Thomas Merton had, in his life, important experiences with women. His life and writings are impregnated by those feminine presences and influences who provoked strong reactions and emotions in his heart and mind. We will examine some aspects of his experience with the feminine, including his mother's premature death, the multiple girlfriends of his youth (whose names he would not even remember), as well as some friendships which were important in his Christian journey, such as Naomi Burton, Dorothy Day, and Catherine de Hueck. Merton's life as a monk was also configured by important feminine spiritual figures, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, Julian of Norwich, and others. We will also examine carefully the epiphany that represented Merton's love for the young nurse M., and conclude with a theological reflection about how Merton's experiences with the feminine influenced his writings and provide new insights into mystical experience and service to the Church.
Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer holds a degree in Social Communication from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (1975), a Master's degree in Theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (1985) and a PhD in Systematic Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University (1989). She is currently a full professor in the Department of Theology at PUCRio. For ten years she ran the Loyola Faith and Culture Center at the same University. For four years, she was an evaluator of graduate programs at the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). For six years, she was dean of the Center for Theology and Human Sciences at PUC-Rio. She has experience in the area of Theology, with an emphasis on Systematic Theology, focusing mainly on the following themes: God, otherness, woman, violence and spirituality. In the last few years, she has been researching and publishing on the thought of the French philosopher Simone Weil. Nowadays, her studies and research are primarily directed towards the thinking and writing of contemporary mystics and the interface between Theology and Literature.
Daniel P. Horan, OFM - True and False Love: Thomas Merton’s Spirituality of the Restless
Malgorzata Poks - The Geography of Lograire as Thomas Merton’s Ultimate Autobiography
Gordon Oyer - Re-Visioning a Fragmented World: Learnings through Merton’s Letters on Social Change
Deborah Kehoe: Thomas Merton and Southern Writing
BONUS episode: Sr. Elena Malits, CSC, an interview by Jonathan Montaldo
Gregory K. Hillis: What Does Thomas Merton Have to Tell Us About Catholic Identity?
2022-02-08 - Steven P. Millies: Our Crisis of Authority and Thomas Merton
Doug Hertler - Merton, You and Me: The Reality of Life in the Paschal Mystery
Paul Pearson - ”I love beer, and, by that very fact, the world.” The Humor (and Humanity) of Thomas Merton
Kathleen Tarr - From the Inner Frontier to the Last Frontier: Thomas Merton‘s Alaska Journey
BONUS episode: Scott Russell Sanders - Reading Merton in the Rain
BONUS episode: Andrew Prevot—”Contemplation in Times of Crisis”
Sophfronia Scott -The Radio of Nature: Merton‘s Tuning Into God Outdoors
Judith Valente - Why We Still Read and Need Thomas Merton: A Personal Journey
BONUS epidode: David Golemboski—"Absurdity and Imagination in a Time of Upheaval"
Lynn R. Szabo - Poetry as Spiritual Direction with Thomas Merton and Denise Levertov
Jim Forest - An Army that Sheds No Blood: Thomas Merton’s Response to War
Michael W. Higgins - Merton and David Jones: Visionaries Both
Kathleen Deignan - Overshadowed: Thomas Merton and the Cloud of Unknowing
BONUS episode: Robert Ellsberg — "The Gate of Heaven Is Everywhere"
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