Following are recent homilies by our pastor, Rev. Noah Casey.
"Whewee…..what a day! You know being a hotel bellhop isn’t as easy as some folks would make it out to be. I’ve been working here at this Inn on the road to Jericho for a long time. I’ve learned that the chores are rather predictable. It’s the surprises that really get you..."
"A number of years ago, there was a great discussion in the monastery coffee room as to the exact beginning of the Liturgical Movement. All manner of examples were cited from the past. Some wondered what impact all this would have on the future of the liturgical life in the church..."
"The Gospel just proclaimed arose from an exchange between one of the Scribes, a lawyer of sorts, and Jesus. This was not unusual. What was a bit unusual was that the Scribe was not trying to trick Jesus into saying something against the Law. Many others had tried. However, this particular Scribe appears to have been honestly interested in Jesus’ teaching, and he wants to pursue it by asking Jesus questions for clarification..."
"They never seem to learn. The critics of Jesus continued to try to trick Him on some point of the Jewish Law. The trickery usually involves trying to get Jesus to place Himself in opposition to the Law thereby invalidating Himself as a leader of the people. What they miss is that Jesus is not preaching against the Law; He has come, instead, to fulfill it..."
"Every once in a while life and life’s responsibilities get to be a bit too much. We might begin thinking of far off places, places where we could hide from expectations and all those nasty preoccupations like work, family, raking the leaves. Things like that. When I was a junior monk... "
"Identity and decision. These are the concerns of today’s Gospel. The challenge before us today is to trust in God’s care for us and grow in faith. In so doing, we come to know our true selves. We also come to the point of making a decision to either stay with Christ Jesus, or to turn back into our old ways of relying only on ourselves..."
"There is a great deal of coming and going in today’s Gospel. Much of this coming and going takes place on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. The apostles are not the first ones, however, to experience the power and revelation of God on the waters..."
