Thomas Merton

This is a course about Thomas Merton and you. You will explore Thomas Merton's remarkable life and works while actively developing a relationship with him. For many, Merton has become a lifelong mentor and spiritual guide, and he will bring you to new places with the questions he raises and the experiences he shares. Whoever you are and wherever you come from, Thomas Merton will speak to you. Your guide, Fr. Anthony Ciorra, is one of those very rare professors who will delight and inspire you. Given the pontifical honor Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope John Paul II and author of Everyday Mysticism, Fr. Ciorra is a remarkable teacher. Through these 12 lectures, Fr. Ciorra will help you understand the extraordinary life and works of Thomas Merton. Merton's path to conversion was complex, and he struggled with questions regarding God's existence, moral values, and the place of organized religion. He pioneered religious dialogue with the East, and his experiences of prayer led him to a contemplative openness and issues of social justice. As you study Merton in this course, you will be invited to use many of the same tools Merton used to aid in his spiritual growth: journaling, poetry, letter-writing, photography, and art. These tools will help you enter more deeply into your own experience with the mystery of God. You will be challenged, inspired, and offered the opportunity to grow and change as you come to know Merton in this course. You will not be disappointed. (Photograph of Thomas Merton by John Howard Griffin. Used with Permission of Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University.)