To Dare to Imagine Again: Pope Francis and Thomas Merton
Author’s Note: Today is the 52nd anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton, or better, his Second Birth, into new life with …
The Road Ahead: Merton, U2, and the Language of Desire
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot …
Living Courageously in Apocalyptic Times: Advent 1968/2018
Fifty years ago, on December 10, 1968, Catholic monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton died in Asia, the victim of an accidental …
Christianity and Totalitarianism: A Marginal Monk Goes Mainstream
Last week an extraordinary thing happened. An excerpt from a 1960 essay by Thomas Merton, a marginal monk from an obscure Trappist …
Poetry and Grace Down Under
My wife Lauri and I just returned from two weeks in Australia. I was invited by Marist Brother Mark O’Connor to give …
Darkness, Fire and Light: The Wonders of Easter Remembrance
One of my earliest memories as a child involves standing outside the church entrance in the darkness of night during the Easter …
The Meaning of Sanity in an Insane World
In 1961, Adolf Eichmann, a lieutenant colonel in the Nazi party and one of the premier architects of Hitler’s Final Solution, was …
E Pluribus Unum: Your Life Matters
“45 murders already, 204 people have been shot in January of 2017. Something has to be done. I know we are living …
“I Shall Not Be Moved”: This is the Sound of Political Theology
Readers of Hope Sings, So Beautiful may recall the story I tell in Chapter 1 about my introduction to the Negro spirituals. …
Sanctuary: Or How I Shook My Post-Election Blues in New York City
“Sanctuary”: Middle English, derived from Old French sanctuaire, from Latin sanctuarium, from sanctus, or “holy.” a. the inmost recess or holiest part …
