Describes desirable reasons and practical techniques for transforming prayer from merely a daily "activity" into a total way of life.Paperback

This book shows us how humility brings a basic happiness that is able to cope with difficulties and sorrows. Casey translates the ancient wisdom of Saint Benedict into the modern arena of capitalistic competition. He also demonstrates how people must stop regarding others as rivals and be content with what we have because it is a waste of time to envy those who possess qualities different than our own. Humble individuals are content with both the gifts and limitations inherent in who they ...

A solid blend of theology and spirituality, this refreshing book introduces the reader -- in an interactive way -- to the humanity and divinity of Jesus. Furthermore, Fully Human, Fully Divine applies its significant points to the reader's spiritual life. Paperback

It is June 1917. World War One has been bleeding Europe to the marrow for three years and ten months. The United States Marines land in France at St. Nazaire on the River Loire. They are the first American troops to enter the war since it had been declared on the Central Powers ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey) on April 6, 1917. They come from Marine bases all over the world; they have come from the Philippines, Cuba, Haiti and as far away as China. They have chased Chinese war...

At the peak of his career, Dan Hurley, powerful Chicago politician, master of clout, discovers a conscience, wises up, and comes to regret his life's work running and profiting from a political machine he has come to despise. But he has a plan. Far from the city, on a hill in the country where coyotes howl, he hatches a rebellion to throw a wrench into the machine and salvage his reputation, his son's respect, and what is left of his life. But is it too late? As Dan Hurley discovers, there...

Bonnie Gold, twenty-eight, Native American, Jewish, Irish, recent Phd in hand, has fallen through the cracks, adrift, and lost without direction or purpose, until she's drawn into her mother's uphill battle for governor of the State of Wisconsin. Bonnie's life improbably begins to come together as her parents' relationship comes apart under the stress of the all consuming political campaign fraught with dirty tricks and dark money. Shattered windows, shots in the night, and violence endemi...

As the longest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119 comprises 176 verses. Its message sings the praise of Israel’s Law and describes how the faithful should respond to the gift of God’s self-revelation. In The Longest Psalm, Michael Casey offers a meditative reading of each verse of the psalm, intended to be read one at a time, to facilitate a personal prayer and reflection. Psalm 119 brings together elements found throughout the Psalter and the reflections focus on universal themes as w...

After sixty years of living in a Cistercian community, Michael Casey combines his down-to-earth observations about the joys and challenges of living in community with an appreciation of the deeper meanings of cenobitic life, taking into account the changes in both theory and practice that have occurred in his lifetime. He invites his readers, especially monks and nuns, to reflect on their own experiences of community as a means of seeing a path forward into the future.Many of the k...

These short-stories by Mike Casey take your soul by the hand and bring it for an ice-cream.

In the Prologue of his Rule, St. Benedict maps out the road that leads to heaven; he lays the foundation for life in a community that seeks God. The themes that are present throughout the Rule - obedience, humility, prayer, fear of the Lord, eternal life - are grounded in the Prologue.By reflecting on the Prologue one verse at a time, Michael Casey, OCSO, delves into the richness of meaning that can be found in Benedict's words. These reflections, first given as talks and made avai...

Balaam’s Donkey is a series of daily reflections based on the homilies preached by Cistercian monk Michael Casey over his fifty years of priesthood. What remained of the original homilies was a large box full of index cards with a few talking points on each. From there, Casey has re-created the homilies and recast them into short reflections, arranged randomly for every day of the year. The range of topics discussed is broad and the approach taken differs with each reflection, mos...

There is more in Benedict’s Rule than meets the eye. Based on the rules of life of John Cassian and Saint Basil, Benedict invites us to go further back to the scriptural basis of all Christian and monastic living and pursue our spiritual journey by the guidance of the Gospel.This book of reflections on the tools for good living is intended to be read very slowly, one section at a time. In addition to communicating reflections on each verse of chapter 4, Casey invites readers to: