Pursuit of Holiness: From “Life and Holiness” by the Reverend Thomas Merton (vegetarian), Part 1 of 2

In today’s episode, we are delighted to present chosen excerpts from Thomas Merton's book, “Life and Holiness,” where the path toward Christian holiness is revealed to us by the Reverend Thomas Merton (vegetarian).

Chapter 1 - Christian Ideals Ideas and Reality “Nevertheless, the task begins within each Christian soul. We cannot bring hope and redemption to others unless we are ourselves filled with the Light of Christ and with His Spirit. In order to be able to share effectively in hearing the Church's burdens, we must first gain strength and wisdom. We must be educated in love. We must make a beginning of holiness.” “Thus, while it is quite clear that we are called to ‘be perfect,’ and while we know that perfection consists in ‘keeping the commandments’ (of Christ), above all, His ‘new commandment to love one another as He has loved us,’ still each one has to work out his salvation in fear and trembling in the mystery and often bewildering confusion of his own individual life. In doing this, each one actually comes out with a new ‘way,’ a new ‘sanctity’ which is all his own because each one of us has a peculiar vocation to reproduce the likeness of Christ in a mode that is not quite the same as anybody else’s since no two of us are quite alike.”