and Zen Masters (the first 80 pages) at 7 p.m. this Monday, Feb. 23, at the Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago. The group meets on the last Monday of each month. Thomas Merton was recognized as one of those rare Western minds that are entirely at home with the Zen experience. In this collection, he discusses diverse religious concepts -early monasticism, Russian Orthodox spirituality, the Shakers, and Zen Buddhism - with characteristic Western directness. Merton not only studied these religions from the outside but grasped them by empathy and living participation from within. "All these studies," wrote Merton, "are united by one central concern: to understand various ways in which men of different traditions have conceived the meaning and method of the 'way' which leads to the highest levels of religious or of metaphysical awareness." Monday Reader meetings for the remainder of 2009 are scheduled Mar. 20, Apr. 27, June 29, July 27, Aug. 31, Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 30, and Dec. 28. Free.

Our March speaker meeting will feature Sr. Suzanne Zuercher, OSB discussing "Merton the Prophet,"at 2 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 15, in the Rectory Assembly of Immaculate Conception Church, 7211 W. Talcott, Chicago. Sr. Suzanne, a teacher, author, retreat leader and licensed clinical psychologist, served as president of St. Scholastica Academy, the corporate ministry of her monastery, from 1994 until 2006. She also served as a campus minister at Loyola's Water Tower Campus and co-director of Loyola's Institute for Spiritual Leadership in Hyde Park. Sr. Suzanne has been a frequent lecturer for the CC-ITMS, giving talks on "How Merton Understood His Monastic Life" and "Loving and Living: Merton's Last Task." She is an expert on the enneagram and author of the recently published Using the Enneagram in Prayer (Ave Maria Press), copies of which will be available for purchase ($10). Free to dues-paying members; visitors are asked to make a donation (suggested $5).

Sunday Speaker meetings are held on the third Sunday of each month. Upcoming speaker meetings are scheduled for Apr. 19, Sept. 20, Oct. 18, and Nov. 15.

2009-01-11T11:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings to all the members and friends of the Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society. I hope you enjoyed the holidays and that your new year is off to a good start. Here is a snapshot of our meetings for 2009.

We meet on the third Sunday of each month, except during summer, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Rectory Assembly of Immaculate Conception Parish, 7211 W. Talcott (at Harlem), Chicago. There is an adjacent parking lot and signs posted. Sunday meetings are reserved for speakers or audio-visual presentations. Meetings are free to dues-paying members; visitors are invited to make a freewill donation.

We also meet on the last Monday of each month, year-round, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Passionist Monastery, 5700 N. Harlem, Chicago, which is next door to Immaculate Conception. There is parking along the circular driveway and across from the garages. Monday meetings are reserved for the study and discussion of Thomas Merton's books. There is no charge to attend the Reader Group.

Sunday Speaker meetings in 2009 are scheduled for Jan. 18, Feb. 15, Mar. 15, Apr. 19, Sept. 20, Oct. 18, and Nov. 15. On Friday, Dec. 10, we will gather for Mass to commemorate Thomas Merton on the day of his death, followed by a holiday social. The date of the May meeting is tentatively May 31. Mike Brennan coordinates speakers and other presentations. For more information, call 773-447-3989, or click to visit his blog: Mertonfest.

At our first meeting of the year, next Sunday, Jan. 18, we will view "A ZEN LIFE - D.T. Suzuki," a 77-minute documentary about Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966), credited with introducing Zen Buddhism to the West. The film includes rarely seen footage of Thomas Merton, who met with Suzuki in New York City. The journey to this meeting forms the basis of the locally produced play, The Hermit in New York.

Monday Reader meetings in 2009 are scheduled for Jan. 26, Feb. 23, Mar. 20, Apr. 27, June 29, July 27, Aug. 31, Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 30, and Dec. 28. As the May meeting falls on the Memorial Day observance, it will be rescheduled, probably to June 1. Fr. Francis Cusack moderates the group. For more information, call 773-631-1686, ext. 241.

The reading group will conclude The Waters of Siloe and select its next book at the Jan. 26 meeting.

Annual CC-ITMS dues are $20 and help defray the cost of meetings and mailings. Send checks payable to CC-ITMS to our treasurer, Barbara Carlo, 245 W. Johnson St. Unit 308, Palatine, IL 60067. Please include name, address, phone and e-mail.

Annual dues for the ITMS are $25. Send checks payable to ITMS to: Resident Secretary, ITMS, Bellarmine University, 2001 Newburg Rd., Louisville, Kentucky 40205. Add $15 if you want a copy of the Merton Annual, published in Spring, 2009.

The Eleventh Conference and General Meeting of the International Thomas Merton Society will be held June 11-14, 2009, at Nazareth College, Rochester, New York. The Chicago Chapter has submitted a proposal to host the Twelfth Conference and General Meeting in 2011, and I hope that we will be well represented at Rochester so we can better understand what the 2011 conference will require of us. If you register, please let me know so we can meet up in Rochester.

