Nukes, contemplation and vocation: An introduction to Thomas Merton for young Catholics

During his historic address to a joint session of Congress in 2015,
Pope Francis raised up four virtuous Americans as models of
citizenship: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day
and Thomas Merton. That last name was certainly familiar to
Catholics who came of age after Vatican II, but do young Catholics
know much about this mid-century Trappist monk and author? Thomas
Merton is best known for his spiritual autobiography, The Seven
Storey Mountain. But he was also a prolific letter writer and,
though living in a monastery, engaged with the most pressing social
and political issues of the 1950s and ’60s: the civil rights
movement, nuclear proliferation and the Vietnam War. In his new
book, Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton's Catholic Vision, Greg Hillis
introduces Merton to the next generation of Catholics. We ask Greg
why some question Merton’s Catholicity, what we should make of the
monk’s brief affair with a nurse and why his writing is still
relevant today. In Signs of the Times, we discuss Pope Francis’
major overhaul of the Roman Curia and what it means for the mission
of the church.  Links from the show: Join Jesuitical in Italy!
Pope Francis is drawing on Vatican II to radically change how the
Catholic Church is governed Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton's
Catholic Vision Wondrium special offer What’s on tap? Something.
Anything!—feel free to pour yourself a glass if you’re listening on
Friday since it’s the Feast of the Annunciation. Fasting dispensed!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices