Tomáš Halík
Without contemplation, the future of humanity is under threat, warns Czech author and theologian Tomáš Halík. A psychotherapist, Catholic priest, and professor of sociology at Charles University in Prague, he has Doctorates in Divinity, Sociology and Philosophy, and in 1978 was ordained in the Czech underground church during the Communist oppression of organised religion. Peter Thomas* reflects on the wisdom that Halik offers a world in crisis, and how the deeply contemplative approach Halik advocates can help us to confront our suffering and woundedness, and encounter the risen Christ within.
Throughout Tomáš Halík’s many writings, there is the theme of contemplation, though always in relation to service. He acknowledges that the Church can provide us with a contemplative approach to reality that allows us to perceive the constant presence of God, and to perceive our relationship with the natural environment as a relationship of cooperation and responsibility for the ongoing process of creation.[1]
He also emphasises that a contemplative approach to reality bids us to distinguish between that which is superficial and that which is authentic in ‘the language of the world; public opinion, advertisements, ideologies, and omnipresent entertainment industry’, and is essential if we are to read the signs of our times “which are the language of God expressed through events in the world, [and] profound changes in society and culture.” [2]
He adds:
“What we need most of all now is the prophetic service of ‘spiritual discrimination,’ the ability to ‘read the signs of the times’. And for this, contemplation is absolutely essential. Christian existence is a process of constant conversion, metanoia – from the ‘ego’ to ‘Christ within us’. Contemplation is this path, the method. It is a battle with the forces used by the ego resisting its own death.” [3]
The expression ‘to be in the world but not of it’ is interpreted differently depending on our lifestyle. Halik explores ways to bridge the gap between the activity of daily living and the stillness and silence that the spirit craves.
He abhors a dualistic understanding of activity and contemplation, preferring to see that both are opportunities where we can be one with God. At the same time, he acknowledges that it is in those moments when we cultivate stillness that we can experience an inner encounter of truth, a conscious awareness that provides a preparation for other aspects of our daily living.
As a one-time member of the Czech underground and advisor to Vaclav Havel[4] he writes eloquently about suffering and trust. He argues that we can discover the clearest vision of God by confronting suffering rather than turning away from it. He believes that his namesake Thomas the apostle, when he asked to touch Jesus’ wounds, was eager to know that the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross was not wiped away by the resurrection, but that the suffering is permanent.
This permanency is important because it is in our woundedness and that of others where we find God. True faith is wounded faith, the faith that comes from the cry on the cross, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?” “My God, my God why have you deserted me?” (Mk 15:34).[5]
Halik proposes a deep contemplative approach, especially to suffering brought about by doubt and those moments when we feel abandoned by God. Suffering and love are juxtapositioned as he explores the concepts of love as they apply to our Western culture; and a faith that is crucified and resurrected.
A deeply spiritual man, Halik’s reflections on love and patience are helpful to contemplatives, especially meditators struggling to overcome doubt, scepticism and disbelief, and also embrace both a God who remains hidden as well as those who cannot embrace such a God. He argues that we must do without God as an external support and warns that preachers often offer us an external Christ when they should invite us to know Him in Spirit and inwardness.
There is a parallel between Halik’s thinking and some of the great contemplative figures of history, in that he places great store on his own experience which at times seems to mirror that of atheists, or at the very least, a believer in crisis. For example, the 19th century French nun and saint, Therese of Lisieux, who on her deathbed experienced God’s absence from the world; God’s silence; God’s remoteness; God’s hiddenness.
As a believer, Halik distinguishes himself from atheists by claiming that atheists are impatient, but believers are patient in confronting the absence of God because the believer has faith, hope, and love.
Just as contemplatives dwell in the mystery of God, Halik exhorts us to “never consider mystery over and done with”. “Mystery,” he writes,” unlike a mere dilemma, cannot be overcome; one must wait patiently at its threshold and persevere in it – must carry it in our heart.”[6]
In his latest book, “The Afternoon of Christianity,” Halik interweaves philosophy, theology, sociology and psychology, and has a great deal to say about spirituality and meditation.
“The contemplative approach to life changes human life from a monologue into a dialogue – it is about something other than human self-assertion, the technical transformation of nature, or the manipulation of society by power, something other than an engineering approach to the world and to history. It is about being silent, listening, trying to understand, persevering in the search for an authentic answer. When the technical and manipulative approach to the world is not tempered by a contemplative one, the world of humans is under threat.”[7]
Much of Halik’s writing and lecturing is devoted to dealing with life in a post-Christian era by confronting head-on the challenges of cultural secularisation and the reality of dwindling church congregations in Western countries.
Above all, however, Halik is a prophet of hope with a passionate belief in the victory of the resurrection through the defeat of the cross.
*Peter Thomas is the Meditation Group Convenor at the Carmelite Spirituality Centre in Melbourne, Australia. He has worked extensively in radio and television and as Director of Communications, Archdiocese of Melbourne 1982-1996. During much of this period he was the International Vice President of Unda and SIGNIS, the international Catholic organisation for communications, an organisation under the auspice of the Vatican’s dicastery for communications. Many of his television productions have been for the ABC Compass programs including ‘The Teacher’, in which he spent time with the Dalai Lama.
References:
[1] As reported by Tony Flannery CssR, who attended a talk by Tomáš Halík to European delegates to the October 2024 Synod in Rome.
[2] ‘Commonweal’ Jan 10, 2025, in an interview with author, Zechariah Mikel.
[3] WCCM Meditatio Seminar, Prague 2006.
[4] Vaclav Havel, author, poet, and 1st President of the Czech Republic (Czechia) 1989-1992.
[5] The Jerusalem Bible,1968, Darton, Longman & Todd, London.
[6] ‘Patience with God,’ Tomáš Halík, Doubleday US, 2009.
[7] The Afternoon of Christianity, Tomáš Halík, University of Notre Dame Press, Indiana 2024