Take good care,

Mike

Events sponsored by Canadian Merton Society

2009-01-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

Thomas Merton Society of Canada Winter Program Events

The Rosebushes at the Hermitage: Thomas Merton's Search for Solitude
Free Public Talk - Mon. Jan. 19, 2009, 7:30 pm
Location: Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC

Between 1952 and 1956, Thomas Merton corresponded with Anselmo Giabbani, prior of the ancient monastic community of Camaldoli, in Tuscany. He was asking for Giabbani's help in applying for a transfer to a monastery in Italy. Don Grayston will introduce these recently-discovered letters and place them in the context of Merton's ongoing search for contemplative solitude and of our need for the equivalent in our own lives. Donald Grayston is president of the International Thomas Merton Society, and past president of the Thomas Merton Society of Canada. He spent a week at Camaldoli in the summer of 2008. This event is co-sponsored by the Thomas Merton Society of Canada and the Vancouver Public Library. Admission is free. Everyone is welcome!

Vancouver Conference—Peace: A Transforming Vision
Keynote Speakers: Jim Forest & Peter Dale Scott
Fri. March 6, 2009, 7:00 pm; Sat. March 7, 2009, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location: Canadian Memorial Church & Centre for Peace, 1825 West 16th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

The Thomas Merton Society of Canada and Canadian Memorial Church & Centre for Peace present Peace: A Transforming Vision. Our annual Merton conference features a keynote address on Friday evening by Jim Forest and plenary and concurrent sessions on Saturday by local and international Merton scholars and peace leaders. The conference ends with a contemplative service on peace, led by musician and liturgist Bruce Harding. This year's keynote speakers are Jim Forest and Peter Dale Scott. Jim Forest is a long-time peace activist and peace maker who is the author of many books, including Living With Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton. He lives in The Netherlands with his wife, Nancy. Peter Dale Scott is a well-known Canadian poet and Professor of English Emeritus at the University of California at Berkley. He is known for his anti-war stance and his criticism of US foreign policy dating back to the Vietnam War. Fri. evening public talk: $10 minimum donation. Saturday: $50/TMSC members and $55/non-members (lunch included) full day or $30 half day (includes lunch). For more information or registration, please contact the Thomas Merton Society of Canada at 604-669-2546 or tmsc@telus.net.

Victoria Conference—Peace: A Transforming Vision
Plenary and concurrent presentations and workshops – Sat. March 14, 2009, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Location: The University Club of Victoria at the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC

Keynote speaker Jim Forest kicks off the one-day conference at The University Club of Victoria. Other speakers include: Donald Grayston, Ross Labrie and Ron Dart. Cost: $50/TMSC members and $55/non-members (lunch included) full day or $30 half day (includes lunch). For more information or registration, please contact the TMSC at 604-669-2546 or tmsc@telus.net.

Once an Iraqi interrogator, now a Catholic pacifist

2008-12-31T06:01:00.000-08:00

Once more Thomas Merton is mentioned in passing in this inspiring story of conversion - not just from one denomination to another, but the deepest possible conversion,embracing and embodying the love of Christ, a truly prophetic conversion. You can click the link to read the story on-line and e-mail to friends and family. In this year of St. Paul - a really concrete example. Have a blessed New Year. --- Mike

Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline3.org/drupal)

By TOM ROBERTS, NCR Staff
Published:
Dec. 30, 2008

The self-described Islamic jihadist sat across from Army Specialist Joshua Casteel in an interrogation room in Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison. He was not like so many others Casteel had dealt with, the ordinary Iraqis, innocents caught up in the confusion that followed the U.S. invasion.

The prisoner before him this day had already admitted that he’d come from Saudi Arabia to kill people like Casteel. He was soft-spoken, deliberate, intensely religious. He tried to convert his interrogator to Islam and drew him, against all the canons of interrogation, into an extended conversation about ethics and Christianity. “Coming from an evangelical background,” Casteel later wrote, “I felt in familiar territory, as if I were speaking simply to my Muslim counterpart.”

The discussion ranged to war and violence. Casteel asked him why he came to kill; the prisoner asked him the same question. And then the prisoner accused him of not following the teaching of Christ to “turn the other cheek” and “not resist an evil person.” Casteel felt himself agreeing with him. “I did believe that my participation in systems of violence debilitates my Christian witness,” he wrote. He wanted to say so much more to the prisoner, about Jesus, about alternatives to violence, but realized his example — his uniform, his weapon, his membership in an occupying force — said something else.

He also knew that he had crossed a line so significant that he had to tell a superior officer. He would ask to be removed from the case.

From conservative evangelical to ardent Roman Catholic, from West Point appointee to crusading pacifist and playwright, Joshua Casteel has crossed boundaries enough for a lifetime in his 29 years.

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Related story: A thumbnail look at the notorius Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad [1]

Related story: How Joshua Casteel's conversion became a family affair [2]
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It may be misleading, actually, to use boundaries to speak of him. For though he himself cites broad categories to mark his rather far-ranging journey — he was, in fact, a soldier, a conservative evangelical, an Anglo-Catholic and much else along the way — in every phase, it seems, the borders quickly became porous to yet another set of questions or intellectual insights, another level of faith.

So it is with conversions. They can make us feel unsteady, but they get us to new places. His project now, as a writer, teacher and much sought-after speaker, is simultaneously a working-out of several conversions and inherently divisive: His experience of war has turned him against war; his experience of nationalism has turned him against nationalism; the fierce sense of obligation he once felt to commitments he made has given way to a dismissive attitude toward civic oaths and instruments of the state.

