HISTORY OF SPIRITUALITY

CONTEMPORARY

(FROM 19TH CENTURY TO PRESENT DAY)

HERE WE STUDY A FEW PROMINENT FIGURES AND THEIR SPIRITUALITY

KARL RAHNER (1904 – 1984)

TEILHARD DE CHARDIN (1881 – 1955)

HENRI NOUWEN (1932 – 1996)

THOMAS MERTON

THOMAS MERTON

Born in France Autobiography: Seven Storey Mountain He met a Hindu Brahmachari during the

World Congress of Religions. He suggested to him to read ‘The Imitation of Christ’ and ‘The Confessions’ of Augustine.

By profession he was a journalist. Later he joined the Cistercian order.

Spirituality of Thomas Merton

Solitude is a necessity to grow in compassion. According to him, solitude is a necessity – a way to compassion.

He also invites us to rejoice in our imperfections.

“My task is to be what I am” - Merton

Self-acceptance is a necessary thing for self-integration. It is a way to the real self.

For him, the moment of self-acceptance was the moment of healing.

In his book ‘The New Man’ he discusses about the false self and actual self.

“Letting go off false self is important to be in search of the new self.” – Merton

False self = Non-acceptance of one’s self

True self = Realization of Christ within oneself.

“The Christ we seek is within us, in our innermost core.” – Merton

“The ability to accept oneself leads one to accept others.” – Merton.

-According to him, the task of a Christian is to accept ourselves as we are in the moments of difficulties, disloyalties etc.

HIS IDEA OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

He was it as the growth in interior freedom. According to Merton, it is the way to union with God.

According to him, Spiritual Direction (S.D) is a continuous process of formation and guidance. It is not something merely psychological.

THE PURPOSE OF S.D. IS..……….

to penetrate beneath the surface of our lives and to evoke our inner freedom and truth.

to discern the movements of the Spirits and to sort out which comes from the Holy Spirit and which comes from evil spirit

Peace is the touchstone of spirituality

He worked for the peace movements. He vehemently wrote against the second World War.

He was very compassionate and peaceful at his core.

According to him, the root of war is FEAR. -His life was a life of non-violent

resistance. He was also influenced by Gandhian ideas.

Contemplation is seeking God’s Will and finding God’s mercy. It is something very basic to Merton.

-God’s will is connected with something of our own identity. So our vocation is to realize our true self.

-In his ‘Contemplative Prayer’, he uses desert as the image for contemplation.

-Merton gives importance to the prayer of Heart. It helps one to be rooted in the grounded of our being. Prayer of Heart is the yearning for the simple presence of God.

 Our union with God depends on twofold movements i.e. We enter into ourselves & We transcend ourselves. That is, we shift from living out of our isolated ego to the living out of our liberated true self which is dependent on others and God in the Spirit.

Here Merton, as a spiritual guide, leads us beyond the intellectual and psychological analysis of our problems to the integrating acceptance of mystery at the heart of our lives. So prayer operates at a deeper level – deeper than our consciousness and psyche.

Contemplation is the mutual inter-dependence between nature, other people and God.

TO SUM UP….

Thomas Merton speaks to us of personal integrity to search for God. His life portrays the necessity of solitude in nurturing the interiority and enabling us to live at the core of our being.

HENRI NOUWEN (1932 – 1996)

Born in Holland. From 1957 to 1964, he was in Nijmegen and

was educated in Menninger Clinical-Pastoral education centre. Later he taught at Yale university and Harvard Divinity School

Towards the end of his life, he was in L’Arche Day Break Community, a community of the physically and mentally challenged people.

He is called as the ‘prophet of conversion’

Five points, spread in his books: Openness to conversion Solitude as the place of conversion Ministry as fostering conversion A sense of identity A sense of mission as fruit of conversion.

OPENNESS TO CONVERSION

In his famous classic ‘Wounded healer’ he says that it is our unhealed woundedness that poses a danger to real conversion. At the same time, our own woundedness can be a source of healing to others, if we accept these very painful wounds in our lives, without denying or neglecting it.

We need to create a space within ourselves where we can welcome others as guests in the home of our hearts. This hospitality implies self-emptying i.e. our presence is no more threatening, but inviting.

When I am open to others, I am open to myself.

SOLITUDE AS THE PLACE OF CONVERSION

Nouwen refers to Thomas Merton who found solitude as the source not only for self-knowledge but also for experiencing empathy in their brokenness.

