Murray Bodo is one writer who, in this age of deconstruction
and cynicism, resolutely believes that literature and life are deeply entwined.
Perhaps that’s not surprising for a Franciscan friar and the author
of best-selling books about St. Francis and St. Clair. But for Fr. Bodo,
the essence of good writing is not preaching, but the adumbration of mystery.
From his own poetry and creative non-fiction to his literary tributes to
kindred spirits like
Thomas Merton and Denise Levertov, Fr. Bodo invites
us to find the meditative space where grace can make us whole. Unlike most
religious writers, Fr. Bodo’s language never smacks of mere piety—which
is probably why he’s one of our most popular Christian writers. A good
friend to Image, Fr. B has often been the preacher and liturgist
at our conferences and summer workshops.
Click to read his essays from Image #27, "Denise Levertov: A Memory and Appreciation," and #12, "At Thomas Merton's Hermitage."
Murray Bodo's Current Projects
"I'm presently working on a book about prayer entitled, "Still in the Mystery: the Landscape of Prayer." To date it is over 300 pages, which makes me smile when I think that the disciples asked Jesus how to pray and he gave them basically one paragraph: the Our Father. But, of course, I'm not Jesus, which these sometimes tortured pages about my own journey of prayer make abundantly clear. I'm also finishing a book on St. Francis's Canticle of the Creatures for the Pauline Books series, "Poetry as Prayer." And, as always, I continue to write poems."
Biography...
Father Murray Bodo is a Franciscan priest. A member of
the Franciscan Academy and the author of seventeen
books, including the international
best-seller, Francis, the Journey and the Dream, and Poetry as Prayer:
Denise Levertov, he is visiting professor of poetry and visiting scholar
in the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University, New York. His poems
have appeared in The Paris Review, Western Humanities Review, Mystics Quarterly,
Cistercian Studies, Tracks (Dublin), The Cord, and St. Anthony
Messenger; and they've been anthologized in Odd Angles of Heaven: Contemporary
Poetry by People of Faith and Place of Passage: Contemporary Catholic
Poetry. Father Murray spends his summers in Assisi, Italy as a staff member
and pilgrim guide for Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs. His most recent work
is Icarus in Assisi, a chapbook of poems translated into Italian with
facing English text, published by Minerva Press, Assisi.
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I first read Murray Bodo's poem "The Journey and the Dream" in 1985 on the back of a Catholic magazine. I think it was "The Messenger". I cut it out and have enjoyed referring to it on a regular basis. It is kept in the front of my bible. I am wondering if I would be permitted to pass it on to some friends via the internet. They are experiencing troubling times and I myself have found this poem to have a settling, calming and balancing effect. It is a good therapy for the soul.
I look forward to hearing from you.
God Bless and enrich you in all good things.
Gabrielle
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