Yet the turmoil he has known is placed at the service of a search for clarity, and even more, for a sense of unity — his own. The question he posed — it’s on a YouTube video — as a 25-year-old just returned from Iraq and just having acquired conscientious objector status, was this: “As a follower of Jesus Christ, what does it mean to be authentic?”

In mid-August, on the University of Iowa campus, where he’s in graduate school for nonfiction writing, Casteel appears perfectly congruous with his surroundings, more convincing to this observer as an academic than as the soldier in Internet photos. He is tall and lean, with Scandinavian good looks, yet he can come across as affably tousled in his second-hand chic.

From the outside, no one would think him terribly out of place here, certainly not a suspect in conducting great struggles with the social order. He used to work in the coffee shop where our day of interviews begins. The staff at the library, where we go to find a quiet room to continue the conversation, seem to know him. He’s a hometown kid here who’s made good, or who’s at least become somewhat famous.

Behind his easy smile, however, lurks a kind of Augustinian restlessness, a constant wrestling with big questions about God and Caesar, church and state, personal holiness. The questions evolve out of his experience, out of the realization that his desire to imitate his father and grandfather as military men led him directly into a deep and profound conflict with the assumptions not only of his family, but of his church, his state and his culture.

This “child of homeschooling and Bible quizzing,” as he wrote in a biographical essay, this high-school valedictorian and president of the high-school Young Republicans, “was not supposed to be the kid who gets upset by violence, ambition, and proto-imperialism. I was the patriotic, evangelical Christian … I was supposed to ascend the ranks of the military and then the ranks of Washington.”

But the deeper he dug into the Bible verses, the more troublesome they became.

“I cannot continue as an American war fighter. I just won’t, Dad,” he wrote in one of many e-mail correspondences to his parents and friends from Iraq. They were collected into a book, Letters from Abu Ghraib (Essay Press, 2008). “It sickens me day in and day out, and it’s treason against my King, against my real Kingdom and home.”

The writing in these missives, private and informal correspondence at the time, is at best uneven. But the writing wasn’t the point. Casteel chose some of them for public disclosure, and, as a book, the power of the writing lies in its very open revelation of a conscience, a sometimes almost tortured conscience, in formation.

In October 2004, just preceding the declaration to his father, he writes: “I’m not at the end of the road yet on what exactly my conviction, my understanding of a call to discipleship means. But I will take deadly serious Christ’s call to Peter that he drop his nets and follow.”

By May of 2005, Casteel was discharged from the Army having “strapped myself to a new cross.” Three years later, some conclusions in place, the working out of his convictions, like fire leaping to new fuel, constantly continues to happen upon new questions.

Gradual conversion
“There is in the last second of time or hair’s breadth of space, before the iron leaps to the magnet,” wrote G.K. Chesterton in The Catholic Church and Conversion, “an abyss full of all the unfathomable forces of the universe. The space between doing and not doing such a thing is so tiny and so vast. It is only possible here to give the reasons for Catholicism, not the cause of Catholicism.”

Casteel will say now that he felt Catholic long before he formally became part of the community, and he will also tell you that it was in Catholicism that he discovered the rationale and the reinforcement for his stand against war and violence that has made him far wider-known than his religious conversion.

But it was not an easy discovery. He didn’t happen to pick up flyers on Christian nonviolence in the back of the parish church. He wasn’t encouraged by the words of the military archbishop in the United States or the Catholic chaplain in Iraq to act on his growing instinct that there was something inherently contradictory between war and love of enemies, a tenet he has come to believe is the core of the Christian scriptures.

The conversion to Catholicism (it ultimately became a family event; see accompanying story) was not unrelated to his conversion from militarism to pacifism. But at least at the beginning it seems that it was a separate matter, both as small a step for him as Christianity’s relationship to Catholicism, and as wide a leap as American evangelical Protestantism can be from Rome.

During his high-school years, Casteel attended a charismatic Protestant church, where the gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as praying in tongues and healing, were regularly said to be manifest. It was a curious doubt that entered his head. A beloved parishioner was battling a serious illness, and the pastor “gave lots of sermons [saying] if you cry out loud enough and with enough faith, God will hear and God will heal. I kept on struggling with this idea of necessary faith healing,” said Casteel. He kept saying to himself, “Well, when Paul wrestled with the thorn in his flesh, Jesus said, my faith is sufficient” and the ailment, whatever it was, remained.

This matter of suffering became a significant issue to Casteel. He considers pain “the single most unifying experience that humans have.” The ability to empathize with another’s pain, he said, is “the single most critical element in human maturation. … It’s really easy to be happy when things are going great, but things rarely go great.” So there came a point in his later high-school years “when I couldn’t sit through the services. ... I’d maybe come for the worship but go out to my parents’ car during the sermons.”

Then other matters began to irritate him. “When everyone had their hands raised, like you could never be sad in church. You always had to be happy. And I kept saying to myself, ‘Jesus told us to pick up our crosses, not our tambourines.’ There’s something critical about the fact that the most pivotal moment in the history of Christianity is a moment of torture and execution. And the fact that in Catholic churches the body of Christ is still on the cross, I think that is important.”

