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| Aelred Graham Thomas Merton |
Night Office Readings,
Monastic Lectionary of the Divine Office,
THIRTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Thursday
05/11/2015
_ Second Reading From Zen Catholicism by Aelred Graham
An
ethical code imposed from without can lead to a merely legalistic system of morality,
an adherence to the letter of the law at the expense of its spirit. These possibilities
were well understood by the Hebrew prophets. The greatest of them foresaw a time
when people would no longer be obeying God's law as in compliance to directives
from above; that law would not even have to be told them by others; it would be
known by people looking into their own hearts. A time is coming, the Lord says, when I mean to ratify a new covenant with
the people of Israel and with the people of Judah ... I will implant my law in their inmost thoughts,
engrave it in their hearts ... There will be no need for neighbour to teach
neighbour, or brother to teach brother, the knowledge of the Lord.
The
message of the New Testament points to a fulfilment of this promise. There is no
encouragement to an antinomian irresponsibility; what is indicated is an "exteriorization"
of God's law, with particular reference to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it neither sees him nor knows him. But you shall know him, because he shall
abide with you and shall be in you. The world - that is to say,
the separative self, the conscious ego, entangled in its craving to preserve a
spurious identity in opposition to God - cannot know the spirit within. But as
soon as we yield to the continual pressure of God's grace, urging us to be ourselves,
we can realize his self-manifestation. And
those who love me shall be loved by my Father; and I will love them and manifest
myself to them ... Those who
love me will keep my word; and we will come to them and make our abode with them.
The Spirit's presence declares itself by the Spirit's fruits, not merely by dictating
action. The Holy Spirit affects conduct at its source: modifying character by such
qualities as love, peace, joy, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
meekness, self-control. These being present, an external law would be superfluous.
Responsory; Rom 8:5-6.2
Those
who live on the level of their lower nature have their outlook formed by it, and
that spells death; but + those who live
on the level
of the
spirit have a spiritual outlook, and that is life and peace.
V. In
Christ Jesus the life-giving law of the Spirit has freed you from the law of
sin and death. + Those who live ...
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Graham, Aelred (1907-1984) Born in
Liverpool, he was educated at Saint Edward's College in that city, and entered Ampleforth
Abbey in 1930. He was professed the following year, and ordained priest in 1938
after his studies at Oxford where he took the degree S.T.L. at Blackfriars. On
his return to Ampleforth he taught dogmatic theology. In 1938 his first book, The Love of God appeared, and he also wrote
articles for learned reviews. In 1951 he was appointed prior of Portsmouth Priory
in Rhode Island, U.5.A. He is the author of The Christ of Catholicism, The Final Victory, Catholicism and the World
Today, Christian Thought and Action, and Zen Catholicism. During a three month visit to Japan in 1967, he
interviewed notable Buddhists in an a attempt to understand their religion. This
resulted in another book called: Conversation:
Christian and Buddhist.
INDIVIDUAL SERIES VIEW, MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
GRAHAM, AELRED, DOM, O.S.B., 1907-1984
SERIES 1, CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MERTON AND DOM AELRED GRAHAM.
SERIES LIST
CONTAINER LIST
| Series# | Date | From/To | First Lines | Pub | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 #1. «All Series« | 1953/01/15 | transcript from Merton | This is just a note to thank you for the article you wrote about me in the Atlantic. | ✓ | [copy from published letters] «detailed view» |
| Series 1 #2. «All Series« | 1953/02/05 | HLS[x] from Graham, Aelred / to Robert Giroux | Many thanks for "The Sign of Jonas" which I am reading through with interest. It seems to confirm | «detailed view» | |
| Series 1 #3. «All Series« | 1953/02/14 | TLS[x] to Merton | Having just finished reading your "SIGN OF JONAS" (in my view by far the most attractive of all your | [see Section 2 for original] «detailed view» | |
| Series 1 #4. «All Series« | 1953/03/03 | TLS[x] to Fox, James | A letter from a mutual friend of ours -- William J. McCormack, Jr., an alumnus of Portsmouth Priory | [see Series 2 for orignal letter] «detailed view» | |
| Series 1 #5. «All Series« | 1963/04/17 | HLS to Merton | Your very kind and [...indecipherable...] message has just reached me. Only the other day I was | «detailed view» | |
| Series 1 #6. «All Series« | 1963/04/24 | transcript from Merton | As a matter of fact I went ahead and wrote a review. I liked the book so much and found so much | ✓ | [copy from published letters] «detailed view» |
| Series 1 #7. «All Series« | 1963/04/26 | TLS to Merton | What a magnanimous person you are! Thank you indeed for your letter, with its stream of intuitions, | «detailed view» | |
| Series 1 #8. «All Series« | 1963/08/24 | TLS to Merton | Thank you for your kind letter of August 21. Seeing that he is so warmly commended by you I shall | «detailed view» | |
| Series 1 #9. «All Series« | 1963/09/10 | TAL[c] from Merton | Thanks for your very good letter. I do not know whether Fr John of the Cross will get there, | ✓ | «detailed view» |
| Series 1 #10. «All Series« | 1963/10/03 | TLS to Merton | As I have just written to Father Thurston N. Davis, S.J. of AMERICA, from time to time we bring out | «detailed view» |
http://merton.org/Research/Correspondence/Series.aspx?id=797&series=160
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