Week Two : introduction
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John O'Donohue Irishman John O'Donohue was born in 1956. At the age of 18, he entered the novitiate at Maynooth where studied english, philosophy and theology. He was ordained priest in 1982, and in 1990 completed a doctorate in philosophical theology at the University of Tubingen in Germany. The prestigious Review of Metaphysics commended him for "breaking new ground in our thinking about consciousness … [with] a richer and deeper notion of Personhood." O'Donohue returned to Ireland where he continued as a priest and with post-doctoral work on the 13th century philosopher and mystic, Meister Eckhart. In 1997, his book Anam Cara was published and became an international best-seller. At the end of 2000, O'Donohue retired from priestly ministry and devoted himself full-time to his writing, including several more books, and to a more public life of integrity in action—speaking, advocating against social injustice, and inspiring the wealthy and powerful in society to engage their own integrity in service of meaningful, positive change. John O'Donohue died unexpectedly in his sleep from undisclosed causes in January 2008. Our readings for this first full week of Lent are from O'Donohue's 1998 book Eternal Echoes: Exploring Our Hunger to Belong. The music of psalm settings and other pieces is sung by ProMusica of Washington Adventist University, directed by James Bingham. |
