Program for Ninth Annual Symposium on Benedictine Spirituality
Thomas Merton's Monastic Wisdom for These Times
Thomas Merton’s Monastic Wisdom for These Times
Friends of St. Benedict 9th Annual Symposium: February 20, 2021; 10:00 a.m. (EST)
WATCH ON YOUTUBE
(Note: Talk lengths are approximate. Talks and Q & A will begin promptly.)
10:00 a.m. Introduction
10:10 - ca 10:40 Talk #1:
What Merton meant by “monk”
Ora et Labora: balancing prayer and work
10:40 - 11:00 Contemplative Time/Comfort Break
~ How enmeshed am I in “the way things are”?
~In what ways am I a “marginal person”? Or not?
~What percentage of my day is taken up with work?
Rest/Leisure? Prayer/Spiritual Reading? Sleep?
Be honest.
~How do I “channel God” to others? (Yes. You do.)
11:00 - 11:30 Talk #2:
Ora et Labora (continued)
Cultivating Silence and Solitude: Means Not Ends
Silence isn’t always external
Solitude isn’t always geographic
11:30 - 11:50 Contemplative Time/Comfort Break
~What have I “taken on” that I don’t really have to do? Why?
~What do I do that is genuinely restful/restorative?
~What is my relationship with silence? Listening?
~What has “Covid time” taught me about solitude?
11:50 - 12:20 p.m. Q & A
12:20 p.m. Closing remarks
Bonnie Thurston's Recommended Reading for the 9th Annual Symposium (click on the title for more info and to purchase):
Thomas Merton, Basic Principles of Monastic Spirituality (Templegate Pub; Revised edition, 1997)
The Climate of Monastic Prayer (Liturgical Press, 2018)
Contemplation in a World of Action (Doubleday, 1971)
Thoughts in Solitude (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999)
Wisdom of the Desert (New Directions, 1960)
Michael Casey, OCSO, Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of Saint
Benedict (Paraclete Press, 2013/2018)
Patrick Hart, OCSO, A Monastic Vision for the 21st Century (Cistercian Publications, 2006)
Bonnie Thurston, Shaped by the End You Live For: Thomas Merton’s Monastic Spirituality (Liturgical
Press, 2020)
Esther de Waal, Seeking God the Way of St. Benedict (Liturgical Press, 1984)
Writings - Bonnie Thurston
Shaped by the End You Live For: Thomas Merton's Monastic Spirituality (Liturgical Press, 2020)
Hidden In God: Discovering the Desert Vision of Charles de Foucauld (Ave Maria Press, 2016)
Women in the New Testament (Wipf and Stock, 2004)
The Spiritual Landscape of Mark (Liturgical Press; Illustrated edition, 2008)
To Everything A Season: A Spirituality of Time (Wipf and Stock, 2004 - paperback)
Maverick Mark: The Untamed First Gospel (Liturgical Press, 2013)
Belonging to Borders: A Sojourn in the Celtic Tradition (Liturgical Press, 2011)
Sacra Pagina: Philippians and Philemon (Liturgical Press, 2009)
Practicing Silence: New and Selected Verses (Paraclete Press, 2014)
Religious Vows, The Sermon On the Mount and Christian Living (Liturgical Press, 2006)
Preaching Mark (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2001)
For God Alone: A Primer on Prayer (University of Notre Dame Press, 2009): A Biblical Reflection on Expr
O Taste and See: A Biblical Reflection on Experiencing God (Paraclete Press, 2013)
Reading Colossians, Ephesians, and 2 Thessalonians: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Reading the New Testament) (Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 1995)
The Widows: A Women's Ministry in the Early Church (Fortress Press; 1st edition, 1999)
A Place to Pay Attention (Cinnamon Press, 2014)
All the Fullness of God: The Christ of Colossians (Cascade Books, 2017)Three Peaks Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2001)
The Heart's Lands (Three Peaks Press; 1st edition, 2001)
The Spiritual Life of the Early Church (Fortress Press, 1993)
Wait Here and Watch: A Commentary on the Passion of St. Matthew (Wipf and Stock, 2004)
Hidden in the Same Mystery: Thomas Merton and Loretto ( Fons Vitae, 2010)Fairacres Publications SLG Press: January 2016
Monastic Life: A Sign of Contradiction to the Fashionable Idols (Fairacres Publications SLG Press, 2016)
Pondering, Praying, Preaching Romans 8 (SLG Press, 2019)
Lazarus, Come Out! (Fairacres Publishing 2017)
Fruit of the Spirit: Growth of the Heart (Liturgical Press, 2000)
Friends of St. Benedict 9th Annual Symposium: February 20, 2021; 10:00 a.m. (EST)
WATCH ON YOUTUBE
(Note: Talk lengths are approximate. Talks and Q & A will begin promptly.)
