Tag: Casey
The aim of humility
At the heart of Christian anthropology is the conviction of a deep affinity between human nature and spiritual life. The difficulties of living spiritually do not come from our nature, as such, but from the deformation of our nature through selfishness and pride. Humility aims to eliminate the phony aspects of our life and to… Read More ›
Conversion means…
Conversion means being liberated by God's grace so that we can at last follow the intimate spiritual aspirations that have long been unheeded, neglected, or frustrated. It is the beginning of the journey towards a fulfillment, a journey powered by the spiritual quest but one which profoundly influences and transforms every sphere of human activity… Read More ›
A Healthy Obsession
Spiritual life is not a hobby or a part-time occupation. It is nothing if it does not find expression in everything we do. There is no possibility of moonlighting: using some of our energies for other goals or for ourselves. Taking the spiritual life seriously means that it is not compartmentalized. It is a total… Read More ›
Our sin is a happy fault
By falling we have the chance to plumb the mysteries of the divine mercy. Indeed our sin is a happy fault, as the deacon sings during the Easter vigil: 0 felix culpal But this is sin admitted, accepted and confessed, not sin hidden, denied and forced underground. God does not forgive grudgingly; showing mercy is… Read More ›
Christianity a’la carte
If reason insists on shutting down every opening to the sacred, the result will be an eclipse of reason itself . . . The eclipse of the sacred has led to a do-it-yourself approach to the holy, to a kind of supermarket of religious faiths . . . Christianity a’la carte . . .By contrast,… Read More ›
Protect the human person as the image of God
Every new responsibility entails risks. What counts is to have the right interactions. You have to make the most of the resources, talents, and qualities everyone brings to the team. . . Our constant goal in all of this must be to protect the human person as the image of God. Though fragile and under… Read More ›
Suffering becomes patience only when it is carried beyond itself
If there is no overt cause, the probability is that our pain has a providential purpose. We endure for the Lord’s sake, exactly as the martyrs did. It may seem as though every day is an encounter with death, but we must learn to pray with that ancient hero of patience: “Even if he kill… Read More ›
God’s love does not depend on us
One of the qualities we find emphasized in the ancient accounts of the martyrs was their joy. There is no question of finding pleasure in pain. Rather it is the joy that comes when everything is lost but love perdures. We always suspect that love attaches itself to our good qualities and we fear that… Read More ›
Let go of past grievances
The words of our Lord cannot be ignored: “And when you are praying, let go if you have something against anyone in order that your Father in heaven may let go of your transgressions for you” (Mark 11:25). … So long as I cling to another’s fault, I perpetuate it. The malice has left the… Read More ›
God’s providence is present in every situation
In the mind of Saint John Cassian, anger and sadness are two principal preventatives of prayer: “The disturbance caused by anger or sadness is, above all things, to be eliminated at its sources.”‘ The reason for such emphasis is simple. Both anger and sadness represent a refusal on our part to accept a situation that… Read More ›