In ‘The Way of the Heart’, he speaks of compulsive ministers. They cannot but serve. They are afraid of solitude. They constantly look for affirmation outside of themselves.

He speaks of 4th century desert fathers. For them, desert was not just a therapeutic place, but a place of conversion. It can transform us into loving people. “Charity, not silence, is the purpose of the spiritual life and ministry.”

For him, purpose of solitude is to discover the way of the heart. This process of discovering is simple, yet demanding and humbling.

Ministry as fostering conversion

For Nouwen, ministry is faith-seeking healing – both for the ministry and the one who is served.

He says that conversion is to move from professionalism of ministry to spirituality of ministry. This demands both self-affirmation and self-sacrifice. In other words, it is a movement from role-definition to careful and critical contemplation.

In the ‘Monk and the Cripples’, he speaks of powerlessness of the ministers. In such a situation, we need to be in solidarity with the powerlessness of the people.

It means that we need to resist the tendency to DOMINATE. This approach to ministry is possible, only if contemplative prayer is seen as the basis and centre of our ministry. It helps us see those whom, we serve, reveal to us by their suffering. It also helps to see God’s face in the lives of people. It frees us to let go of our need to control.

SENSE OF IDENTITY AS A FRUIT OF CONVERSION

In ‘Make All Things New’, he writes about the sense of identity in God as the fruit of conversion. Our spiritual life is real when we live it out in our joys and sorrows.

A SENSE OF MISSION AS THE FRUIT OF CONVERSION

We need to have a renewed sense of mission. This gives us a scope to live like Jesus. Conversion touches the every fiber of our being.

TEILHARD DE CHARDIN (1881 – 1955)

Was born in France His important work:

‘The Phenomenon of Man’

STAGES OF EVOLUTION ACCORDING TO TEILHARD

Cosmogenesis: Evolution of Cosmos. Biogenesis: Evolution of Life Noogenesis: Movement of universe to

self-consciousness. According to Teilhard, there is an element of consciousness in everything. In human beings, it is fully present.

Christogenesis: Christ is seen as the organic and physical centre of the universe in the further process of evolution.

TEILHARD DE CHARDIN’S CONTRIBUTION TO SPIRITUALITY

AND MYSTICISM

Teihard was basically a mystic. His mysticism is the mysticism of

action and satisfaction. We can call him as the global prophet.

His concept of Christogenesis is something very original. It is the convergence in a universal and powerful sense of universal and Cosmic Christ.

He advocated ‘pan-Christian monism’. In his book ‘the Divine Milieu’ he frequently discusses of Christ-centered mysticism.

To sum it, for him, contemplation is the perfect integration of outer activities with inner life.

His basic theological principle: To be is to be united.

KARL RAHNER (1904 – 1984)

He is called as the “Quiet Mover of the Church.”

The Father of the Catholic Church in the 20th century.

One of the very prominent theologians of the Vatican II.

His famous contribution to the field of spirituality:

SPIRITUALITY OF HEART

Five attitudes of Heart w. r. to practice of

Faith:

FAITH IN GOD: TRUSTING THE MYSTERY

“To speak of God is to speak of human person and vice versa.” – Karl Rahner.

He described God as a mystery in human experience. God is nothing but the depth dimension in such experiences as solitude, friendship, community, death and hope.

God is not one object among many. He is the Ultimate Ground..

LIVING THE MYSTICISM OF EVERYDAY LIFE(EXPERIENCE OF GRACE ALL THE TIME)

To the field of spirituality, his famous contribution is ‘EVERYDAY MYSTICISM’. I.e. Sanctification of every moment. It is nothing but finding God in all things. Here Rahner was inspired by St. Ignatius.

Everyday mysticism is responding to the self-communication of God.

In drinking a cup of coffee, and in talking with a friend, I should experience God’s grace. We are invited to discover God’s action in the simple acts of life. This approach also expands the scope of religious experience beyond the practice of daily life.

Experiencing the graced moments in suffering is also important. We cannot limit God’s presence in experiences that are tangibly filled with consolation.

“The devout Christian of future will either be a mystic or will cease to be anything at all.” – His famous saying.

According to him, mystical experience includes a going out of self and a return to the self.

PRAYER AS THE SURRENDER OF THE

HEART

LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR AND LOVE OF GOD: BOTH ARE SAME.

Loving those, who have done injustice to us, is important.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

FOR CHURCH AND WORLD.