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Tag Archives: Book of Hours

Tuesday of Holy Week

27 Tuesday Mar 2018

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blessing, Book of Hours, conscience, contradictions, Holy Week, light, Peace, sorrow, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, torment, will

alightHaving nothing of merit to say on this Tuesday of Holy Week, I search Thomas Merton for a worthy word. Although he never disappoints, I find myself looking unsuccessfully for something soothing to counteract the sorrow of what is to come as this week progresses. I settle for an admission of God’s greatness (the only safeguard for us in distress) and the necessity of surrender if we are to take up our role and responsibility in concert with God.

Almighty and merciful God, Father of all, Creator and Ruler of the Universe, Lord of History, whose designs are inscrutable, whose glory is without blemish, whose compassion for the errors of men is inexhaustible, in your will is our peace.

Resolve our inner contradictions, which now grow beyond belief and beyond bearing. They are at once a torment and a blessing: for if you had not left us the light of conscience, we would not have to endure them.

Grant us to seek peace where it is truly found! In your will, O God, is our peace! (Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours, p. 107-108)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Simple Things

16 Friday Feb 2018

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Book of Hours, expectations, hope, loss, renew, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

asunriseSitting here this morning taking inventory of my thoughts and feelings I found only loss. First, I was faced with a message from a friend about her mother’s passing. It was not an unexpected message but monumental, of course, especially for someone who has been a loving caretaker for a long time.  Then I read less serious news of dashed Olympic hopes in skiing and skating. Americans who seemed destined to win by the agreement of the entire world failed miserably and one wonders what role the expectations of everyone had in the results.

Wanting only to accept whatever this day holds, I was encouraged by Thomas Merton whose Book of Hours said it quite succinctly. It will suffice for my prayer on this first Friday of Lent.

Thank God for the hill, the sky, the morning sun, the manna on the ground which every morning renews our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, Monday…

13 Monday Nov 2017

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active work, Book of Hours, calendar, collaborative effort, contemplative, cultural, Job, Peace, renewal, schedule, society, spiritual, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, virtue, work week

8:27AM EDT: As we come round again to the beginning of the traditional work week (if such a concept even exists any more) I think of people who have already arrived at their offices or factories – or those who are just climbing into bed after finishing the night shift. I remember what it was like to wait outside every morning for my ride to school where teachers were expected by 8:00AM and how cold it was in January or how hurried I was on the rare mornings that I overslept. Now my schedule is so diverse that my most precious possession has become my calendar! Keeping track of what day it is and where I need to be at what time can become a tricky task some days! Mostly I just think of how lucky I am to have work that is usually of my own choosing which feeds my spiritual self and is also in service to others.

Here’s something from Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours that gave rise to the above considerations:

All Christian life is meant to be at the same time profoundly contemplative and rich in active work…Christian holiness can no longer be considered a matter purely of individual  and isolated acts of virtue. It must be seen as part of a great collaborative effort for spiritual and cultural renewal in society, to produce conditions in which all can work and enjoy the just fruits of their labor in peace.

May all of our work be a blessing in our own lives and for the good of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Thoughts for a New Time

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

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apolitical, Book of Hours, Cold War, human, monk, Peace, politics, rational thinking, restraint, serious discourse, The Hidden Ground of Love, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

abombprotestThis morning I read the Wednesday “Day” section of Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours (since it’s rather too late for the “Dawn” thoughts). I was struck by the relevance of what seemed so appropriate to our present situation. Merton was writing letters in the 1960s that were eventually gathered and published in a book entitled The Hidden Ground of Love. He had been ordered by his superiors to cease publishing anything on war and peace and so privately circulated a series of mimeographed “Cold War Letters,” many of which appear in the above-mentioned text. It’s clear that monks were supposed to be more concerned with peace than with the disconcerting issues that block the path to that peace. Merton was not willing to be silenced because his words would disturb the image of “the holy monk.”

It seems over the last several months that we are reverting to the ’60s, where serious discourse and demonstrations were the order of the day. What is missing, however, from such actions in many cases – not to say it always existed in Merton’s day either – is measured, rational thinking beforehand and restraint in the duration of the events. Perhaps Merton has something worthy to say to us, 49 years after his death.

