Introduction
A century ago, at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a “pointless slaughter,” another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people… Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.
The address above was delivered by Pope Francis to the US congress on 24th of September in 2015. Thus, Thomas Merton is regarded as an influential figure on our spirituality. On the other hand, he is also controversial. He has been criticized for his uncommon …show more content…
You start where you are and you deepen what you already have and you realize that you are already there. We already have everything, but we don’t know it and we don’t experience it. Everything has been given to us in Christ. All we need is to experience what we already possess.
Merton also illustrates that “Contemplation is really simple openness to God at every moment, and deep peace…. This is so simple that there is no need to make a commotion about it.”
As a conlusion
In conclusion, spirituality of Thomas Merton belongs to apophatic tradition. The words “Desert”, “solitude”, “silent”, “darkness” manifest this. However, the consequent of this contemplation is paradoxical. Besides, this apophatic method enables individual to attain to ineffable God. Thus, he respected the apophatic tradition, whereas he never undervalued a kataphatic tradition.
By the way, Pope Francis also said in the address to US congress that “the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton”. These apophatic keywords are also keywords of the contemporary world. A plethora of people are in darkness or desert, being tormented by loneliness and emptiness. I believe that the spirituality of Thomas Merton still can contribute to these modern issues with consolidating each other in the depth of
A century ago, at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a “pointless slaughter,” another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people… Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.
The address above was delivered by Pope Francis to the US congress on 24th of September in 2015. Thus, Thomas Merton is regarded as an influential figure on our spirituality. On the other hand, he is also controversial. He has been criticized for his uncommon …show more content…
You start where you are and you deepen what you already have and you realize that you are already there. We already have everything, but we don’t know it and we don’t experience it. Everything has been given to us in Christ. All we need is to experience what we already possess.
Merton also illustrates that “Contemplation is really simple openness to God at every moment, and deep peace…. This is so simple that there is no need to make a commotion about it.”
As a conlusion
In conclusion, spirituality of Thomas Merton belongs to apophatic tradition. The words “Desert”, “solitude”, “silent”, “darkness” manifest this. However, the consequent of this contemplation is paradoxical. Besides, this apophatic method enables individual to attain to ineffable God. Thus, he respected the apophatic tradition, whereas he never undervalued a kataphatic tradition.
By the way, Pope Francis also said in the address to US congress that “the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton”. These apophatic keywords are also keywords of the contemporary world. A plethora of people are in darkness or desert, being tormented by loneliness and emptiness. I believe that the spirituality of Thomas Merton still can contribute to these modern issues with consolidating each other in the depth of