Welcome to the website of Fr. William Paul McKane, OSB, a Benedictine monk residing alone in Great Falls, Montana. In time I shall post prayers, essays, poems, photographs, and links on this website. It will be a work in progress, but I seek to have the website in good order by the time I retire from active duty as a parish priest on 1 July 2018. Understand that my interests are in spiritual life, in philosophy, in seeking the truth about God and man. My interests are not in what is often called, dismissively, “religion.” With a doctorate in political science / political philosophy, I am also interested in the well-being of our American political order, and of our world.
MTMonk. Empty Monk. A real monk seeks to be empty of self, or self-centered existence, in order to allow God to reign in and through him. MTMonk just happens to be suitable for a monk living in MT, in Montana. Is Montana MT? Is Montana empty? Questions for another day.
A monk’s purpose and way of living is simple: to seek God. One seeks God in faith, truth, goodness, beauty, and in silence. Monk comes from the Greek word, “monachos,” a monk, in turn based on the Greek word “monos,” meaning alone. A monk must be essentially alone to be all one in God. “Alone with the Alone” is the familiar phrase by the Greek-speaking philosopher, Plotinus (204-270 A.D.) To be alone with the Alone is the way of the monk.
As a first offering on this website, I wrote this poem at the end of February, 2018. The poem seeks to express the experience of one seeking to be alone with the Alone, and does so in words generated through meditation. To meditate well requires much dying, much giving up, much letting everything be as it is. Meditation is the lifeblood of a monk, and it is conducted in silence and in the darkness of unknowing.
A monk’s purpose and way of living is simple: to seek God. One seeks God in faith, truth, goodness, beauty, and in silence. Monk comes from the Greek word, “monachos,” a monk, in turn based on the Greek word “monos,” meaning alone. A monk must be essentially alone to be all one in God. “Alone with the Alone” is the familiar phrase by the Greek-speaking philosopher, Plotinus (204-270 A.D.) To be alone with the Alone is the way of the monk.
As a first offering on this website, I wrote this poem at the end of February, 2018. The poem seeks to express the experience of one seeking to be alone with the Alone, and does so in words generated through meditation. To meditate well requires much dying, much giving up, much letting everything be as it is. Meditation is the lifeblood of a monk, and it is conducted in silence and in the darkness of unknowing.
Christian Meditation Sessions
On Tuesday evenings at 5:45 p.m., I conduct a Christian Meditation session - sitting in prayerful silence - at the former Most Blessed Sacrament Chapel in Black Eagle at 1325 Smelter Avenue. No prior knowledge or experience of Christian Meditation is required, and newcomers are always welcome to join us.
Faith Class
Beginning sometime later this summer, I will lead an evening faith class at the former Most Blessed Sacrament Chapel in Black Eagle. Details will be posted soon.