Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World

Thomas Merton Archives

Thomas Merton’s love life subject of new biography

posted by jmcgee

Devoted Mertonites (including Your Humble Blogger) will not be surprised at this bit of news, but it’s evidently raising a few eyebrows: Rarely has a romance seemed so star-crossed. He was 51, she 25. She was a pretty, petite student-nurse; [...]

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Merton: “The beginning of love…”

posted by jmcgee

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. “ – Thomas Merton, who [...]

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Happy 50th, dear Genesee, happy 50th to you…

posted by jmcgee

Here’s something to be thankful for tomorrow: the Trappists at Genesee, celebrating their 50th year in upstate New York. (Those of us who loved Henri Nouwen’s “Genesee Diary” will find this brief video especially captivating.) Enjoy.

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Why Thomas Merton mattered

posted by deacon greg kandra

Wander over to the always-thoughtful Intentional Disciples blog for a fascinating dissection of why Merton’s “The Seven Storey Mountain” struck such a chord in the post-World War II era. His life’s journey had something powerful and provocative to say to [...]

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This blog is no longer active
This blog is no longer being actively updated. Please feel free to browse the archives or: Read our most popular inspiration blog See our most popular inspirational video Take our most popular quiz

posted 10:42:40pm Dec. 12, 2010 | read full post »

One day more
A reminder: "The Deacon's Bench" is closed! Please enjoy the archives!

posted 11:26:20pm Dec. 11, 2010 | read full post »

Meet Montana's married priest
Earlier this week, I posted an item about Montana getting its first married priest. Now a local TV station has hopped on the bandwagon. Take a look, below.

posted 10:29:55pm Dec. 11, 2010 | read full post »

Big day in the Big Easy: 10 new deacons
Deacon Mike Talbot has the scoop: 10 men today were ordained as Permanent Deacons for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. This group of men was formally selected on the day the evacuation of New Orleans began as Hurricane Katrina approached. The immediate aftermath of the storm for this class would be

posted 6:55:42pm Dec. 11, 2010 | read full post »

Gaudete! And let's break out a carol or two...
"Gesu Bambino," anyone? This is one of my favorites, and nobody does it better than these gals: Kathleen Battle and Frederica von Staade. Enjoy.

posted 1:04:10pm Dec. 11, 2010 | read full post »

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