Seventy-Four Tools for Good Living: Reflections on the Fourth Chapter of Benedict's Rule

by Michael Casey OCSO

Overview

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:·         continue the process of reflection for themselves·         apply what is written to their own lives·         draw on their own wisdom and insight·         and, ultimately, broaden their experience of monastic spirituality

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814637456
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	05/07/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	556 KB

About the Author

Michael Casey, OCSO, has been a monk of Tarrawarra Abbey (Australia) since 1960. In the intervening years he has conducted many retreats and workshops on every continent (except Antarctica) and has written many articles on topics relating to monastic history and spirituality. He is also the author of many books, including The Road to Eternal Life: Reflections on the Prologue of Benedict's Rule and Seventy-Four Tools for Good Living: Reflections on the Fourth Chapter of Benedict’s Rule, both from Liturgical Press.

Editorial Reviews

“Michael Casey brings a deep lived knowledge of the monastic tradition to this splendid set of reflections on Benedict's Rule. He manages to marry faith commitment to pastoral common sense in such a manner that monks and laity as well can find answers to that request made to the old desert dwellers: Give me a good word. Casey, in fact, gives us many good words.”
Lawrence S. Cunningham
John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology (Emeritus)
The University of Notre Dame

EBOOK COMMENTARY

Ancient monastic authors often stressed their wish to be of useto readers. Like them, Michael Casey has written a useful volume, a volume to live by. Drawing on a wealth of sources, and reading deeply in the book of experience, he shows what a vast perspective is indicated in the ‘little Rule’ of Benedict, what fullness of life is in store for those who follow it with courage and coherence.”
            Eric Varden, OCSO
            Mount Saint Bernard Abbey



“Tolle lege (pick up this book) if you want a sustained conversation with a master teacher of the Rule of Benedict. I am shocked how superficially I habitually read chapter 4 of the Rule of Benedict. Those seventy-four tools are no longer a list but a loving invitation.”
                Meg Funk, OSB
                Our Lady of Grace Monastery



“Michael Casey brings a deep lived knowledge of the monastic tradition to this splendid set of reflections on Benedict's Rule. He manages to marry faith commitment to pastoral common sense in such a manner that monks and laity as well can find answers to that request made to the old desert dwellers: Give me a good word. Casey, in fact, gives us many good words.”
Lawrence S. Cunningham
John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology (Emeritus)
The University of Notre Dame



“In my regular university course on the Rule of St. Benedict as a mirror to present-day culture there is close reading of some chapters of the Rule. To my shame I tended to neglect chapter four a bit. Michael Casey’s deep reflections in this remarkable book are nourished by a half century of monastic reading and deep psychological and existential insight. I can now draw from nearly 300 pages of wisdom on the fourth chapter of Benedict’s Rule. Just to quote from Fr. Michael’s preface: ‘There is much more in Benedict’s Rule than meets the superficial eye.’” Wil Derkse
Andreas van Melsen Chair for Science, Society and Worldviews (retired)
Catholic Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands



"This book is not an exegetical study; one goes elsewhere for such. Rather this is a wisdom text, exploring each tool in a search to comprehend these pithy sayings for good living. . . . It is his own lived experience that brightens up the text. Casey's years of cenobitic living, coupled with his perceptive eye and peppered wit give life to the seventy-four tools."
Timothy Joyce, OSB, Glastonbury Abbey, Hingham, MA, American Benedictine Review



"The incomparable Casey has done it again. He seems to deliberately choose the most unlikely sections of the Rule of Benedict and make them into something appealing, even compelling, for the modern reader."
Terrence Kardong, OSB, Tjurunga

From the Publisher