Tag: Casey
God’s attitude to my sin is pity, not blame
Unfortunately we do not learn about sinfulness from a heavenly messenger. Nor is it like the result of a personality test. We learn of our sinfulness when we are tempted. Temptation is more than awareness of alternative options: I am not tempted to genocide if I lack the means; I am not tempted to computer… Read More ›
We must become more aware of the reality of sin in our life
Because one cannot understand sin, one may be tempted to doubt its reality. Or call it relatively harmless mischief – like violating a code of obligations intended for somebody much better than I am. Humiliated by my inability to will sin away, I may try to imagine it away, or to rationalize my situation. But… Read More ›
Opening ourselves to the energy that comes from God
There is a profound harmony between the external demands of Christianity and the internal dynamism of the human heart. Christian discipleship asks no more and no less of us than that we become what God intends us to be, that we fulfill the potentiality inherent in our individual nature, that we cease acting a role… Read More ›
We were created to enjoy union with God
And with eyes wide open to the divinizing light, and with astonished ears, let us hear God’s voice crying out to us every day and admonishing us. (RB Prologue) The voice of God speaks to us every day, if we have ears to listen. What we hear, if we hear anything, can be a source… Read More ›
The ultimate consequences of our choices
If we resist the advances of God’s love in this life, there is no solid reason to expect that things will be different in the next. The fear that this possibility evokes is due less to some fearsome quality in God than to the dread eventuality that our power of free choice will be seduced… Read More ›
What is Wisdom?
Wisdom is the taste for ultimate truth, I suppose and I’d have another definition for it. Wisdom is just simply the quality of resilience after making mistakes. Any real human life is full of mistakes and the more mistakes the better because with more mistakes we learn. The longer we live, the more mistakes we… Read More ›
Understanding the Cistercian Fathers
This the final part of an interview with Fr. Michael Casey, OSCO January, 2010. (In studying their sermons) It seems to me, that Guerric of Igny took a lot of care about his discourses and he had long practice and he probably wrote them out in advance and delivered them pretty much as they are… Read More ›
Reading the Cistercian Fathers
This is a continuation of an interview with Fr. Michael Casey, OSCO January, 2010. Br Chris: How do you recommend reading the Cistercian Fathers? Fr Michael Casey: It depends on the individual. Some people you give them a reading list and they read it, other people you give them a reading list and they don’t… Read More ›
Michael Casey on “Fully Human, Fully Divine”
Below is an interview of Fr. Casey January, 2010 where Fr. Casey shares his thoughts on what he calls his best book. Admittedly this is the most difficult of Fr. Casey’s books but well worth the effort. Fully Human, Fully Divine, which I think is my best book, is really just closely tied to the… Read More ›
Humility Enhances Humanity
Far from being demeaning or dehumanizing, true humility is a quality that enhances humanity. In Saint Benedict's view a monk is humble if meets the following criteria: He is serious in his commitment He is free enough of inner conflict to be able to follow the way of Christ He is able to endure the… Read More ›