| Author Quoted | Karl Rahner |
| Title Quoted | The Dynamic Element in the Church (Quaestiones Disputatae) |
| Date (Year/Month/Day) | 1966/10/04 |
| Imprint | Freiburg : [s.n.]. 1964 |
| Quotation | "If we had real humility and goodness we would see far more marvels of goodness in the Church. But because we are selfish ourselves we are only ready to see good, good brought about by God where it suits our advantage, our need for esteem, or our view of the Church." Since my retreat I have been reading this very good book on and off. More off than on I am afraid. But this statement, read this morning, clicks with what I have been realizing lately. Sunday afternoon, out walking in the sun and looking at the monastery without its phony and pretentious ancient steeple, and thinking of all that has been going on there, I realized how much good there really is in this community - not only in so many individuals (this I have never doubted or questioned), but in the community itself as it isorganized. I know this is a "good community" and a fortunate place in which to be today. But I count myself lucky to be here. There is really no other place in the Church now where I would rather be. I see so evidently that my hermitage is my true place in the Church. And I owe this to my community. Also, let's face it, to my Abbot, of whom I am so easily critical. |
| Quotation Source | Learning to love: exploring solitude and freedom. The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 6, 1966-1967.; Edited by Christine M. Bochen. / [San Francisco] : HarperCollins. 1997, p. 145-46 |
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| Notes | |
| Link to Merton's Copy |
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