Teilhard's Mass: Approaches to "The Mass on the World"

by Thomas Mulvihill King

"The Mass on the World" remains Teilhard's most popular essay. It is a fifteen-page prayer rich in imagery and passion suggesting more than it states. In exploring the careful thought behind Teilhard's images the present work reveals the heart and mind of the man as other approaches have not done.

In the Offertory of his "Mass" Teilhard brought the world's hungers and disappointments into prayer; the Consecration is seen as the consummation of his work in science; while the Communion called him to a life of adventure, of success and sorrow rarely equaled.

The Post-Communion tells how Teilhard transformed the simple devotions of childhood into the adoration of maturity. He ends his "Mass" with a dedication to the apostolate, and starting from this text the present work develops what it means to be an Apostle of Christ in a pluralistic world. Above all, Teilhard was a priest--and under his guidance all Christians can answer their call to priesthood. "Teilhard's Mass" shows how every Christian can transform one's life and death into an all-embracing Mass on the Altar of the World.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Thomas Mulvihill King, S.J. was a professor of theology at Georgetown University. King entered the Society of Jesus in 1951 after completing undergraduate studies in English at the University of Pittsburgh. As a Jesuit, he undertook further studies at Fordham University and Woodstock College and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1964. After completing a doctorate in theology at the University of Strasbourg in 1968, King began teaching at Georgetown. A member of the American Teilhard Association, he has written or edited several books on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, including Teilhard's Mysticism of Knowing (1981), Teilhard and the Unity of Knowledge (1983) Teilhard de Chardin (1988), The Letters of Teilhard de Chardin and Lucile Swan (1993) and Teilhard's Mass (2005). His other works include Sartre and the Sacred (1974), Enchantments: Religion and the Power of the Word (1989), Merton: Mystic at the Center of America (1992) and Jung's Four and Some Philosophers (1999). He also wrote the introduction for a new 2004 translation by Sion Cowell of Teilhard's The Divine Milieu. In 1999, The Hoya, Georgetown's student newspaper, declared King "Georgetown's Man of the Century", noting that "no one has had a more significant presence on campus and effect on students than Father King." In addition, Father King was presented as third in a series of cover stories regarding Jesuit identity in the Georgetown Voice on September 27, 2001.

Reviews

[Ephrem Arcement]

This is a helpful guide to one of Teilhard’s most beloved texts. It includes chapters on various aspects impinging upon the text, commentary on the text, and appendices giving practical ways to implement the text into our prayer and worship.