Thomas Merton and Franciscan Spirituality
James Bacik
Introduction
1. Centenary of Merton’s birth January 31, 1915; died by accidental electrocution in Bangkok in
1968; renewed interest; continuing popularity; wrestled with contemporary questions
(freedom and authority, nature and technology, East and West, contemplation and action);
Trappist monk; autobiography Seven Storey Mountain made him famous.
2. Franciscan spirituality: founder Francis of Assisi (1181-1226); great scholars; Bonaventure (d
1274); John Duns Scotus (d 1308).
3. Franciscan influences on Merton’s anthropology (the true self); Christology, creation, prophetic
spirituality and interreligious dialogue. Concentration on Merton’s true self which is so helpful
for our spiritual growth.
4. Books by Merton: New Seeds of Contemplation; Contemplative Prayer; Zen And the Birds of
Appetite; The Inner Experience.
5. New book about Merton: The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton by Daniel Horan.
I.
Merton and the Franciscans
A. Attempt to join the order
1. 1938 converted to Catholicism; 1939 took class on Aquinas at Columbia taught by
Daniel Walsh who studied under Gilson and wrote on Scotus.
2. At the instigation of Walsh, Merton met with Father Edmund Murphy O.F.M. at St.
Francis of Assisi Church on West Thirty-First St. in 1939 which led to Merton
requesting to enter the Franciscan Order. The friars encouraged him to do doctoral
studies at Columbia in English literature, seeing him as a potential teacher at St.
Bonaventure College in Olean, NY.
3. Merton could not enter the noviate until August, 1940 and spent time on St.
Bonaventure campus learning more about the Franciscan life.
4. During this time he began to have doubts about his vocation, especially whether his
past (fathering a child while at Cambridge) was an impediment. His guardian, Dr.
Tom Bennett, had provided financial support for the mother and child but Merton
felt guilty. He shared his concerns with Fr. Murphy who advised him to withdraw his
application at least for a time, which he did. Some possible reasons for Fr. Murphy’s
decision: worry about legal financial obligation over child support; Merton’s
emotional instability over guilt; an abundances of novices (around 60 that year);
Merton’s limited experiences as a Catholic (less than two years).
B. Appropriating Franciscan Spirituality
1. Starting in the fall of 1940 Merton taught for 1 ½ years at St. Bonaventure.
2. He used this time to live as though he was a monk in a monastery. He went to Mass
daily, said the Office; joined the Franciscan Third Order (secular Franciscans).
3. He interacted with the friars (some seemed too lax) and befriended a few, especially
Fr. Philotheus Boehner, a brilliant scientist and friend of Gilson, who helped Merton
understand Bonaventure and Scotus and be critical of Aquinas. Walsh said Merton
had an Augustinian mentality more centered on love and will than intellect and
reason in Aquinas.
II.
Franciscan Spirituality
A. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226); founder of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM).
1. His family was not part of feudal nobility but his father became wealthy as part of
the rising mercantile economy (selling cloth).
2. Francis wanted to be a knight and did fight in war against Perugia, was a prisoner of
war for over a year which severely damaged his health and made him more
introspective, questioning his fundamental values and practicing intense spiritual
exercises (prayer and almsgiving).
3. Embraced a leprous beggar – a high point in his process of conversion that led to a
life on the margins of society in solidarity with the poor and outcasts.
4. His changed lifestyle brought him into conflict with his father. The story is told that
he heard the Lord call him to rebuild his church and took money from his father’s
business to rebuild the chapel of San Damiano, was brought to trial and renounced
his inheritance in a dramatic gesture.
5. He attracted many followers including Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), the founder of the
Poor Clares, approved by Pope Innocent III.
6. In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis made a six-week voyage to Domietta,
Egypt where he ministered to wounded Crusaders, risked his life to meet Sultan alKamil seeking to convert him and bring peace. The Sultan allowed Francis safe travel
back to the Crusader camp.
7. In 1223 he resigned as general minister of the order and devoted his last years to
prayer and preaching.
8. In the fall of 1224 he had an intense religious experience which imprinted Christ’s
wounds on his body (stigmata).
9. Francis composed his Canticle of the Sun in stages near the end of his life which
celebrates nature (sun, moon, earth), pardon and peace (vs 10-11), and the final
reconciliation with God through death.
10. Francis died October 3, 1226 at the age of 44; he was canonized two years later.
B. Franciscan scholars
1. Bonaventure (1217-1274) Franciscan; taught at the University of Parish
(contemporary of Aquinas); elected head of the order; wrote two biographies of
Francis; wrote The Journey of the Soul into God; saw vestiges (footprints of God) in
nature, in our inner life (in our spiritual senses), and in a mystical sense of God’s
presence; emphasis on Christ’s emptying himself (kenosis) suffering for our sins;
Christ is the center of the universe, the mediator between God and the human race;
in the incarnation God humbles himself; in Christ our mind contemplates our
humanity.
2. John Duns Scotus (1265-1308); Franciscan theologian; called Subtle Doctor; ordained
in 1291, studied at Oxford; wrote “Ordinatio;” taught at the University of Paris;
produced a very complicated proof for God’s existence; held that Christ would have
become man even if there was no human sin to complete the task of creation to
praise God; defended the doctrine the Immaculate Conception; stressed the
inherent dignity of every individual creature, especially humans because of the “thisness” (haecceitas), the source of individuality; God created a person and not human
nature in general; Genesis means not that human nature is very good but that every
individual person is very good; God loves us not for what we do but for who we are;
God is essentially infinite being having all perfections with infinite intensity (not
extension); thus God is infinite goodness, infinite truth, etc.; held a univocal concept
of being (vs Aquinas notion of analogical language to speak of God); for Scotus the
word “good” has the same meaning applied to humans and to God.
