The idea that ‘the kingdom of God is among you’ (Luke 17:21) is perhaps the central theme of the good news that Jesus Christ came to bring. This echoes the insight of the Hebrew Bible that God’s will for us is not something distant and almost unattainable, but near at hand and capable of being understood and lived (see Deuteronomy 30:11–14). All those who want to take these assurances seriously are thereby led to ask themselves where in the world around them they are able to encounter the Kingdom of God or experience indications of God’s will. The writers in this issue of The Way offer a variety of responses to such questions.
Teresa White, ‘‘Glimpses of Heaven upon Earth’’, 7–14
The life of Madeleine Delbrêl (1904-1964) captures the dynamic interplay between the ordinary and the extraordinary, in which we catch a glimpse of the divine. Her desire to live simply in the ministry of spiritual consolation bears poignant witness to the living presence of God.
Richard Boileau, ‘Falling in Love with God’, 15–24
Falling in love can be understood as one of the deepest of human experiences, or as nothing more than a fleeting and superficial romantic attachment. Richard Boileau argues that, far from being shallow, the idea of falling in love with God can powerfully capture the essence of what it truly means to speak of God being merciful.
John Stroyan, ‘The Shakespeare Sermon’, 25–31
The Right Reverend John Stroyan has been the Anglican bishop of Warwick since 2005. This homily, preached in Stratford-upon-Avon as part of last year’s celebrations to mark the birthday of William Shakespeare, employs ideas taken from Shakespeare’s plays to deepen an understanding of the image of the wheat grain found in chapter 12 of John’s Gospel.
Bonnie Thurston, ‘‘Like an Island I Had Not Rowed to’: God-Talk in the Poetry of Anne Sexton’, 33–46
Poets who wish to write on religious themes can choose either simply to draw on traditional language and imagery, or attempt the more difficult task of reshaping this to reflect their own experience more accurately. Anne Sexton was a poet who took the second of these paths, and Bonnie Thurston assesses how successfully she achieved her goal.
Ruth Agnes Evans, ‘Outcast, Stripped, Pierced: A Personal Look at the Spiritual Journey of St Francis and his Relationship with Society’, 47–61
Ruth Agnes Evans began her religious life as a Poor Clare Sister, following a Franciscan rule. Here she explores what an early biography of St Francis of Assisi, the Legend of the Three Companions, tells us about the saint’s struggles to understand what God was calling him to, and his subsequent attempts to shape his life in accordance with that understanding.
Nicholas King, ‘Questions of Translation’, 62–69
Nicholas King, a Jesuit who teaches theology at the University of Oxford, has recently completed and published a new translation of the Old and New Testaments. Here he explains why he thought the work involved in producing such a translation was worthwhile, and outlines some of the issues that the task led him to consider.
Liz Budd Ellmann, ‘Seeking God Everywhere and Always:Ten Trends in Global Spiritual Direction’, 70–80
Spiritual Directors International is an organization that exists to support the work of spiritual accompaniment around the world, and Liz Budd Ellman is its executive director. Here she draws on her experience in that role to present ten areas of current growth and development within this ministry as it is practised across the globe.
Thomas W. Jodziewicz, ‘Reflections on Evangelii nuntiandi’, 81–93
This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the Synod of Bishops called by Pope Paul VI to discuss the evangelisation of the modern world. The document he wrote after this Synod, Evangelii nuntiandi, is as relevant today as it was when first published. Th
Timothy Daaleman, ‘Modern Family’, 94–97
Timothy Daaleman is a medical practitioner who specialises in family medicine. An encounter with a sculpture in a Washington shrine showing the Holy Family resting on the flight into Egypt led him to reflect on his own experience of married and family life. Seeing his parents reflected in the statues of Joseph and Mary offers him a deeper appreciation of his own call to fatherhood.
Patrick W. Collins, ‘Thomas Merton and the Future of Liturgical Renewal’, 99–113
The US Cistercian monk and noted spiritual writer, Thomas Merton, died in 1968, just as the reform of the Roman Catholic liturgy sanctioned by the Second Vatican Council was getting under way.Liturgical reform had been a matter of great interest to Merton, and here Patrick Collins offers a personal view of what an ongoing reform influenced by Merton’s perspective could look like.