Thomas Merton on Spiritual Union

Prayer of Thomas Merton 

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,

and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that my desire to please you does in fact please you. 

And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always,though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you will never leave me to face my perils alone. 
Amen.

Thomas Merton on Mercy

Thomas Merton on Progressed Catholics

To flesh out this aphorism, Cardinal-Priest  Alfredo Ottaviani  (1890-1979) was a Secretary of the Holy Office from 1959-1966 and prefect for the reorganized the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith..  During Vatican II, Ottaniani was a conservative voice against the Separation of Church and State and religious tolerance.

The other source Merton cites is about Pierre Tielhard de Chardin,(1881-1955) a Jesuit who was a French philosopher. Tielhard de Chardin's views on convergent evolution in The Phenomenon of Man  (1955) were censored by the Catholic church for the views on original sin. 

Merton's musing about progressed Catholics seems surprising today, as Merton is prized among the progressive faithful for his concerns for pacifism, social justice and outreach to other faiths.  Yet Merton found progressed Catholics to be mean, inarticulate and secular.

Thomas Merton on Peace

Thomas Merton on Peace

Thomas Merton on Solitude

Thomas Merton on Advent