He would eventually find new dimensions to his faith and expressions of it in liturgy, which provided the opportunity to be “really joyful or really sorrowful,” a setting where he could “pray the words of scripture rather than your own words.”

In retrospect, he sees himself as part of a considerable movement of young evangelicals to either the Anglican Communion or Roman Catholicism, a path he said is often fueled by intellectual inquiry. “As soon as we start reading church history, the floodgates are torn open. When I first learned that Martin Luther had a very pious devotion to Mary, my world was turned upside down.” At one point during his college years, he studied in England, and he can remember “looking at the stonework, at the walls that exist from ancient, ancient England, and thinking, ‘those walls are older than my faith.’ ”

In his Protestant experience, he said, “history goes back to Luther, and then it skips the entire Middle Ages and goes back to the Apostles. Apostles, Luther, America,” he said, laughing.

“For those of us who are encountering history and wanting to investigate our own origins, growing up in the world of nondenominational Protestantism is incredibly isolated. It’s purely American. The more that you ask questions about historical trajectory, about the origins of theology, the more you start realizing that apostolic teaching existed before the assembling of the New Testament. It’s pretty difficult to remain devout to sola scriptura and the rest.”

He read deeply. Church fathers, popes, modern radical Christian writers, theologians. Central to his formation was then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. “He saved my faith, seriously,” Casteel said. He read Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity while studying Arabic at language school in preparation for deployment to Iraq.

“I mean that book is the most beautiful baptism of existentialist philosophy I have ever encountered. It’s a remarkable book,” he recalled during the interview. “I was reading a lot of Ratzinger, I was reading a lot of John Paul II, I was reading a lot of St. Francis, and then as well Dorothy Day.

The more I found myself reading Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, the more I found myself in conflict with my Anglo-Catholic church,” with which he was then associated. By that point, he had traveled quite a distance beyond his evangelical Protestant church, which, he said, “more or less conflated America and Christianity.”

He was confirmed in the Anglo-Catholic church, a small splinter denomination with roots in the Anglican Communion, and it wouldn’t be until after he returned from Iraq, where he regularly worshiped at Catholic services under a “pastoral provision,” that he would formally join the Roman Catholic church.

“He scared me when he showed up in my class,” joked Fr. Michael Phillips, pastor of St. Wenceslaus Parish in Iowa City, recalling when Casteel arrived to take the course required for those who wish to join the church.
“He comes from a very educated background, but I found him rather humble and reserved,” said Phillips. He recalls Casteel as a good listener, even to the person in the group who was an ardent and vocal supporter of the war in Iraq, even to the significant portion of the class who came from evangelical Protestant backgrounds.

“One of the characteristics is that he listens, even when he has strong opinions. He listened to things that made him cringe,” said Phillips. “He has a real respect for the other person. I think that’s the mark of a true Christian.”

The law of God
So here is the point at which Joshua Casteel has arrived as a result of his conversions: He can no longer take a military oath or an oath of office. “If the oath itself did not explicitly contain a caveat that said, ‘unless in conflict with the teachings of Jesus,’ I would never be able to promise that I would do what was in the best interest of a constituency according to constitutional parameters or whatever was the local law of the land. I would have to be very honest in saying I won’t necessarily do what’s in your interest if I think it’s contrary to the law of God.”

Whether that constitutes a gratuitous way out of civic activity or a further taking-up of the cross is a debate that will probably be with the Christian community as long as it endures.

In one of his letters from Iraq, Casteel writes: “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. But I have given unto Caesar what is in fact God’s.”

That is, of course, always a slippery determination. In his book Values in a Time of Upheaval, then-Cardinal Ratzinger, in dealing with the question, writes: “the faith of the New Testament acknowledges not the revolutionary but the martyr who recognizes both the authority of the state and also its limits.” The Christian, then, while obeying leaders even if they be “indifferent or hostile to his faith … will not obey when he is commanded to do what is evil, that is, to oppose the will of God. The resistance fighter who dies with his weapon in his hand is not a martyr in the New Testament sense.”

It is, perhaps, relevant to note that Ratzinger as a young man joined the German Army for a period of several years before deserting, and as pope elevated to the state of blessed an Austrian farmer, Franz Jägerstätter, who emerges as a singular figure in resisting the German call to arms, an act for which he was beheaded.

In Casteel’s construction, Christians may best exist in society by “becoming actual servants to a society as opposed to the kind of lukewarm servant leadership — heavy on the leadership, low on the servanthood” that is spoken about in contemporary circles.

And what if, in some new era, his view was prevalent? Wouldn’t Christians be excluded from holding office?

“Well, the military is 30 percent Catholic. Congress is more than that, as far as what the baptismal records state. The Iraq war could not have happened were it not for Catholics. If Catholics wish to stop the spread of evil in the world, they need only refrain from doing it. Stop committing it and stop cooperating with the organizations that are doing it.”

He notes the prevalence of war despite Catholic just war teaching, as well as the prevalence of abortion despite teachings against it.
“The movement is away from Catholic teaching, so I would simply say, what is the best way for Catholics to contribute to society? And I think that there is far more freedom to do so outside of the vowed life of civil order.”

