Thomas Merton by Fr Sam McNally Cross

[@kinglear5952]

Thank you for posting this beautiful and exceptional talk.

[@kinglear5952]

24.41 Whose is that name? I could not quite catch it.

[@StThomasKensalTown]

Saint Gemma Galgani

[@kinglear5952]

@@StThomasKensalTown Excellent! Very kind of you to get back.

[@cherylmburton5577]

St Gemma Galgani was considered to be a mystic of the Church. She received many graces from God. Her writings are unusual. They are not for small children, even though she has been designated a patron saint for them.

[@cherylmburton5577]

He did do a thorough talk, but I did not care for the conclusion, in which he reflected back on Merton's life before entering the Monastery, and regressed him, as if he once again was as immoral shortly before he died, and then he brings up the nurse in that gossipy way as so.many others. He did imply that Merton probably did have a physical relationship with her, and ruined his standing in the Church. But it is moreso that this priest planted that thought in people's minds and therefore he made a judgement, as so many others have done, about something he admits they will never know what the truth of the matter really is. In a secular court, a person is innocent until proven guilty, and if they cannot prove them guilty, as this priest admitted they cannot, then they should do as Jesus said, and not be judging their brother. Pope Francis loves him and does not speak cheap gossip about him. The Priest here said Merton ruined his relationship with the Vatican, but that was and still is coming from the Traditionalists who discredit anyone at that time who obeyed the Pope and made the Transition to Vatican ll and there were also Govt agents and politicians who intensely disliked him because of his taking a stand on social issues, peace issues. I do agree with this priest that Merton was trying to get the message across that Catholics could regain the techniques of solitude, originally lost by the Church, without resorting to looking to Bhuddists for instruction, that is something Christians are actually doing and it is scandalous. Priests such as Fr Keating, Richard Rhor and former monk James Finley are heavy promoters of it, making it a heresy, because they are elevating Bhuddism above the doctrine of the Church, something Thomas Merton would not have dreamed of doing. Thomas Merton and St Joan of Arc demonstrate that Church approval is not needed to get to heaven, and neither is modern Bhuddism needed to get to heaven either. This is all that Christians should be focused on and not this world.