{"id":27330,"date":"2026-07-21T10:32:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27330"},"modified":"2026-07-21T10:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:56:20","slug":"27330","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27330","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Merton: A Monk in Action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Refiner - Maverick City Music (With Lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3RPOIXtWrhk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Tuesday, July 21, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard recounts how he came to know the work of Thomas Merton (1915\u20131968):&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas Merton has been a primary teacher and inspiration to me ever since I read his book&nbsp;<em>The Sign of Jonas<\/em>&nbsp;as a teenager. He was one of the most influential American Catholics of the twentieth century. It was Merton who reintroduced the Christian contemplative tradition to the Western church in the 1950s and 1960s. By living a contemplative life, Merton grew in love for God and all of God\u2019s children and creation\u2014so much so that he became committed to doing what he could for the common good. Amidst the societal disruptions of the 1960s, it was not enough for him to simply pray. He also devoted himself to action\u2014writing, teaching, and collaborating with others\u2014though he never lost his deep yearning for solitude and contemplation. [1]  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>As Merton began to seriously wrestle with the injustices plaguing the United States and the world, he published&nbsp;<\/em>Seeds of Destruction<em>, a book urging Christians to reflect on their moral responsibility to take a stand on issues such as racism, war, and poverty. His words speak to our moment as well. Merton writes:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The contemplative life is not, and<strong> cannot be, a mere withdrawal, a pure negation, a turning of one\u2019s back on the world with its sufferings, its crises, its confusions and its errors<\/strong>\u2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hold that the contemplative life of the Christian is not a life of abstraction, of secession, in order to concentrate upon ideal essences\u2026. The freedom of the Christian contemplative is \u2026<strong> the freedom to go out and meet God in the inscrutable mystery of [God\u2019s] will here and now, in this precise moment in which [God] asks [humanity\u2019s] cooperation in shaping the course of history according to the demands of divine truth, mercy and fidelity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The monastic flight from the world [<em>or what Father Richard calls \u2018the system\u2019<\/em>] into the desert is <strong>not a mere refusal to know anything about the world,<\/strong> but a total rejection of all standards of judgment which imply attachment to a history of delusion, egoism and sin \u2026 a <strong>definitive refusal to participate in those activities which have no other fruit than to prolong the reign of untruth, greed, cruelty and arrogance\u2026<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore it seems to me to be a solemn obligation of conscience at this moment of history to take the positions which are \u2026 in vital relation with the obligations I assumed when I took my monastic vows. To have a vow of poverty seems to me illusory if I do not in some way identify myself with the cause of people who are denied their rights and forced, for the most part, to live in abject misery. To have a vow of obedience seems to me to be absurd if it does not imply<strong> a deep concern for the most fundamental of all expressions of God\u2019s will: the love of [God\u2019s] truth and of our neighbor.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>==============================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Welcome to Bradley Jersak\u2019s Substack!&nbsp;<\/strong>In the parable of the prodigal son(s), I love the verse,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAnd while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>That\u2019s my story. I hope that in the posts to follow, you\u2019ll see it shine through.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/app-link\/post?publication_id=2863497&amp;post_id=207668198&amp;utm_source=post-email-title&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=2dkj2&amp;token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozOTkyMzY2LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyMDc2NjgxOTgsImlhdCI6MTc4NDQ3NDEwMSwiZXhwIjoxNzg3MDY2MTAxLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjg2MzQ5NyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.oJ3BFpZrtmIj9xxrJ6sNXv73gnZA54AgT1YdGw3_9Hc\">Hellsoap Preaching<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">And the Evolution of Divine Fire<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak\">BRADLEY JERSAK<\/a>.   JUL 19<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>Fr. David Harvey:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cDon\u2019t know if you\u2019re preaching the lectionary this weekend, but notice that Nestle Aland thinks that \u201cThe furnace of fire\u201d in Matthew 13 is a direct quote from LXX Daniel 3:6\u2019s fiery furnace. This means that Jesus is alluding to a fire that quite literally didn\u2019t burn up the only people we know that were thrown into it. (Accompanied by the Son of God \u2014 who sowed the seed).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Me:<\/strong>&nbsp;Amazing find. Thinking that along with the restorative\/purgative judgement of Malachi 3 &#8211; the refiners fire and launders soap.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We don&#8217;t hear enough&nbsp;<strong>hellsoap<\/strong>&nbsp;preaching!