Even when he relents a bit, it is only by placing a heavy burden of Christian expectation on an officeholder. “Take any office you want,” he finally says, “just don’t compromise.”

To some, these words might sound as unrealistic as the arguments for nonviolence, but at the same time they come with a certain weight and credibility from someone who has struggled so deeply and at such length with the questions.

The religious conversion that had its beginnings in high school continued through his single year at West Point. He was, indeed, attempting to build on a family legacy in the military. His grandfather served honorably for decades; his father was a captain in the Army. But West Point conflicted with the other conversion that was beginning to bud.

He left West Point in 1998 and that same year attended the University of Iowa, where he graduated with honors in 2002, with a brief interruption to attend Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colo., for the 1999-2000 academic year.

After graduation, he spent a year studying at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Oxford University. Upon his return to the States, though he was delving deeper into questions of nonviolence and the Christian’s place in the military, he was also haunted by a sense of obligation. He had received a commission to the military academy and felt a sense of obligation to fulfill some manner of commitment. Then 9/11 occurred, and he decided to enlist.

He attended a basic interrogator course in Arizona, followed by a stint at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif.
And it was off to Iraq.

The struggle became more intense, as did the reading and the praying. He said the daily office of the Anglican church and regularly attended Catholic Mass, and sought in vain for a chaplain who might take his concerns seriously. He actually found a greater understanding among his superior officers of his point of view than among the chaplain corps.

He intended to leave his political literature and political theology behind for the duration of his stint, concentrating more on spirituality and prayer and leaving the big ethical questions for another day. Before long, however, he was ordering books from Amazon.com and spending time with the works of Stanley Hauerwas of Duke University, theologian and biblical scholar John Howard Yoder, The Cost of Discipleship and Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and The Moral Vision of the New Testament by Richard Hays, among others.

“If I was not on duty I was either reading about the nature of my moral quandary, reading exegetical commentaries of the New Testament, or brushing up on my biblical Greek (which I had studied in college) and Aramaic in order to reread key passages of controversy concerning soldiering and violence.”

He opens his conscientious objector application with the stark declaration:
“To take another’s life is the quintessential statement of divine judgment, and faithlessness toward the possibility of reconciliation and redemption. It is better for a righteous man to die at the hands of an enemy than to defend himself with lethal force, because the mere entity of life itself is not what is of greatest importance, but rather the manner of one’s living — living virtuously and loving all, especially enemies.”

The manner of his living today revolves around the campus, his writing, and his speaking engagements. In December, his play, “Returns,” was produced by the Abbey Theatre in Ireland. He has a loose association with the Jesuits and earlier gave thought to joining, but he would have to get three years past his acceptance into the church, which was Easter 2006, to be seriously considered.

In a recent e-mail from England, he wrote regarding the Jesuits that “I’m lowering my gaze for a time, focusing on ‘normal life’ things.”
In the meantime, borders continue to fail to hold him. “Churches are really interested in the fact that I’m a soldier and Christian until they hear I was a conscientious objector,” he said. “And being in the literary world and the political world, people are really interested in the fact that I’m a conscientious objector until they find that I like Jesus.

“I keep on saying, wouldn’t it be great if both worlds coincided and you could like Jesus and also not like wars? Who’da thunk?”

[Tom Roberts is NCR editor at large. His e-mail is troberts@ncronline.org.]

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My Experience of Direct Answer To My Prayer to Thomas Merton

2008-12-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

By CC-ITMS Member Martina McM Lowen in honor of Thomas Merton

My mother had given me one of the earlier published hard cloth-covered issues of “The Seven Storey Mountain” for my birthday. That was the first time I heard of Thomas Merton. Somehow she’d heard of him and knew I always loved to read about the lives of Saints and the processes of conversions. I read “Storey” a number of times as well as a number of his writings since then. He became so very real to me. What was most fascinating was how he was drawn to find the reality of the God for whom his heart searched, and even amid his disappointments, followed the lights he was given along the path where God was waiting to grasp his hand firmly to lead him to the place so open to such as he. Especially touching for me in his story was that the monks of the Abbey of Gethsemani opened their door wide to accept him, much as St. Benedict accepted, with no preconditions to determine worthiness, those who came to enter his sacred portal.

I felt very close to Thomas, and when I found out about the formation of the International Thomas Merton Society, I joined it.

When it was announced that very first meeting of the ITMS was to be held in Kentucky, I was determined to attend even though I would have to take vacation time off my job as a nurse for an Illinois agency that coordinates specialized care for disabled children. I had adequate vacation time accrued after seven years, and time off would not have interfered with my work in any way.

Shortly after my joyful decision to attend the meeting, it was announced my agency’s annual Staff Conference that everyone was mandated to attend was scheduled to begin and end in Springfield IL on the same days as the ITMS meeting. I was devastated and appealed to the manager of my office and all the way to the topmost person in the agency to explain my situation. I was refused permission at every turn to be excused from the Conference and was warned if I chose not to attend without official permission, I would be unpaid for the days and incur disciplinary action that would affect my employment record. I could not jeopardize my job due to hardship reasons.

I asked one of my fellow employees if there was any other appeal available for permission to not attend the Conference. She had worked for the agency for quite a number of years and told me no one was ever allowed to miss a Conference. Other long term co-workers told me to just give up asking for an exception.

