Schedule

8:15 - 8:40 AM
Coffee
Moran Lounge (fourth floor lobby), Smith Hall

8:45 AM
The Merton Story: An Ongoing Conversation
Christine Bochen
Rehm Library, Smith Hall

Thomas Merton-monk and writer-continues to speak to us with the clarity of a mystic and the honesty of a prophet through his life and writings. This introductory talk will offer an opportunity to reflect on how Merton engages contemporary readers with an example of his life and a contemplative and compassionate spirituality-inviting us to enter, with him, into a conversation that truly matters.

9:35 AM
Thomas Merton And The Transcultural Consciousness
Patrick O'Connell
Rehm Library, Smith Hall

This presentation will consider Merton's contributions to the development of a global consciousness that prizes unity-in-difference in order to avoid both a totalitarian uniformity and a destructive fragmentation. It will reflect on Merton's advocacy of solitude, solidarity and social transformation as essential constituents of genuine intercultural and interreligious cooperation, and it will analyze the process of developing what Merton calls a "transcultural consciousness" that both recognizes and respects cultural differences and affirms and celebrates human dignity and the hopes common to all people.

10:30 AM
Coffee Break
Moran Lounge

10:45 AM
The Contemplative As Teacher And Learner: Insights From Thomas Merton
Thomas Del Prete
Rehm Library

Merton lived with contemplative awareness of the indwelling presence of God in persons and community. This talk will focus on Merton as someone whose teaching and learning were oriented by the idea one can develop contemplative awareness and knowing, and in the process discover one's whole, undivided self. Examples from Merton's teaching, letters, and journals will help illustrate the deeper levels of learning that he maintained are the real purpose of education.

12:00 PM
Lunch
Hogan Campus Center, Suite C, for pre-registrants and invited guests. Lunch is also available for purchase in Crossroads, on the ground floor of Hogan Campus Center.

1:30 PM
The Root of War is Fear: Reflections from Thomas Merton
John Collins
Rehm Library, Smith Hall

In his memorable book titled New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton writes about the hatred of others as well as hatred of ourselves as the genesis of fear leading to war. This presentation focuses primarily on the so called Cold War Letters of the 1960s in which Merton shared his concerns about the grave dangers of escalating war and the possible use of nuclear weapons. From the "Political Dance of Death" Merton guides us to an increasing awareness of God's presence and love and an invitation to join Him in the "General Dance."

2:30 PM
"Entering The School Of Your Life: Journal Writing And The Examination Of Conscience"
Jonathan Montlado
Rehm Library

In unpublished notes on "three methods of mental prayer" for a conference with his monastic novices, Merton explains one method of meditation as "entering the school of your life." The presence of God is found in all things and elicits a dynamic response of dialogue and participation only if attention is paid. While writing journals was a means to many ends for Merton, his presentation explores links between his journal writing and St. Ignatius of Loyola's spiritual practice of "examining one's conscience." The emphasis in both spiritual exercises, in my interpretation here, is less on "finding one's faults" and more on "cataloguing one's continual blessings" and then confessing, by renewed and deeper contact with one's life's particulars, "il piacere di vivere" as Italians say: "the sheer joy of being alive"-to which both Ignatius and Merton would add "in Christ."

3:30 PM
Break
Moran Lounge, Smith Hall

4:00 PM
Panel: Merton in the Future
Rehm Library

Presenters will briefly discuss their views about Thomas Merton and his influence in the coming years. What areas of research about Merton are fertile ground for scholars? What resources are available at Thomas Merton Foundation, The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University and at other universities such as Columbia University and Saint Bonaventure University?

5:15 PM
Reception

6:00 PM
Dinner
Hogan Campus Center, Suites B and C, for pre-registrants and invited guests. Dinner is also available for purchase in Crossroads, on the ground floor of Hogan Campus Center

7:30 PM
Thomas Merton: A Parable For Our Time
Rev. William Reiser, S.J.
Rehm Library

Merton's religious life is a paradox- the more deeply monastic he becomes, the more his attention is directed toward the world. The "experiments with truth" that are part and parcel of monastic life have as their counterpart Merton's engagement with the issues of his time. In the process, he was able to capture the genius of Christian religious life in a way that still speaks to us. This presentation examines Merton as a living parable of engagement and withdrawal, of finding God in the disruptions and discontinuities of one's life and times.