Contemplative Haven

Shepherd Me, O God

[Refrain]: Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life.

1. God is my shepherd, so nothing shall I want, I rest in the meadows of faithfulness and love, I walk by the quiet waters of peace.

2. Gently you raise me and heal my weary soul, you lead me by pathways of righteousness and truth, my spirit shall sing the music of your Name.

3. Though I should wander the valley of death, I fear no evil, for you are at my side, your rod and your staff, my comfort and my hope.

4. You have set me a banquet of love in the face of hatred, crowning me with love beyond my power to hold.

5. Surely your kindness and mercy follow me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of my God forevermore.

You Are Mine

I will come to you in the silence
I will lift you from all your fear
You will hear My voice
I claim you as My choice
Be still and know I am here

I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night
I will be your light
Come and rest in Me

[Refrain]  Do not be afraid I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are Mine

I am strength for all the despairing
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see
The lame will all run free
And all will know My name

I am the Word that leads all to freedom
I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name
Embracing all your pain
Stand up now, walk and live

A reader asked if it would still be possible to get Father Thomas Dubay’s 13-episode contemplation podcast that I posted about here in August.  Unable to find the podcast in the EWTN audio archives, and having no success emailing my own audio files to my reader as attachments because of their size, my friend JohnT advised me that I would have to “stage” my files somewhere on the web in order to proceed. (Thanks, JT!)

So if anyone else missed the chance to download the series the first time around, here are my file-share links to each episode.  Just allow a few minutes for the little video box on the left-hand side to open and for all the details to appear further down.  You may just listen, or scroll down and click the download button to save to your own hard drive.  As long as I remember to log in at least once every thirty days, the files should be there indefinitely, so you may download and/or just listen to them at your own pace.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13 

Many thanks to Father Dubay and to EWTN for the original podcast. I’m sure you will benefit greatly from the series they provided.

Yes, I know I’m not supposed to be here until February, but it’s a woman’s perogative to change her mind.  So, it’s 2:15 a.m., I can’t sleep, and am having that recurring absurd notion that if I just google, “who can help me?”, the spiritual director of my dreams will pop up. 

Since I’ve heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, I refrained from the googling.  Instead, I paid a little visit to Word Incarnate.  Here’s a taste of what made me laugh out loud:

Perhaps we ought to ask the Lord to define “sufficient” (some of his definitions are different than ours; take “soon,” for example).

I don’t know what St Paul’s ”thorn” was, but sometimes I feel like I’m wearing an entire rosebush…

Thanks, Abbot Joseph.  A little grace goes a long way.  And now I will make a graceful exit again. 

Thomas Merton was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1949, which was the Feast of the Ascension.  In 1951 Father Louis became Master of Scholastics at the Abbey of Gethsemane.  Later, from 1955 to 1965, he held the position of Master of Novices.

In, “Merton.  A Biography”, author Monica Furlong writes of this period: 

The feeling of mutual love between master and pupils comes out very strongly in the many tapes of Merton giving “Conferences” or lectures to the novitiate.  The audience are appreciative, laughing warmly at his jokes, rising quickly to allusions, occasionally interrupting intelligently.  He has a racy and informal style, often using slang, yet revealing deep academic knowledge of his subjects, knowing how to manipulate local jokes or events to make an idea stick, using secular experiences to drive home spiritual truths.

Threaded through these subjects, each with its enormous background of reading, was an incidental wisdom that was there for the novice to accept or ignore as he wished.

Merton’s manner was deceptively light and easy to listen to; and only toward the end of each lecture did he gather up the diverse threads, and his audience discover, to their pleasure and surprise, that they actually knew something about Origen, or Evagrius, or the Cistercian Fathers.

Now, you may be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Well, I have to take a break from the Haven for a while in order to get some other work accomplished, and also to whittle away at my to-do list at home. I anticipate being back here posting some time in February. But I wanted to leave you in good hands while I’m gone. Good hands! The best, actually! I hope you’ll be pleased, and find more than enough teaching here to satisfy your contemplative needs for a few weeks.

Thomas Merton on “The Jesus Prayer” (Part I of III)

Thomas Merton on “The Jesus Prayer” (Part II of III)

Thomas Merton on “The Jesus Prayer” (Part III of III)

Thomas Merton on “Prayer and the Active Life”

Direct to YouTube for these videos:
The Jesus Prayer (Part I of III)
The Jesus Prayer (Part II of III)
The Jesus Prayer (Part III of III)
Prayer and the Active Life

Many thanks to Journeys2008 for providing these marvelous Merton audio/videos for all of us to enjoy and profit from.

Addiction.  Everywhere we look, wherever we turn our gaze, outward or inward, we are apt to find it.  My prayer for 2008 is for people to be set free. Whether we are speaking of heavy, urgent addictions, persistent venial sin, or the clingings and attachments that are part-and-parcel of our human weakness and frailty, let this be the year, the day, the moment, when new lives begin in Christ. 

[Excerpt from:  "The Priest Is Not His Own", by Archbishop Fulton Sheen]:

“A personal equation must be established between the soul and the Crucifix.  Sins of pride are understood through the crown of thorns; sins of lust, through the torn flesh; sins of avarice, through the poverty of nakedness; and sins of alcoholism, through thirst.  Moreover, sin must be seen as resisting the Spirit of Love (Acts 7:51), as stifling the Spirit of Love (1 Thess 5:19) and as distressing the Spirit of Love (Eph 4:30).

Conscience is always enlightened when sin is seen as hurting someone we love.  No sin can touch one of God’s stars or silence one of His words, but it can cruelly wound His Heart.  Once the penitent understands this truth, he can see why he has such emptiness and desolation in his soul; he has hurt one he loves.

Many who approach a priest still try to conceal their conscience.  They offer spurious reasons to explain their actions.  The priest who remains on a purely psychological level cannot always see through such deceits, and, in consequence, he cannot help the one who has come to him.  It takes a spiritual X ray to penetrate such a mind.”

Direct to YouTube for this video is here.

“Now the whole problem of my life is the question – am I that same one who turned back sorrowing because he had many riches?  Will I irritate my Lord all my life, crying:  “Lord, am I still following Thee?” as if I didn’t know?

I learned one thing, at the Forty Hours at the Convent – two weeks ago tomorrow night.  I can have one prayer – to belong to Him, to be able to renounce the whole world and follow Him.  I say that prayer now:  when it pleases Him, He will show me what to do.  When – not next year, every next instant.  If I love Him I will hear.”  (February 19, 1941) 

[From:  Run to the Mountain.  The Journals of Thomas Merton.  Volume One, 1939-1941]

“On the Feast of the Epiphany this holy soul offered to God, in imitation of the Three Kings – for myrrh, the Body of Jesus Christ, with all the merits of His Passion, for the remission of all the sins of men, from the first to the last of the human race; for incense, the Soul of Jesus Christ, with all His holy actions, for the negligences of the whole world; for gold, His Divinity, with all its perfections and joys, in satisfaction for the defects of all creatures.  Then Our Lord appeared and presented her offering as a most worthy New Year’s gift to the Most Holy and august Trinity.  As He passed through the midst of Heaven, all the celestial court inclined profoundly before Him to honor this gift, as men prostrate before the Holy Sacrament when it is present.”

[From:  The Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great, 1256-1302]

[By: Leonard Cohen]

If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will.

If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing.

From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing.

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well.

And draw us near
And bind us tight
All your children here
In their rags of light
In our rags of light
All dressed to kill
And end this night
If it be your will
If it be your will.

Direct to YouTube for this video is here.