The Call of Wild Geese: More Sermons in a Monastery Volume 136

Matthew Kelty's books bring profound insights into the spiritual impact of nature. His writing is poetic and inspiring, gives me hope for not just my life, but all of life. He takes the dogmatic out of dogma! He has a way of sharing his own experiences that bring answers to questions I've wrestled with and at the same time leave me with confidence in the mystery of Spirit. I have read and re-read his "Flute Solo" and will do the same with this title. Each reading enriches my heart and soul.

Father Matthew Kelty of the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, had a varied career as a priest and monk: a missionary in New Guinea, a hermit, a sometime dabbler in experimental monasteries. He was a novice under Thomas Merton who he respected and loved but there are few obvious resemblances. Father Matthew is a Boston Irishman, very down to earth, straightforward and pragmatic. He might have seemed ready for silent retirement when, well over a decade ago, the abbot appointed him guestmaster. Suddenly the weird grab-back of his life and journeys jelled, made perfect sense; it all blossomed into a late life vocation. He is one of the great homilests of the American Catholic church of our time. This collection is a shovelful from the treasure chest. There are other such collections available on the book market, all worthwhile. His sermons are succinct and penetrating; his great theme is the gift of God's mercy available to our invisibly ragged and ravaged modern souls. There is a genuine medieval simplicty and directness to every sermon he ever delivers. The only fault with the book is an inherent one; it is a written record only and no other is possible.