C. Characteristics of Franciscan Spirituality
1. Shaped by the example of Francis.
2. Some themes: living the Gospel of Christ; respect for creation; care for the poor and
marginalized; quest for peace and reconciliation; emphasis on the self-emptying of
the Word in the Incarnation; actions speak louder than words (Preach the Gospel
always and, if necessary, use words).
III.
The True Self
A. Challenge – cf Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity
1. Individualism, which frees people from older social constraints but also causes loss
of meaning, passion, higher purpose, community; more self-centered, self-absorbed.
2. Instrumental Reason: which makes economic and technological advances possible
but can also be dehumanizing and hurt the environment.
3. In the midst of relativism and self-indulgence there is a powerful moral ideal: being
true to oneself, being authentic; people feel called to self-fulfillment.
4. Our culture is not good at discussing authenticity as a moral ideal because of
subjectivism, relativism, opposition to it, and emphasis on non-moral explanations.
5. There is a modern unarticulated ideal that we should be true to ourselves, follow an
inner voice (Rousseau), live my life (not imitating others), define myself, realize my
own distinct potential.
B. Merton on true self (real self, inner self)
1. Sources: Augustine (we find God by finding ourselves); Francis (a tree gives glory to
God by being a tree); Bonaventure (the spiritual quest is a journey); Scotus (the
unique individuality of each person); and George Manley Hopkins (inscape).
2. The false self: alienated from God; influenced by social and cultural norms; the
image we project to impress others; an “illusory self” or “unreality”; the mask
created by original sin; cannot destroy the true self -- God’s image in us; sees the
world only from an economic or technical viewpoint.
3. What the true self is not: not a romanticized ideal self; not like a motor in a car; not
an object or thing that can be studied; not reached or revealed by any practice
including meditation.
4. The true self: the self created, known and loved by God; our spiritual life most alive;
is present in all religious experience; is simply myself, nothing more and nothing less;
is “as secret as God” and evades every effort to capture it in words; a kind of mirror
in which God sees himself while revealing the divine self to the mirror; exists in God
and God exists in the true self; is a “little world” itself; has the capacity for selfsacrificing love; God’s name written in us, a point of “pure truth” at “the center of
our being” untouched by sin and illusion; the entirety of our being; the apex of the
soul; the temple where God dwells; the true self receiving the light of Christ while
blacking out worldly lights (John of the Cross); the hiding place of God; the perfect
image of God; true self appears when Christ awakens the false self from sleep.
5. The true self in relationship; it recognizes the true self of others making mutual love
possible; our inner self comes to life through the works of charity; in prayer and
solitude we nourish the true self so that we can give and receive love; liturgy is
meant to nourish the true self and unites us with others in a communion of love.
Insipid religious practices can provide a “collection false self.” In Merton’s religious
experience at Fourth and Walnut in Louisville, he felt united to all the people aware
of the “sacred beauty” of their hearts.
6. How to find and live the true self: it cannot be done directly; it can be developed by
self-discipline, prayer and contemplation; being open to God’s revelatory action; by
explicitly trying to transform the false self (stop trying to impress people, have a
cause greater than self; challenge the claims of instrumental reason to be the best or
only way of dealing with contemporary problems; we try to discover and awaken the
true self; the complete discovery of the true self occurs only in death but on this
earth we can let go of the false self and discover something of the true self by
contemplative prayer and by dying to self and living in Christ; dialogue with Eastern
mystics can help (satori experience); the true self emerges within a horizon of faith
in God who calls us to authenticity; the true self emerges in the context of
committed relationships and social interactions; failure to move toward the true self
promotes guilt feelings because it involves a moral demand beyond ourselves; it is
not selfish or self-centered; it is an ideal that responds to the desire for fulfillment
which avoids narcissism because it is path to God and love of neighbor.
7. Consequences of understanding the true self: we all have unique vocation to do
God’s will and carry on the mission of Christ; we are co-creators of the world; we are
all called to believe and we become saints by being ourselves (a moral ideal); each
person’s “inscape” is the imprint of divine wisdom; the measure of our identity is the
amount of our love for God; we must decide to be real or unreal, true or false; the
path to sanctity is through discovering my true self; only by finding God can I find
myself; only God can teach me to find God and myself.
Upcoming Father Bacik Lectures:
*All Lectures will be in the Franciscan Center, Rooms A&B, 5:30-7:00pm*
Cost: $10.00 preregistered; $15.00 at the door
Tuesday, July 21: Thomas Merton: Dialogue with Eastern Religions
Tuesday, August 18: Pope Francis on the Environment
Monday, September 21: Thomas Merton on Peace Making
Monday, October 19: Pope Francis: Reflections on His Visit to the United States
Monday, November 16: The Family: A School for Spiritual Growth
Saturday, December 5, 3:00-5:00pm - Advent Afternoon of Reflection
A presentation on “Cultivating a Spirit of Forbearance” followed by Mass.
Annual Karl Rahner Lecture:
Guest Lecturer: Rev. Thomas O’Meara, OP.
Wednesday, June 3: “Vast Universe: Extraterrestrials & Christian Revelation”
Special Offering:
September 9-10: Father Bacik will lead a discussion on his latest book, Humble
Confidence: Spiritual and Pastoral Guidance from Karl Rahner, giving a brief
presentation followed by questions and open discussion.
Wednesday, September 9: Chapter 1: Christian Anthropology: Cultivating Dialectical Virtues
Chapter 2: Doctrine of God: Deepening Our Prayer Life
Thursday, September 10: Chapter 3: Christology: Betting Our Lives on Jesus
Chapter 4: Church: Renewing Ecclesial Life