I prayed to Thomas for some miracle such as a cancellation or change of dates of one or the other event and felt nothing short of a miracle could make that happen. Still, I never gave up praying for what seemed impossible. One day as I was standing before a file shelf looking for one of my case folders, I stopped and prayed directly and fervently to Thomas as though he was right there in front of me. I said, “Dear Thomas, you know how much I want to be there, and if you would want me there, please do something to make it possible.” As part of my prayer I told him that if it is God’s will I cannot go, then it would have to be so and would offer my pain to Jesus.

A few days after that, one of my co-workers told me to read the email announcement that the Conference dates had to be moved back to Monday and end late morning of the same day the ITMS meeting was to begin. I thought she was joking with me but found out it was true as I read the official memo. It was no joke. The Conference had to be moved back to begin late morning on the Monday of the ITMS week and to end late morning on the same day the ITMS meeting was scheduled to begin with the opening ceremony and luncheon.

I had to believe it to be a direct answer to my prayer to Thomas Merton. I was overjoyed. There would be plenty of time to drive directly from Springfield to Bellarmine for the start of the meeting.

My co-workers who knew I was praying for a miracle were very much in awe this change had taken place. We found out the days were changed because of some clash with another event that had been double-booked by mistake at the hotel where the Conference was to be.

I attended the Staff Conference and left when it closed in late morning. It was raining and kept raining as I drove. Traffic was sparse, and after awhile I approached a large open field that looked like it was covered with snow. I was puzzled, because it was in late May. When I got closer, I saw what seemed to be snow was actually hail balls the size of a quarter that covered the field. At the same time I saw the Western distant sky divided horizontally into very dark clouds on top from which extended a dark funneled shape visible against a very bright sky underneath it but not quite touching the ground. It wasn’t windy at all.

On the other side of the road was another field with a building in front of which was a sign. My brief glimpse at it saw the word Prison, so I prayed for the inmates.

After passing the fields I came upon a huge truck moving very slowly in front of me. It was only a two-lane road, and I decided to pass, but just at that moment, the truck disappeared into what I had never seen before. It was a very thick white fog that obscured the truck except for its two red rear lights, and no road was visible. I had to stay close enough to those lifesaving lights as the truck moved at a snail’s pace for quite some time until it emerged from the fog into a drizzly rain. I then found what I think was Bardstown and had to ask for directions to Bellarmine.

I made it to the banquet hall and ran, damply, into where I could see a vacant place at a table along the side of the room and near the kitchen doors. A kind tablemate asked a server to bring lunch for me. This was about in the middle of Bill Shannon’s opening address; I recall it may have been Giroux who spoke next. There were musical instruments for a small band at the far side of the stage, and I was told they’d played during lunch to honor Merton’s love of jazz.

Before writing this I tried to find the agenda I’d saved and put away. I could not find it, but even at the age of a bit beyond 80, I shall never forget that favor from Thomas Merton’s intervention. Another prayer was answered by Thomas when I almost got lost again trying to keep up with the others who were driving to the monastery church. I finally found it at the time Mass was to begin, parked and started running to the door. Standing just outside the door, probably to welcome the guests, was a tall handsome monk with two women who were chatting with him and with each other. As I was running toward the door, I could see his face looking over the ladies heads. He seemed to have been watching me. I thought it rather comical. He looked quite amused and gave me a big smile and a nod as I approached the door. Mass was ready to begin. As I entered the Church I could see nowhere to sit, but decided to take a chance to walk up the aisle as I prayed once again to Thomas. Just as I gave up hope and decided to walk back, I spotted one folding chair hidden far into the second row from the sanctuary. The chair wasn’t being held for anyone else, and I felt it to be another prayer answered by Thomas. I could see the whole beautiful Sanctuary and the priests’ entrance with an elderly monk who was the main celebrant. It was delightful.

I was alone and knew no one. At one of the break times I came across several people sitting in a circle chatting with Brother Hart just outside but close to what I think may have been the monastery. There was one empty chair, so I joined the group who welcomed me and offered only a few words during the conversations. After a few more minutes Brother Hart said he had to leave. I stayed back and asked him if I could visit the Hermitage. He hesitated at first, but I assured him I would not disturb anything. He pointed the way to get there but stayed back and gave me the privilege and trust in my word. It was a happy encounter to have met Brother Hart who had been so close to Thomas, and for me to be allowed to visit his Hermitage when it was in its original condition. I looked around, lightly touched the table, prayed and left. I met Brother Hart again and asked him to show me Thomas’ burial site. He took me there. When we were beside the grave, I commented that Thomas’ body was providing nourishment for the earth upon which growth would take place, literally and figuratively, because of him. He asked if I’d like a shamrock that was in the grass just atop the grave. He bent down to pick and give it to me. I still have and treasure it.

I have prayed to Thomas Merton frequently and had another remarkable answer from him. But it must wait for another time to tell. My reason for sharing this story is for encouragement to never give up on prayer, because they are always heard. Thomas is here with each of us in our own personal ways, and I am sure that while enjoying the delights of Heaven he is greatly concerned for us in the midst of our turmoil.

