From the Archives: Richard Rohr on “Letting Go” (1987)
Listen to a recording from a series of foundational teachings given by Richard Rohr in 1987, the Center for Action and Contemplation’s first year of operation.
To celebrate the Center for Action and Contemplation’s (CAC) 35th Anniversary year, we will be releasing a series of archival recordings of Richard Rohr from the early days of our founding. This recording is a talk given by Richard in 1987.
In this talk Fr. Richard discusses religion as an idol, confusing the Kingdom of God for the church, and the radical nature of the gospel. “What the kingdom is precisely saying is you cannot any longer think of business as usual. The world as we know it is passing away. Stop giving your allegiance to the systems and the loyalties of this world. We’ve allowed our American people to think they could do that. We’ve allowed our American Catholics to think they could bow before America, they could bend the need to militarism and still bend the need to God and know what they’re doing. And that’s why Jesus says you can’t do it both ways. You simply can’t.”
Fr. Richard explores the three seductions of the world: power, prestige, and possessions. He invites us to let go of these seductions and find liberation in a deeper spirituality.
