| Henri Nouwen Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen, (Nijkerk, January 24, 1932 - Hilversum, September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life. His books are widely-read today by both Protestants and Catholics alike. The Wounded Healer, In the Name of Jesus, Clowning in Rome, The Life of the Beloved and The Way of the Heart are just a few of the more widely recognized titles. After nearly two decades of teaching at the Menninger Foundation Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and at the University of Notre Dame, Yale University and Harvard University, he left to share his life with mentally handicapped people at the L'Arche community of Daybreak in Toronto, Canada. He died in September of 1996 from a sudden heart attack. |
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| The beloved spiritual writer meditates on the parable of
the prodigal son's return -- a powerful drama of fatherhood, filial
duty, rivalry, and anger between brothers -- and its enduring lessons
for Christianity. In my opinion it is the best of Nouwen's works. The reader will take a spiritual journey with many stops for personal reflection and for evaluating her/his intellectual grasp of the goodness of God communicated through forgiveness. The reflective reader may also have to deal with passing emotional states that involve a deeper level of her/his central core. It's a dangerous book because it challenges the faith-love of the reader. It is enchanting! A blockbuster! A MUST read for the spiritually serious! |
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His spirituality was influenced by many, notably by his friendship with Jean
Vanier. At the invitation of Vanier he visited L'Arche in France, the first of
over 130 communities around the world where people with developmental
disabilities live and share life together with those who care for them. In 1986
Nouwen accepted the position of pastor for a L'Arche community called "Daybreak"
in Canada, near Toronto. Nouwen wrote about his relationship with Adam, a core
member at L'Arche Daybreak with profound developmental disabilities, in a book
entitled Adam: God's Beloved. Father Nouwen was a good friend of the late Joseph
Cardinal Bernardin.
The results of a Christian Century magazine survey conducted in 2003 indicate
that Nouwen's work was a first choice for Catholic and mainline Protestant
clergy. See: Carroll, Jackson W. (8-23-2003). Pastors' Picks: What Preachers are
Reading. Christian Century, 120(17), 31.
One of his most famous works is Inner Voice of Love, his diary between December
1987 to June 1988 during one of his most serious bouts with clinical depression.
Famous Hong Kong Christian theologian Milton Wan Wai Yiu had appended this book
with his spiritual experiences with the encounter wih him. Milton had commented
his spiritual theology with the level 'Higher and Deeper than Catholicism and
Protestant' and his works are well accredited by many Christians even with
gospel stream.
Quotes
"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us,
we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or
cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and
tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or
confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can
tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of
our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." - Out of Solitude
"Your body needs to be held and to hold, to be touched and to touch. None of
these needs is to be despised, denied, or repressed. But you have to keep
searching for your body's deeper need, the need for genuine love. Every time you
are able to go beyond the body's superficial desires for love, you are bringing
your body home and moving toward integration and unity." - The Inner Voice of
Love
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