Because of this experience, I began to think that answers to prayers do not always come without some difficulties connected to them, and to put it facetiously, ‘some bumps in the road” and often hidden by fog along the way.

40 years after his death, Merton still mystifies

2008-12-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

By Michael W. Higgins

Why should the world care that 40 years ago this month an American monk perished by an act of personal misadventure in Samutprakarn, on the outskirts of Bangkok? Why should it matter that this anniversary will hold the attention of millions?

On Dec. 10, 1968 Thomas Merton, a monk-poet of international celebrity, gave what proved to be his last public address - "Marxism and Monastic Perspectives-" to an assembly of learned monastics and ardent disciples gathered to hear his tantalizing, always provocative, yet firmly orthodox ruminations.

At the end of his talk he quixotically observed: "So, I will disappear from view and we can all have a Coke or something." Following his quick lunch he took a shower and then, very likely with the soles of his feet still wet, grasped a large standing fan that proved defective and jolted him with a full 220 volts of direct current. He was discovered some time later with the fan lying on top of him by Odo Haas, the Abbot of Waekwan, who, when he lifted the fan, received a severe electrical shock and was himself fixed to the shaft only to be disengaged when the fan was unplugged by a more practically disposed Prior. (Merton would have appreciated the potentially calamitous and irreverent comparison with Mark Twain's sequentially electrocuted knights in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court).

The Prioress of Taegu convent in Seoul, Austrian internist Edeltrud Weist, pronounced Merton dead. And the world, and not just the Catholic world, reeled with its own shock.

But who was this Merton of the mysterious death, this Merton who died in the East but was a monk whose monastery was in the hills of Kentucky?

First, he was a modern Erasmus (the sixteenth-century humanist and reformer) who denounced the inadequacies of an increasingly moribund institutional monasticism; he denounced the obsessive power politics of scheming prelates and abbots; he denounced the corporate mentality of Wall Street, the hegemony of U.S. mass culture, the contempt of genuine human freedom in American society; and he denounced the false superiority of Western civilization. In short, your average '60s radical. Except he wore a religious habit and his insights were more of a piece, less slogan-driven, free of utopian ideological certitude, and seasoned with compassion.

Merton understood that the monk was to live on the margins of society, that the monk was to be a "guilty bystander," an extraterritorial figure who, in the words of George Steiner, is "unhoused.... displaced or hesitant at the frontier."

Such displacement allows for that freedom only the genuine contemplative can know: the freedom that comes from knowing the "true self" from the "false self."

A prolific writer of verse (over 10 volumes published by the premier literary publishing house in the States, New Directions); an essayist of promethean energy and fully catholic range (he wrote about civil rights, nuclear disarmament, violence and peace); a letter writer whose correspondence consists of thousands of now largely published letters; and a diarist of unnerving transparency, Merton also penned scores of books on ecumenical and interfaith issues as well as companion guides on the role of prayer.

Both in his writing and in his life - he died at 53 at the apex of his creative and spiritual maturity - Merton appealed to the ever-increasing multitude that Polish poet and Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz calls "the homeless religious minds."

Although Merton's life was fraught with contradictions, polarities and wild paradoxes - that's what makes him interesting as a monk - it is his commitment to a larger understanding of religious harmony and genuine internationalism that is his perduring legacy. As his Hindu friend, the philosopher, Amiya Chakravarty noted 10 years after Merton's death: "Merton sanctified India for me as he had sanctified American life and traditions with his courage and the nobility of a universal vision. The turmoil, the conflict of several theological dogmas, the general confusion of our times yielded to the sure faith he had in spiritual humanity."

In the post- 9/11 world, is there a more compelling reason for remembering this 40th anniversary?

Michael W. Higgins is President and Vice-Chancellor of St. Thomas University, Fredericton, and author of the award-winning Heretic Blood: The Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton.

Published Friday December 26th, 2008 - Telegraph-Journal

2008-12-26T07:49:00.001-08:00

"The great danger is that under the pressures of anxiety and fear, the alternation of crisis and relaxation and new crisis, the people of the world will come to accept gradually the idea of war, the idea of submission to total power, and the abdications of reason, spirit and individual conscience. The great peril is the deadening of conscience."
~Thomas Merton

Christmas Message: In a volatile world, we are never alone

2008-12-26T05:44:00.000-08:00

Rarely a day goes by when Thomas Merton isn't invoked in a news story or a blog posting around the country. Here is a message from The Post-Standard-Syracuse.com - Syracuse, NY.

Christmas Message: In a volatile world, we are never alone

Posted by priede December 25, 2008 05:00AM

To the Editor:

Do we really matter to God?

This is a fair question to ask, especially in times like our own. The volatility of world financial markets, our participation in two wars, environmental issues, national administration changes and the many other uncertainties of life seem especially poignant.

It may be that Christmas, and especially God's word to us in the event of the birth of Jesus, comes just at the right time with a work of hope.

The Christian celebration of Christmas, or the Feast of the Incarnation as it is known, is precisely to remind us anew of the coming of God in flesh to dwell among us. Even as the human race is always searching for the divine, Christmas tells us that God is seeking us and has found us.

Although Christian faith is not a simplistic fix for all our woes, it clearly communicates that the fragile newborn of Bethlehem is God who stoops to be among us in the same flesh as our own.