10:00 a.m. Introduction
10:10 - ca 10:40 Talk #1:
What Merton meant by “monk”
Ora et Labora: balancing prayer and work
10:40 - 11:00 Contemplative Time/Comfort Break
~ How enmeshed am I in “the way things are”?
~In what ways am I a “marginal person”? Or not?
~What percentage of my day is taken up with work?
Rest/Leisure? Prayer/Spiritual Reading? Sleep?
Be honest.
~How do I “channel God” to others? (Yes. You do.)
11:00 - 11:30 Talk #2:
Ora et Labora (continued)
Cultivating Silence and Solitude: Means Not Ends
Silence isn’t always external
Solitude isn’t always geographic
11:30 - 11:50 Contemplative Time/Comfort Break
~What have I “taken on” that I don’t really have to do? Why?
~What do I do that is genuinely restful/restorative?
~What is my relationship with silence? Listening?
~What has “Covid time” taught me about solitude?
11:50 - 12:20 p.m. Q & A
12:20 p.m. Closing remarks
Bonnie Thurston's Recommended Reading for the 9th Annual Symposium (click on the title for more info and to purchase):
Thomas Merton, Basic Principles of Monastic Spirituality (Templegate Pub; Revised edition, 1997)
The Climate of Monastic Prayer (Liturgical Press, 2018)
Contemplation in a World of Action (Doubleday, 1971)
Thoughts in Solitude (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999)
Wisdom of the Desert (New Directions, 1960)
Michael Casey, OCSO, Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of Saint
Benedict (Paraclete Press, 2013/2018)
Patrick Hart, OCSO, A Monastic Vision for the 21st Century (Cistercian Publications, 2006)
Bonnie Thurston, Shaped by the End You Live For: Thomas Merton’s Monastic Spirituality (Liturgical
Press, 2020)
Esther de Waal, Seeking God the Way of St. Benedict (Liturgical Press, 1984)
Writings - Bonnie Thurston
Shaped by the End You Live For: Thomas Merton's Monastic Spirituality (Liturgical Press, 2020)
Hidden In God: Discovering the Desert Vision of Charles de Foucauld (Ave Maria Press, 2016)
Women in the New Testament (Wipf and Stock, 2004)
The Spiritual Landscape of Mark (Liturgical Press; Illustrated edition, 2008)
To Everything A Season: A Spirituality of Time (Wipf and Stock, 2004 - paperback)
Maverick Mark: The Untamed First Gospel (Liturgical Press, 2013)
Belonging to Borders: A Sojourn in the Celtic Tradition (Liturgical Press, 2011)
Sacra Pagina: Philippians and Philemon (Liturgical Press, 2009)
Practicing Silence: New and Selected Verses (Paraclete Press, 2014)
Religious Vows, The Sermon On the Mount and Christian Living (Liturgical Press, 2006)
Preaching Mark (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2001)
For God Alone: A Primer on Prayer (University of Notre Dame Press, 2009): A Biblical Reflection on Expr
O Taste and See: A Biblical Reflection on Experiencing God (Paraclete Press, 2013)
Reading Colossians, Ephesians, and 2 Thessalonians: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Reading the New Testament) (Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 1995)
The Widows: A Women's Ministry in the Early Church (Fortress Press; 1st edition, 1999)
A Place to Pay Attention (Cinnamon Press, 2014)
All the Fullness of God: The Christ of Colossians (Cascade Books, 2017)Three Peaks Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2001)
The Heart's Lands (Three Peaks Press; 1st edition, 2001)
The Spiritual Life of the Early Church (Fortress Press, 1993)
Wait Here and Watch: A Commentary on the Passion of St. Matthew (Wipf and Stock, 2004)
Hidden in the Same Mystery: Thomas Merton and Loretto ( Fons Vitae, 2010)Fairacres Publications SLG Press: January 2016
Monastic Life: A Sign of Contradiction to the Fashionable Idols (Fairacres Publications SLG Press, 2016)
Pondering, Praying, Preaching Romans 8 (SLG Press, 2019)
Lazarus, Come Out! (Fairacres Publishing 2017)
Fruit of the Spirit: Growth of the Heart (Liturgical Press, 2000)