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I wrote the following in 2017\u2026 I think it still works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/852f6352-9b4d-4036-a707-ba9070ee4ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiMmRrajIifQ.ND0qR5RKsmVnltuWgIlyr3BY7uwq2Kt9ZzX29UJK4cg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!4Rr9!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4bede35e-3dc4-4005-8b3b-7a7fa5e3996a_750x932.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Evolution of Divine Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I came across the citation from St Athanasius (via&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/creativeorthodox.com\/\">creativeorthodox.com<\/a>) that beautifully compares the <strong>resurrection of Christ to a fire that completely consumes death as if it were dry straw. <\/strong>The comparison reminded me of the range and frequent use of fire as imagery associated with the person or acts of God. A brief survey serves as a healthy meditation, not only on the various comparisons, but also how these evolve with our illumination by the Spirit, who is also linked with fire at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ancient peoples would have experienced&nbsp;<strong>fire as destruction<\/strong>&nbsp;before they ever learned to employ it for light or heat, and when the fire of destruction would fall from heaven as lightning or burst from the earth via volcanoes, <strong>our forefathers connected the dots between destructive fire and the person and wrath of God. <\/strong>They assumed the fire that devours was sent by God as punishment, as we see in biblical stories like the end of Sodom and Gomorrah. <strong>When that fire is used against one\u2019s enemies, it could serve as a powerful vindication that God is on \u2018our side\u2019 \u2014 as in 1 Kings 18<\/strong> in Elisha\u2019s showdown with the prophets of Baal or 2 Kings 1 when he calls for fire to kill Ahaziah\u2019s troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But fire <strong>was not only seen as destructive. We have other passages where fire is employed for its&nbsp;cleansing properties. <\/strong>Malachi regards the judgements of God as a gold refiner\u2019s furnace, purging the gold or silver of \u2018dross\u2019 or&nbsp;impurities. Similarly, Paul in 1 Cor. 3 describes the fire of God consuming all that is combustible in us \u2026 poor motives, for example, as if they were wood, hay and stubble. But again, this is only so the gold, silver and precious stones of our true selves will shine brightly through the old tarnish. Hebrews 12 says that God himself IS this consuming fire. <strong>So in the end, the destructive fire is to be welcomed, even if seen as a&nbsp;\u2018trial by fire.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A third sense of&nbsp;<strong>fire is associated with the person and work of the Holy Spirit<\/strong>. We hear from John the Baptist that Christ will baptize with the Spirit and with fire, and while I suspect John was thinking of judgement, the New Testament sees that promise fulfilled with the outpouring of the Spirit in tongues of fire on Pentecost. T<strong>his divine fire not only cleanses but&nbsp;empowers,&nbsp;and gives those who receive it the properties of fire (symbolically light and heat), which is to say, the Spirit&nbsp;<em>inhabits us with glory, transfiguring us from glory to glory<\/em>, so that we can stand in that glory which is&nbsp;the passionate love of Christ himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the early church fathers imagined this using&nbsp;the picture of a sword being&nbsp;<strong>forged<\/strong>&nbsp;in the intense heat that makes for the highest quality steel. Placed in the flames, it\u2019s not that the steel would become other than steel, but while in the flames it would bear the heat and glow with the light of the fire itself. <strong>So it is, they said, with those forged in the fire of God\u2019s Spirit. Thus, the fire was not destructive, but rather instructive and constructive of ourparticipation in the divine nature.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many \u2018what about this questions\u2019 that attend divine fire analogies. What about those parables of Jesus where unfruitful branches are cut off and thrown into the fire? Or when the wheat and tares are separated by angels and the weeds thrown into the fire. Rather than skirting these force of these texts too quickly, <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">we need to undergo their force \u2014 their fire<\/span><\/strong>. Such parables remind us of the<strong> same point Lewis makes by using lion imagery for Christ. God is \u2018good\u2019 but he\u2019s hardly \u2018safe,\u2019 much less \u2018tame,\u2019 if by that we imagine we can domesticate him!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in saying this, let us also assert&nbsp;the<strong> first point as most important. God is good. God is love. And thus, for all its other properties,&nbsp;the Divine Fire is the unquenchable Flame of Love<\/strong>&nbsp;(also pictured as the Sun) \u2014&nbsp;<strong>the One who radiates the Light and Warmth of Love to those coming in from the cold, dark night of winter.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday, July 21, 2026 Father Richard recounts how he came to know the work of Thomas Merton (1915\u20131968):&nbsp; Thomas Merton has been a primary teacher and inspiration to me ever since I read his book&nbsp;The Sign of Jonas&nbsp;as a teenager. He was one of the most influential American Catholics of the twentieth century. It was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27330"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27341,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330\/revisions\/27341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}