012 :
04 Jul 2009

Wither Liturgical Reform & Renewal in 2009? Part 2 In this second-part of his commentary on liturgical renewal, Fr Patrick Collins, outlines a series of developments which he believes will help make the liturgy more accessible to the ordinary church goer and which also take us closer to what the prime objectives are in our conducting liturgies. Driving his own thinking are the thoughts of Thomas Merton. [more]

011 :
03 Jul 2009

Wither Liturgical Reform & Renewal in 2009? Part 1 In this two-part commentary Dr Patrick Collins , who is a great apostle for the thinking of Thomas Merton, explores where the Church is heading in the area of liturgical renewal. Part 1 of the commentary looks at Merton's changing attitudes towards the liturgical reforms which were made at the Second Vatican Council and Dr Collins offers his own thoughts on where the present leadership seem to be now heading in this realm. In the second part, which we will publish tomorrow, Dr Collins, puts forward proposals which might form the basis for a way forward again at some point in the future when the present "reform of the reform" has driven everybody out of the pews except the remnant. [more]

010 :
07 Jun 2009

Thomas Merton on Priesthood... Priesthood is in the news again. Pope Benedict has called for the year beginning on 19th June to be dedicated as a Year for Priesthood. We have our own on-going discussion on Catholica on the changing nature of priesthood today. Today it is our pleasure to present a thoughtful reflection put together by Dr Patrick Collins which looks at the maturation of views Thomas Merton had towards the nature of priesthood before he died. This reflection will be of great interest to priests who are reflecting on their roles today as it will be to lay people who are questioning what sort of priests we need today — or even if priesthood as we've known it for millennia is as relevant in our lives as it was in the past. [more]

660 :
28 May 2008

"How central to the spiritual quest is contemplation?" In the last commentary of Dr Patrick Collins looking at The Spirituality of Thomas Merton which we have been basing this first series of Wednesday Forums on, the discussion is on the place of contemplation in the overall life of the Church, perhaps even the overall life of the individual Christian. (For the specific commentary see HERE ). That's the theme Brian Coyne takes up today. If we are serious about our religious beliefs, we are called to a diversity of responses: for example we are called to be charitable; we are called to participation in public prayer or Eucharist; we are called to a certain standard in our moral conduct; we are called to private prayer. The question Brian poses, is how important is the simple act of contemplation or meditation in that whole mix? [Link to Forum Discussion Thread] | [Link to Original Commentary by Dr Patrick Collins]

646 :
14 May 2008

"What are the three most important aspects of prayer for you?"This series of forum discussions on Wednesdays is attempting to shadow a series of commentaries by Dr Patrick Collins we published last year looking at the Spirituality of Thomas Merton (For the specific commentary see HERE ). I hardly need to "kick off" any discussion today as both the commentary yesterday from Andrew Kania and the excerpt from Paul Collins' book has already been generating much discussion in our forum. Nevertheless, here goes … and I just want to take one small aspect of the Collins'/Merton' reflection and throw it into the ring for discussion: Prayer as a place of sanctuary and freedom. [Link to Forum Discussion Thread] | [Link to Original Commentary by Dr Patrick Collins]

640 :
08 May 2008

"The power of prayer?" The question Fr Patrick Collins and Thomas Merton is playing with in the commentary we are shadowing today is: "What do we do on our own and what do we do aided by grace?" How do we pray? How do we get rid of the distractions of life in order to deepend our relationship with God? is there a best way to pray? We also draw into this discussion the ideas presented in a string started yesterday looking at the Rosary and other traditional forms of prayer. [Link to Forum Discussion Thread] | [Link to Original Commentary by Dr Patrick Collins]

632 :
30 Apr 2008

"Who are you looking for?" This series of forum discussions on Wednesdays is attempting to shadow a series of commentaries by Dr Patrick Collins we published last year looking at the Spirituality of Thomas Merton (For the specific commentary see: HERE ). The Editor kicks off the discussion today by looking at one of Merton's observations about our lack of trust in God which arises, in part, because of a flawed self-perception we carry in us of what God's relationship to us is. In his mini-commentary the Editor of Catholica, Brian Coyne, also brings in some observations Fr Ron Rolheiser made in a commentary featured on CathNews yesterday which, in turn, also links to some of Dr Andrew Kania's observations in his commentary on Catholica yesterday. These three or four commentators we're drawing attention to today provide a rich landscape for our meditation on our own relationship with God. (See links to the Rolheiser and Kania commentaries at the end of the mini-commentary in our forum.) [Link to Forum Discussion Thread] | [Link to Original Commentary by Dr Patrick Collins]

