Merton on PBS

Unlike many introductions to Thomas Merton, this new, short clip appearing today on PBS's "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" website includes an introduction to the present-day Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in Bardstown, Kentucky. It also includes interviews with Paul Pearson, director of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University (full disclosure: a friend), Morgan Atkinson, the filmmaker who made the movie "Soul Searcher," and Paul Quenon, a monk at Gethsemani, who had Merton as his spiritual director. (My favorite quote in this short piece is his: "The essence of the Trappist life would be living in God, and I don’t think I would want to say much more than that.") The R&E segment also includes rare footage of Merton speaking at an interfaith conference in Bangkok in 1968, just a few hours before his death. Take a look at this segment.

James Martin, SJ

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9 years 2 months ago

At the risk of sounding a bit over the top...I sometimes wonder what we would do without you, Fr. Martin, pointing the way to these wonderful posts. As always, thank you.

9 years 2 months ago

Thanks Fr. Jim... Many many memories of retreats past! That place holds a special place in my heart.

9 years 2 months ago

The first time I heard of Thomas Merton was when I read Father Martin's book, My Life With the Saints. Since then I have read several books by Thomas Merton including The Seven Storey Mountain. Thank you Father Martin for introducing me to Merton and thank you for this clip.