Saturday marks the birth centennial of Thomas Merton, the bon vivant who became a Roman Catholic monk and herald of spirituality. Catholics around the world remember Merton not only for his conversion, but also for his joyful exposition of faith.
Merton, who died in 1968, was a Trappist monk whose writings on spirituality and social justice captured the imagination of a generation, Harold Fickett of Aleteia.com recalled in a remembrance. But this holy man didn't begin life in quiet contemplation, Fickett explained, noting that Merton "had an enormous appetite for life and its pleasures, both licit and illicit."
But, when Merton "stumbles upon the truth of Christianity, he has the sense to recognize Gods invitation in Christ as the answer to the hell into which his wild and self-destructive pursuit of pleasure has led." In turn, Merton attacks the search for God with similar zeal, entering a Kentucky monastery at age 26, just three years after being baptized as a Catholic.
According to Catholic News Service, monastic life suited Merton. "He found the structured and prayer-filled life of a monk appealing. The monastery was a place where he could think about life and contemplate the presence of God," the agency reported.
Merton's most famous book, an autobiography called "The Seven-Story Mountain," remains a bestselling book and, Catholic News Service reported, "raised his profile among people searching in their lives." The Thomas Merton Center said the book has sold over one million copies and has appeared in 15 languages. Merton also "wrote over 60 other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence and the nuclear arms race," the center reported.
His appeal extended beyond Catholicism. The Dalai Lama, the Merton Center said, considered Merton to be the one Christian who best understood Buddhism. And Christians in a range of denominations study his teachings.
"In the search for God, he doesn't force you," Church of Sweden pastor Rev. Lars Adolffson told Catholic News Service. "He doesn't make any hard strains toward people. He notes how God will act in your life in a positive way."
However, Danny Sullivan of Britain's Catholic Herald pointed out, Merton would eschew objectification. "No one would have found this funnier than Merton himself, for the Trappist monk was a seeker of sanctity, but not of sainthood," he wrote.
But despite self-abasement, Merton remains a powerful influence on people of faith. Father Daniel Horan, who published a new biography of Merton, told Zenit News Service that the monk who died 46 years ago still has a contemporary message.
"Many of the themes that Merton addressed in his writing continue, unfortunately, to be relevant today: war, violence, injustice and religious intolerance, among others," he said. Merton's "insight, always deeply rooted in the Christian vocation to follow the Gospel, has great potential to speak to the experiences of women and men living in 2015."
Merton, who died in 1968, was a Trappist monk whose writings on spirituality and social justice captured the imagination of a generation, Harold Fickett of Aleteia.com recalled in a remembrance. But this holy man didn't begin life in quiet contemplation, Fickett explained, noting that Merton "had an enormous appetite for life and its pleasures, both licit and illicit."
But, when Merton "stumbles upon the truth of Christianity, he has the sense to recognize Gods invitation in Christ as the answer to the hell into which his wild and self-destructive pursuit of pleasure has led." In turn, Merton attacks the search for God with similar zeal, entering a Kentucky monastery at age 26, just three years after being baptized as a Catholic.
According to Catholic News Service, monastic life suited Merton. "He found the structured and prayer-filled life of a monk appealing. The monastery was a place where he could think about life and contemplate the presence of God," the agency reported.
Merton's most famous book, an autobiography called "The Seven-Story Mountain," remains a bestselling book and, Catholic News Service reported, "raised his profile among people searching in their lives." The Thomas Merton Center said the book has sold over one million copies and has appeared in 15 languages. Merton also "wrote over 60 other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence and the nuclear arms race," the center reported.
His appeal extended beyond Catholicism. The Dalai Lama, the Merton Center said, considered Merton to be the one Christian who best understood Buddhism. And Christians in a range of denominations study his teachings.
"In the search for God, he doesn't force you," Church of Sweden pastor Rev. Lars Adolffson told Catholic News Service. "He doesn't make any hard strains toward people. He notes how God will act in your life in a positive way."
However, Danny Sullivan of Britain's Catholic Herald pointed out, Merton would eschew objectification. "No one would have found this funnier than Merton himself, for the Trappist monk was a seeker of sanctity, but not of sainthood," he wrote.
But despite self-abasement, Merton remains a powerful influence on people of faith. Father Daniel Horan, who published a new biography of Merton, told Zenit News Service that the monk who died 46 years ago still has a contemporary message.
"Many of the themes that Merton addressed in his writing continue, unfortunately, to be relevant today: war, violence, injustice and religious intolerance, among others," he said. Merton's "insight, always deeply rooted in the Christian vocation to follow the Gospel, has great potential to speak to the experiences of women and men living in 2015."