Skip to main content

Richard Rohr at Drew

I’m thrilled that Richard is coming to campus this week to lecture on "Contemplative Mind as an Alternative Consciousness" for the annual Tipple-Vosburgh Lectures at Drew University.  If you are near Madison, NJ, be sure to join us on Tuesday , October 19, at 7:30pm at the Dorothy Young Center.

My good friend, Jeff Markay, introduced me to the works of Richard Rohr a few years ago, and I’ve found myself listening to his tapes over and over to gain new insights.  Known for his articulation of a “Spirituality of Imperfection” for the second  half of life, Rohr speaks deeply to my heart and to thousands of others, and I commend him to my audience.    In reading his book on the Enneagram, I learned that I am a Seven and how to get along with a Five.   In listening to his tapes on Saint Paul and  Franciscan Spirituality, I heard the Gospel of Jesus in a radical way that I had not heard it before.  And in listening several times to “A Spirituality of Imperfection” I gained a new appreciation for contemplative prayer and, a least for a moment, grasped his notion of “non-dualistic thinking”—the treasure of the mystics.  

Next to Henri Nouwen,  Richard Rohr has impacted my spiritual life more than any other spiritual writer, and I am absolutely thrilled that he’s coming to Drew.

Not  too late to register:  www.drew.edu/tipple .
More information:  Contact Nancy VanderVeen at nvanderveen@drew.edu  
No where near Drew this week?   Google him and get one of his tapes or books.  

Background on Rohr:  

Richard Rohr, O.F.M. 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 (CAC) in Albuquerque, NM in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director. He founded the Center to serve as a “school for prophetic thinking,” to encourage lay leadership, and what he calls “a new reformation from within.”  

Fr. Richard is probably best known for his writings and numerous audio and video recordings that are distributed by St. Anthony Messenger Press, Crossroad Publishers, and Orbis Press, as well as through The Mustard Seed, the CAC’s resource center. He is often introduced as “the most taped and recorded Catholic priest in America.” Some of his more well-known books include Everything Belongs, Simplicity, From Wild Man to Wise Man, Quest for the Grail, Adam’s Return, Things Hidden, and Job and the Mystery of Suffering. His  most widely distributed talks are his recorded conferences on “The Enneagram,” “Breathing Under Water,” and “The Great Themes of Paul.” His latest book, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, was published by Crossroad Press in September, 2009. 

Fr. Richard 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 working at the CAC 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 his messages. Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, church reform, contemplative prayer and non-dualistic thinking, male spirituality, the Enneagram, and eco-spirituality are the principle themes of his teaching. 
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D.,  Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry,  Drew University;  and  International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book.   In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives.   Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth.   When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A The...
Read more

First Generation Lambs Club Reunion

Fifteen of us gathered Saturday night at the Lambs Club for a 35 th year reunion of those who helped start the Lamb’s Church in Times Square in the mid to late 1970’s, including: Rev. Paul S. Moore , Founder of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Tamara Dr. Michael J. Christensen , charter member and former associate pastor, and his wife Dr. Rebecca Laird Fr. William (BJ) Webe r, former Associate Pastor and Director of the Lamb’s Residency, and his wife Sheila who lived at the Lamb’s Jim and Dustee Hullinger, who were on staff together and made the Lamb’s their home for over 25 years Effie Canepa , who was the church pianist under 3 pastors, and her husband Peter Shirley Close, who attended the Lamb’s in the late 1970’s while studying, performing  and teaching music and voice Carl "Chappy" Valente , former associate pastor Rev. Bob DiQuatto , lead singer of the Church’s “Manhattan Project” and staff member of the Lamb’s, and his son Jason Rev. Gab...
Read more

Let the River Flow: Why WorldHope Corps digs village wells

  Sunday Sermon at the The Water's Edge in OB , San Diego, CA. "Woman at the Well" (John 4:7-15) When you think about the gospel story of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at Jacob’s well, I’d like you to picture this Woman at a similar well in northern Malawi. Sitting and talking with Pastor Dennis Singini about water. Her name is Nyang'oma, which means "drum." Her Christian name is Mary Botha. She is 85 years old and lives in a village in the Kampenda area of Northern Malawi. She has cared for 11 children, two of whom have died. And her husband has died. When Dennis and I first met Mary in 2008, her village did not have a deep well or access to clean water. Nor did the six surrounding villages with over 1,500 people. Women and children had to drink with animals from shallow seasonal wells or walk about of 5km away to drink from the closest stream. Sometimes they would get sick and complain of stomach aches. Cholera and dysentery were widespread, and m...
Read more