Esther de Waal (London, 25 October 2008)
Esther de Waal lives in a small cottage on the Welsh/English border. After studying and teaching history at Cambridge University, she married, had four sons, and moved to Canterbury, where she lived in a house that had been part of the medieval monastic community. She leads retreats, lectures, and travels widely. Her major interests are the fields of the Benedictine and Celtic traditions.
Dr de Waal opened the first London series in June 2007. She spoke on Contemplative Living in Today's World: an exploration of Benedictine and Celtic spirituality and its value for life in the modern world. Taking the two great dimensions of Time and Space, she invited us to consider the ways in which Benedict's Rule can guide us towards harmony and balance in our use of time; and she described the way in which the cloister and its garden can symbolise both outer and inner space. An edited version of her talk is available here.
She also opened our second London season with the first of a pair of talks on Thomas Merton, intended to mark the 40th anniversary of his death in 1968. We shall add a summary of her talk, Thomas Merton and the Camera as a Tool for Contemplation, to our Archive as soon as possible
Her many books include: Seeking God: the Way of St Benedict; Living with Contradiction: Benedictine Wisdom for Everyday Living; A Life-giving Way: a Commentary on the Rule of St Benedict; The Celtic Way of Prayer; World Made Whole: Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition; A Seven Day Journey with Thomas Merton, and The Extraordinary in the Ordinary.
James Finley (London, 23 November 2008)
James Finley PhD has been a student of contemplative prayer for more than 20 years, six of which he spent at the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where Thomas Merton was his spiritual director. He leads retreats and workshops throughout the United States and Canada, attracting men and women from all religious traditions who seek to live a contemplative way of life in the midst of today's busy world. He is also a clinical psychologist in private practice with his wife in Santa Monica, California.
His talk will be the second marking the 40th anniversary of Thomas Merton's death.
He has written a number of books, including Merton's Palace of Nowhere: a search for God through awareness of the true self;Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God;
and The Contemplative Heart.
Fr Richard Rohr OFM (Houston, 4 Dec 2008)
Fr Richard Rohr is a Franciscan of the New Mexico Province. He was the founder of the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director.
He was born in 1943 in Kansas. He entered the Franciscans in 1961 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He received his Master's Degree in Theology from Dayton that same year. He now lives in a hermitage behind his Franciscan community in Albuquerque, and divides his time between local work, and preaching and teaching on all continents. He considers the proclamation of the Gospel to be his primary call, and uses many different platforms to communicate that message. Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, the enneagram, and eco-spirituality would all be themes that he addresses in service of the Gospel.
He is probably best known for his numerous audio and video tapes, and through the Center's publication, Radical Grace. He is a regular contributing editor/writer for Sojourners magazine and recently published a 7-part Lenten Series for the National Catholic Reporter.
A recording of his talk, given in London on 9th January 2008, is available on CD: click here.
Check the Mustard Seed Resource Center for all Fr. Richard's works.
Dr Cynthia Bourgeault ( London, 13 December 2008)
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault is an author, lecturer, hermit, and scholar. She is also a retreat and conference leader, teacher of prayer, writer on the spiritual life, and Episcopal priest. Passionately committed to the recovery of the Christian contemplative path, she has worked closely with Fr Thomas Keating and Fr Bruno Barnhart and other Christian contemplative masters. She has studied Sufism, the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff, and the inner traditions of Christianity. And when she isn't teaching Centering Prayer or giving lectures around the world, she spends half the year in the solitude of a Trappist hermitage on Eagle Island, Maine. She is the author of Mystical Hope, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Chanting the Psalms, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, Love is Stronger than Death--and forthcoming --The Wisdom Jesus, and many articles on the contemplative life.
A recording of her talk, given in London on 20 May 2008, is available on CD: click here.
Fr Daniel O'Leary (London, 25 February 2009)
Daniel O’Leary is a priest, author and teacher in the Diocese of Leeds. As curate and Parish Priest, he has worked in parishes for almost thirty years. He taught theology and religious education in St Mary’s University College in London and became Chair of its Religious Studies Department before being appointed Episcopal Vicar for Christian Formation in Leeds. He holds Masters degrees in theology, spirituality and religious education. Award-winning author of 12 books, he is a regular contributor to the Tablet and the Irish Furrow. Currently he gives conferences and retreats to teachers, catechists, head-teachers, priests and Diocesan RE Advisers around the country. His current passion and project is about the recovery of what is called the sacramental imagination in all our spiritual endeavours – both our inner spiritual work and our many pastoral ministries. Begin with the Heart, book and DVD, is published by Columba Press, 2008.
Fr Laurence Freeman OSB (London, 19 March 2009)
Born in London in 1951, Fr. Laurence Freeman OSB was taught meditation by John Main, and became his successor. Fr. Laurence is the spiritual guide of The World Community for Christian Meditation, and a Benedictine monk. He leads retreats and seminars worldwide, and nurtures interfaith understanding. His books include Jesus – the Teacher Within, Light Within, The Selfless Self, Web of Silence and Common Ground.
This will be his second talk for Silence in the City: a summary of his first talk, The One-ness of Silence, based on notes taken by a member of the Silence in the City team, is available here.
Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP (London, 13 May 2009)
Timothy Radcliffe, OP (b. 1945) is a Catholic priest and a Dominican friar, a member of the Dominican Priory at Blackfriars, Oxford. He was Prior Provincial of the English Province and later Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992-2001, the only member of the English Province of the Dominicans to have held the office since the Order's foundation in 1216.
Among his many publications are: Sing a New Song. The Christian Vocation. Dublin: Dominican Publications, 1999. I Call You Friends. London: Continuum, 2001. Seven Last Words. London: Burns & Oates, 2004. What Is the Point of Being A Christian?. London and New York: Burns & Oates, 2005. .Just One Year: Prayer and Worship through the Christian Year, edited by Timothy Radcliffe with Jean Harrison. London: Darton, Longman and Todd for CAFOD and Christian Aid, 2006.
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