It tells us that God embraces our humanity and is with us, always. We are never alone.
As the spiritual giant Thomas Merton has said, "into this world, this demented Inn, in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ comes uninvited."

Our call now is to adore the wonder of God's love, shown to us in the infant Jesus. And as God has come to us, we then go to every corner of pain and hurt in this world, especially to the least of all, to share God's mercy and care. This is the work of Christmas.

May it begin with us.

Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams Episcopal Diocese of Central New York
Bishop Marie Jerge Upstate New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Bishop Marcus Matthews Central New York Conference of the United Methodist Church
Bishop James M. Moynihan Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse

Welcome to the Mertonfest Blog

2008-12-25T05:26:00.000-08:00

I would like to thank Peg & Steven Benson for sharing this message by E.J. Dionne, Jr., on Christmas morning as I post the first blog entry on our Mertonfest Blog for the Chicago Chapter - ITMS. I encourage you to make comments, and to send me any copy you would like to share with the Chapter.

Our own Fr. Vaughn Fayle, OFM, serves the Franciscan Outreach Association, 1645 W. LeMoyne Street, Chicago, IL 60622, Telephone (773) 278-6724, which was featured recently on Chicago's CBS station, Channel 2, in a piece highlighting the critical need for donors to support the shelter (Charities Face Difficulties As Need Increases). If you are in a position to contribute, or if you know a potential benefactor, please share the information! A very Merry Christmas to all!

It was St. Francis who taught of Christ's humanity
E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post Writers Group
Thursday, December 25, 2008

Each era depicts Jesus in its own characteristic way, and the late historian Jaroslav Pelikan wove a brilliant book around this theme. He traced images of Jesus from the earliest days of Christianity as "the rabbi" and "the king of kings" to more modern portrayals as "the teacher of common sense," "the poet of the spirit" and "the liberator."

The Jesus of Christmas, Pelikan tells us in "Jesus Through the Centuries," owes a particular debt to St. Francis of Assisi, who preached "a new and deeper awareness of the humanity of Christ, as disclosed in his nativity and in his sufferings."

It was St. Francis who, in 1223, set up the first creche in the Umbrian village of Greccio, depicting Christ's infancy in the rather less-than-regal circumstances of the manger. St. Francis founded a religious order that stressed liberation from the tyranny of material possessions and, Pelikan notes, the role of Christians as "strangers and pilgrims in this world."

The world is still blessed with many actual Franciscans. But in our time, there is another community of "strangers and pilgrims" whose satisfaction comes not from accumulating material goods or political power. They are the relief workers and community builders lending their energy to the poorest people in villages and urban slums scattered around the globe.

Many of them are motivated by their religious faith, others by a humanistic devotion to service, but few who are in the trenches worry much about what their co-workers believe about an Almighty. These souls are among the happiest and most personally satisfied people I've encountered, suggesting that St. Francis was on to something in preaching freedom from materialism.

Matt McGarry, at 30, has enormous responsibilities that he wears lightly. The coordinator of programs for Catholic Relief Services in Afghanistan, he has mastered many trades. His organization focuses on programs for agriculture, water and education in places where the farms are very small, the water is often dirty, and children, particularly girls, have never had the chance to go to school.

McGarry doesn't think of himself as a saint, or even as anything special. "I don't pretend that my life is too arduous or difficult," he says. "I get to work with incredibly intelligent, committed people. I'll definitely be up to this for a while."
Catholic Relief is, of course, a faith-based organization, but what's striking is that the faith of its employees is inherent in what they do, not something they wear on their sleeves. McGarry says his co-workers are not in the field to preach Christianity, even if the fact they are there bears witness to their faith. Indeed, in most Afghan villages, seeking converts among Muslims would be highly dangerous. The group consciously avoids preaching the Gospel, and its Afghan staff is overwhelmingly Muslim.

McGarry explains: "We're not in the business of getting people into heaven. We're in the business of getting them out of hell." That would be "hell" in the earthly sense, and it has a very specific meaning in a country that has been ravaged by war for three decades.

Those who undertake the sort of work McGarry does are inevitably seen as idealists, but their passions are invested in highly practical undertakings - how to staff a school and protect its children, how to dig wells, how to improve production on small family farms, how to form cooperatives, how to market crops.

Underlying much of his group's work, McGarry says, is a concern for improving the status of women, both by empowering them in the economy and by offering them educational opportunities they were denied in the past.
He is struck, above all, by the passion of Afghan parents for the education of their children. When a threat arose to one of CRS' schools, the villagers were indignant. "Nobody's closing our school," they told McGarry. "We don't care if they kill us. We don't care if they kill our children." The threat was dealt with, and the school reopened.

It is strange how a faith that traces its origins to a stable, preaches love and demands good works is so often invoked to condemn, to divide and to denounce. "We tend to forget that charity comes first," wrote Thomas Merton, the inspiring monk who died 40 years ago this month, "and is the only Christian 'cause' that has the right to precedence over every other."

McGarry and his co-workers understand those words, and live by them. They represent, I suspect, what St. Francis had in mind 800 years ago when he built his manger.

E-mail E.J. Dionne Jr. at postchat@aol.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/25/EDS114U723.DTL
This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle