Desire, Darkness, and Hope

Laurie Cassidy, PhD, is a theologian and spiritual director currently teaching in the Christian Spirituality Program at Creighton University. An award-winning author and editor, her books include InterruptingWhite Privilege: Catholic Theologians Break the Silence, edited with Alex Mikulich. Her latest book, The Scandal of White Complicity in US Hyper-Incarceration: A Non-Violent Spirituality of White Resistance, is co-authored Alex Mikulich and Margaret Pfeil. As well as being an anti-racist activist, she has ministered in the area of spirituality for the past thirty years and provided spiritual direction, retreats, and workshops across the United States. Her research and writing explore the political and cultural impact of Christian mysticism in personal and social transformation.

“For decades, pioneering contemplative theologian Constance FitzGerald has been creatively exploring how the wisdom of the Carmelite tradition can help address our contemporary experience of impasse and darkness, and our deepest desires for personal and social transformation, in the face of so many current crises. Gathered here are seven of her most important essays, together with contributions from a variety of theologians, who draw upon her insights as they grapple with such issues as the COVID-19 pandemic, economic injustice, environmental degradation, violence and dehumanization, systemic racism, and the oppression of women and minorities. Sometimes provocative, always thought provoking and change-oriented, this anthology is a rich resource for all those ‘urgently longing’ for a timely reintegration of theology, contemplation, and the struggle for social justice.”Steven Payne, OCD, author of The Carmelite Tradition: Spirituality in History

• ContentsForeword ixBrian McDermott, SJAcknowledgments xiiIntroduction: Rowing Toward God in an Anguished World 1M. Shawn Copeland1 A Discipleship of Equals: Voices from Tradition–– Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross 21Constance FitzGerald, OCD2 Constance FitzGerald, OCD, Contemplative 65Colette Ackerman, OCD3 Impasse and Dark Night 77Constance FitzGerald, OCD4 Contemplative Prayer and the Impasse of White Supremacy 103Laurie Cassidy5 The Sentinel 131Maria Teresa Morgan6 The Desire for God and the Transformative Power of Contemplation 151Constance FitzGerald, OCD7 Impasse and Catastrophe: What the Virus Teaches 173Susie Paulik Babka8 Impasse and the Preferential Option for the Poor 195Roberto S. Goizueta9 Impasse and Climate Crisis: A Contemplative View 211Margaret R. Pfeil10 Transformation in Wisdom: The Subversive Character and Educative Power of Sophia in Contemplation 231Constance FitzGerald, OCD11 Contemplative Transformation in Sophia-Wisdom: A Way of Decolonizing Faith and Society 305Alex Mikulich12 Toward a Spirituality for Racial Justice: The Transformation of Consciousness and the “Souls of White Folks” 325Bryan N. Massingale13 Passion in the Carmelite Tradition: Edith Stein 347Constance FitzGerald, OCD14 Grace in a Violent World: Constance FitzGerald’s Reading of Edith Stein 373Andrew Prevot15 Preaching the Dark Wisdom of the Cross 391Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP16 Dark Night and the Transformative Influence of Wisdom in John of the Cross 409Constance FitzGerald, OCD17 From Impasse to Prophetic Hope: Crisis of Memory 425Constance FitzGerald, OCDList of Contributors 455Selected Writings of Constance FitzGerald, OCD 461