“It seems to me that the basic problem is not political, it is apolitical and human. One of the most important things to do is to keep cutting deliberately through political lines and barriers and emphasizing the fact that these are largely fabrications and that there is another dimension, a genuine reality, totally opposed to the fictions of politics: the human dimension which politics pretend to arrogate entirely to themselves. This is the necessary first step along the long way toward the perhaps impossible task of purifying, humanizing and somehow illuminating politics themselves. Is this possible? At least we must try to hope in that, otherwise all is over. But politics as they now stand are hopeless.

Hence the desirability of a manifestly non-political witness, non-aligned, non-labeled, fighting for the reality of [man] and [his] rights and needs in the nuclear world in some measure against all the alignments.”

Friendship

06 Wednesday Sep 2017

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Book of Hours, child, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, disruption, faith, friend, friendships, gratitude, knowledge, light, praise, presence, school, spirit, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

aschoolbusWhen I was teaching school, this used to be an important day for me as it still is for many folks. The Wednesday after Labor Day sees our young people returning to school after their long summer vacation. It isn’t the same everywhere in our country. In some places, school has been in session for weeks but in those places dismissal for the summer also happens earlier, primarily because of the heat, I think. Right now it seems that some young people will not return to their schools at all this year; the schools are no longer habitable because of Hurricane Harvey. What will become of them, I wonder, for many reasons. Some will likely be home-schooled. Some may be shuttled to other locations. That happened in my own town after a flood in 2011. A Catholic parish school that had been closed and used for other parish functions was given back its identity for two years while a new school was built. Will the youth of Texas be so lucky as to find schooling together with their familiars?

That kind of disruption must be difficult for students. The youngest children are probably more adaptable because they are still curious and open to all kinds of difference but I think of middle and high school students whose friendships have been forged in similarity and safety. Because of my father’s work, I moved to a different state just as my seventh grade school year was about to begin. Luckily I ended up in a small school with only about 40 students in each grade, otherwise I think I might have drowned in the sea of newness and difference.

Even the best of friendships are not easy to maintain. Different career paths, marriage and our mobile society among other factors can affect relationships that may have been long-standing. Recently, however, I met a 69 year old woman from a small town who was speaking of her 67 year friendship with her first playmate. That, to me, is miraculous. I find myself a little envious of such fidelity and steadfast care, for that is what they have. More often now friendships are hard work, and more difficult as we age, perhaps.

I smile as I write that because I read a rather ironic paragraph this morning from Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours, quoted from his text, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. It couldn’t have been easy for him to be God’s friend, it seems, until he surrendered to the meaning of such a relationship. He’s speaking to God:

You ask of me nothing else than to be content that I am your Child and your Friend, simply to accept your friendship because it is your friendship. This friendship is Spirit. You have called me to be repeatedly born in the Spirit, repeatedly born in light, in knowledge, in unknowing, in faith, in awareness, in gratitude, in poverty, in presence and in praise.

This may be a day to examine my willingness to surrender to what friendship – both divine and human – calls out from me and to be grateful for those I call by that name.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday at Dawn

26 Saturday Aug 2017

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action, Book of Hours, Christopher Pramuk, Creator, God, Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom, hope, humility, joy, Kathleen Deignan, purity, reflection, silence, sweetness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, wholeness

arootAlthough Saturday can be a day to catch up on all sorts of mundane tasks and chores, occasionally I savor the opportunity for a bit of leisurely delving into reflection on something found in one of the many alluring books on my shelves. This morning I returned to Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours, noting that I had not visited with him – or mentioned him here – for quite some time. Rather than quotes from his various texts, Saturday’s entries in Kathleen Deignan’s book of Merton’s writings are all parts of his amazing prose poem, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom).

In a commentary on this text of Merton, Christopher Pramuk, a professor of theology and spirituality at Xavier University, writes the following:

For years I have been haunted by Merton’s prose poem “Hagia Sophia.” The poem seems at once to multiply and silence all questions about God. Rather than succumbing to tired theological categories and preconceptions, it breaks them wide open, making old things new, daring us to imagine and hope again.

See if you agree. (I just quote his beginning here. I believe it is enough for one day.)

There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious Unity and Integrity is Wisdom, the Mother of all, Natura naturans. There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is the fount of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility. This is at once my own being, my own nature, and the Gift of my Creator’s thought and Art within me, speaking as Hagia Sophia, speaking as my sister, Wisdom.

(I recommend reading this slowly and often, aloud if possible, to catch and feel the beauty and meaning.)

 

 

 

 

 

Slow Down; Wake Up!