625 :
23 Apr 2008

Detaching oneself from the distractions of the world: The discussion we are seeking to spark today is taken from an observation of Dr Patrick Collins in his series we published last year looking at The Spirituality of Thomas Merton (For the specific commentary see HERE). Merton, says Collins, essentially sees spirituality as "simply the journey from false self toward the True Self". In the commentary he discusses the observations Merton made of the difficulty of implementing this in ordinary life. We all have obligations, whether we're in cloistered life or earning our living or making our way in the secular world. The starting point for discussion today I suggest might be relating our own experiences as to whether we firstly agree with Thomas Merton and Patrick Collins and secondly, if we do, what are the challenges in trying to make this journey — particularly for those who have responsibilities in bringing up families, earning a living, studying or the pressures involved in running a business. [Link to Forum Discussion Thread] | [Link to Original Commentary by Dr Patrick Collins]

618 :
16 Apr 2008

Who wants to be a saint today? In this first of a series of discussions based on the series below, the Editor of Catholica, Brian Coyne asks if many people today seriously have a desire to be saints in the ways Thomas Merton aspired to be? What does it mean to be "a saint" in today's world? [Link to Forum Discussion Thread] | [Link to Original Commentary by Dr Patrick Collins]

009 :
10 Jun 2007

The Spirituality of Thomas Merton VI In this sixth and final extract from Patrick Collins' essay on the Spirituality of Thomas Merton, we find Thomas Merton grappling with a fear that monastic life and contemplation was becoming downgraded in the Church, and in the world. He saw a continual challenge in the tension or balance required for a contemplative to be both in the world and to be withdrawn from the world. [more]

008 :
03 Jun 2007

The Spirituality of Thomas Merton V This is possibly the longest of the extracts from Patrick Collins' essay on the Spirituality of Thomas Merton that we will be publishing. It is long because in this section Fr Patrick goes off scouring the correspondence of Merton in search of his views on different aspects of prayer and we thought it best to keep all these thoughts together in one commentary. [more]

007 :
27 May 2007

The Spirituality of Thomas Merton IV Over the next two weeks, in the fourth and fifth excerpts from his essay on the Spirituality of Thomas Merton, Fr Collins examines how Merton's ideas developed between the late 1950s and mid-1960s on what is actually happening in the mystical (ecstatic) experience. What's the relationship between the natural and supernatural in the realm of mystical experience? [more]

006 :
20 May 2007

The Spirituality of Thomas Merton III Fr Collins tackles two principal issues in this third excerpt from his essay on the Spirituality of Thomas Merton. In the first part he's exploring how Merton saw spirituality in relation to science, particularly psychology, and in relation to the other great religious traditions in the world. In the second part he explores how Merton responded to the counterculturalism of the 1960s and particularly the endeavours by some to induce mystical experiences via drugs and halluncinations. [more]

005 :
13 May 2007

The Spirituality of Thomas Merton II In this second excerpt from his essay on the Spirituality of Thomas Merton, Fr Collins explores Merton's thinking on the otherness of spirituality — it is a process of learning to detach oneself from the attachments of the world, including ego. [more]

004 :
06 May 2007

Re-published
16 Apr 2008

The Spirituality of Thomas Merton I It is with deep feelings of gratitude that we are pleased to present this serialised series of reflections by Fr Patrick Collins on the spirituality of Thomas Merton. The entire essay runs to over 12,000 words and we will be presenting it in bite-sized portions over the coming Sundays. Fr Collins has previously written for Catholica on the Spirituality of Thomas Merton and you will find links to those articles below. [more]

003 :
31 Aug 2006

Looking at all these BIG questions through the mind of a contemplative – Part III... We present the third part of Patrick Collins' argument, following the thinking of Thomas Merton, that not enough energy has been put into spiritual reform — the bread and butter matter of how we relate to and intersect with God. Further information below. [more]

002 :
30 Aug 2006

Looking at all these BIG questions through the mind of a contemplative – Part II... We present the second part of Patrick Collins argument, following the thinking of Thomas Merton, that not enough energy has been put into spiritual reform — the bread and butter matter of how we relate to and intersect with God. Further information below. [more]

001 :
29 Aug 2006

Looking at all these BIG questions through the mind of a contemplative – Part I... Fr Patrick Collins Phd has been quietly following the conversations here on Catholica Australia from his home in Michigan and has long been very supportive of our endeavours. Fr Collins retired from active ministry earlier this year but one suspects that "retirement" is the inappropriate descriptor. It's more like a change of direction as to how he continues his ministry. On his own website (www.vatican2.org/patrickcollins/) he describes himself as "author, preacher, musician and university professor. He senses that his principal vocation is to contemplative living — out of which his various ministries flow. In addition to numerous books and articles, Fr. Collins has produced forty-five TV programs, and a number of videos, among them Thomas Merton: Man, Monk, Myth with Music. Fr Collins has a deep love of the thinking of Thomas Merton. Over the next three days we invite you to immerse yourself in this very thoughtful reflection Fr Collins has submitted to us which not only addresses issues raised in a range of commentaries and posts in our forum but it poses a very different way of looking at the overview of where the Church has been heading since the Second Vatican Council. The broad thrust of his argument, following the thinking of Thomas Merton, is that not enough energy has been put into spiritual reform — the bread and butter matter of how we relate to and intersect with God. Read what Patrick has to say and, I mean it, if you can handle the mental gear shift that is involved, "start really living"... [more]