06 Thursday Jul 2017

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Book of Hours, Entering the Silence, God, grace, mind, scattered, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, thoughts

atvmanMy mind feels this morning like oil on a frying pan that has heated enough to be jumping around like the Mexican jumping beans of my childhood. The thoughts are going as fast as the ticker tape headlines across the bottom of a television screen and, because of their speed, are gone before I can latch onto their meaning at all! So I open Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours for Thursday and find this description of me:

My mind is scattered among things, not because of my work, but because I am not detached and I do not attend first of all to God. On the other hand, I do not attend to Him because I am so absorbed in all these objects and events. I have to wait on His grace. But how stubborn and slow my nature is. And how I keep confusing myself and complicating things for myself by useless twisting and turning. What I need most of all is the grace to really accept God as He gives Himself to me in every situation. (Entering the Silence, p.199)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Ahead

14 Wednesday Jun 2017

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Book of Hours, dusk, Entering the Silence, eyes, grace, hearts, holy expectation, joy, light, love, Peace, reflections, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, trial, truth

ajesusduskThis morning I found a quote in Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours that I hope to remember as the day progresses. It is in his Wednesday reflections at dusk, so I thought that if I kept it in my heart and consciousness all day, maybe I could say the same as life unfolds and I arrive at evening.  It’s a new way to pay attention to the events of the day, a “holy expectation” perhaps – at least worth a try. Here is what he says:

Today, in a moment of trial, I rediscovered Jesus, or perhaps discovered him for the first time. I came closer than ever to fully realizing how true it is that our relations with Jesus are something utterly beyond the level of imagination and emotion. His eyes, which are the eyes of Truth, are fixed upon my heart. Where his glance falls, there is peace; for the light of His Face, which is the Truth, produces truth wherever it is found. There too is joy: and he says to those he loves, I will fix my eyes upon you. His eyes are always on us everywhere and in all times. No grace comes to us from heaven except He looks upon our hearts. (Entering the Silence) 

May our travels through this day be suffused with the joy of seeking Truth and recognizing it when it is found. Safe travels, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

The Whole Truth

17 Friday Feb 2017

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Book of Hours, death, divine values, falsity, God's truth, hypocrisy, integrity, let go, lies, life, love, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, Tower of Babel

ababbler

Today after reading about the tower of Babel I was reminded of the newly-coined phrase in our culture of “fake news” and turned for solace to Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours. In the Friday reflections, I found a worthy reminder for the day, actually a composite from two of Merton’s texts. I believe it is appropriate and is “enough said.”

No matter what happens, I feel myself more and more closely united with those who, everywhere, devote themselves to the glory of God’s truth, to the search for divine values hidden among the poor and outcast, to the love of that cultural heritage without which [man] cannot be healthy. The air of the world is foul with lies, hypocrisy, falsity, and life is short, death approaches. We must devote ourselves with generosity and integrity to the real values: there is no time for falsity and compromise. But on the other hand we do not have to be greatly successful or even well known. It is enough for our integrity to be known to God. What we do that is pure in His sight will avail for the liberty, the enlightenment, and the salvation of His children everywhere. (The Courage for Truth 188)

Let go of all that seems to suggest getting somewhere, being someone, having a name or a voice, following a policy and directing people in “my ways.” What matters is to love. (Learning to Love, 15)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be the Truth

18 Friday Mar 2016

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believe in the works, blasphemy, Book of Hours, enlightenment, generosity, glory of God's truth, integrity, Jesus, John, liberty, real values, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, united

abreadIn this morning’s gospel, when Jesus is in danger of being stoned for blasphemy (JN 10:31-42), he tells his accusers that they need not believe him but rather believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. I heard echoes of the same theme in a Friday reading from Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours this morning which speaks of integrity and truth-telling as efficacious for the healing of the world. These two “words of God” taken together will suffice for this Lenten day’s reflection. Here is what Merton says to us:

No matter what happens, I feel myself more and more closely united with those who, everywhere, devote themselves to the glory of God’s truth, to the search for divine values hidden among the poor and the outcast, to the love of that cultural heritage without which man cannot be healthy. The air of the world is foul with lies, hypocrisy, falsity, and life is short, death approaches. We must devote ourselves with generosity and integrity to the real values: there is no time for falsity and compromise. But on the other hand we do not have to be greatly successful or even well-known. It is enough for our integrity to be known to God. What we do that is pure in His sight will avail for the liberty, the enlightenment, and the salvation of His children everywhere. (The Courage for Truth, p.188)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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