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It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time. All of that is very valuable and important, but its not the heart of Christian leadership. The central question is, Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to Go..
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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it became increasingly clear to me that I know quite well the difference between darkness and light but do not always have the courage to name them by their true names.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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What matters here is that the moment Cleopas and his friend recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread, his bodily presence was no longer required as a condition for their new hope.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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God is there. God's light is there. God's forgiveness is there. God's boundless love is there.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Whether I am the younger son or the elder son, God's only desire is to bring me home.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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We cannot see God in the other person. Only God in us can see God in the other person.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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The word of the Eucharist makes us part of the great story of our salvation. Our little stories are lifted up into God's great story and there given their unique place. The word lifts us up and makes us see that our daily, ordinary lives are, in fact, sacred lives that play a necessary role in the fulfillment of God's promises.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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The great temptation of our lives is to deny our role as chosen people and to allow ourselves to be trapped in the worries of our daily lives. Without the word that keeps lifting us up as God's chosen people, we remain, or become, small people, stuck in the complaints that emerge from our daily struggle to survive.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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The story of the prodigal son is the story of a God who goes searching for me and who doesn't rest until he has found me.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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He who thinks that he is finished, is finished. How true. Those who think that they have arrived, have lost their way. Those who think they have reached their goal, have missed it. Those who think they are saints, are demons.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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As Father, the only authority he claims for himself is the authority of compassion.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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I slowly became aware, but only in my head, of something about "the first love" and "the second love." Let me explain. I became more and more intellectually clear that the first love comes from the ultimate life force we call God, who has loved me unconditionally before others knew or loved me. "I have loved you with an everlasting love." And I saw that the second love, the love of parents, family, and friends, was only a modified expressio..
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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a real friend is someone who doesn't walk off when there are no solutions or answers, but sticks by you and remains faithful to you. It often turns out that the one who gives us the most comfort is not the person who says, "Do this, say that, go there"; but the one who, even if there is no good advice to give, says, "Whatever happens, I'm your friend; you can count on me."
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Typically we see such hardship as an obstacle to what we think we should be--healthy, good-looking, free of discomfort. We consider suffering as annoying at best, meaningless at worst. We strive to get rid of our pains in whatever way we can. A part of us prefers the illusion that our losses are not real, that they come only as temporary interruptions. We thereby expend much energy in denial. "They should not prevent us from holding on to t..
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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We often say, "I am not very happy. I am not content with the way my life is going. I am not really joyful or peaceful, but I just don't know how things can be different, and I guess I have to be realistic and accept my life as it is." It is this mood of resignation that prevents us from actively searching for the life of the Spirit."
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Our first task is to dispel this vague, murky feeling of discontent and to look critically at how we are living our lives. This requires honesty, courage, and trust. We must honestly unmask and courageously confront our many self-deceptive games. We must trust that our honesty and courage will lead us not to despair, but to a new heaven and a new earth.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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When we are spiritually deaf, we are not aware that anything important is happening in our lives. We keep running away from the present moment, and we try to create experiences that make our lives worthwhile. So we fill up our time to avoid the emptiness we otherwise would feel.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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have seen how the fear of becoming subject to God's revenge and punishment has paralyzed the mental and emotional lives of many people, independently of their age, religion, or life-style. This paralyzing fear of God is one of the great human tragedies.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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It is hard for me to imagine what it means to be a complete foreigner, a person to whom no one shows any sign of recognition.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Whatever he had lost, be it his money, his friends, his reputation, his self-respect, his inner joy and peace--one or all--he still remained his father's child. And so he says to himself: "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; tr..
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Spiritual fatherhood has nothing to do with power or control. It is a fatherhood of compassion.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Both were lost children. Judas, no longer able to hold on to the truth that he remained God's child, hung himself. In terms of the prodigal son, he sold the sword of his sonship. Peter, in the midst of his despair, claimed it and returned with many tears. Judas chose death. Peter chose life. I realize that this choice is always before me.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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God loves us before any human person can show love to us. He loves us with a "first" love, an unlimited, unconditional love, wants us to be his beloved children, and tells us to become as loving as himself."
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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when God created man and woman in his own image, he saw that "it was very good," and, despite the dark voices, no man or woman can ever change that."
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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One of the greatest challenges of the spiritual life is to receive God's forgiveness.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Receiving forgiveness requires a total willingness to let God be God and do all the healing, restoring, and renewing.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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As the beloved son, I have to claim my full dignity and begin preparing myself to become the father.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Becoming a child is living the Beatitudes and so finding the narrow gate into the Kingdom.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Isn't the little child poor, gentle, and pure of heart? Isn't the little child weeping in response to every little pain? Isn't the little child the peacemaker hungry and thirsty for uprightness and the final victim of persecution? And what of Jesus himself, the Word of God who became flesh, dwelt for nine months in Mary's womb, and came into this world as a little child worshipped by shepherds from close by and by wise men from far away? Th..
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Once I look at the story of the prodigal son with the eyes of faith, the "return" of the prodigal becomes the return of the Son of God who has drawn all people into himself and brings them home to his heavenly Father. As Paul says: "God wanted all fullness to be found in him and through him to reconcile all things to him, everything in heaven and everything on earth."
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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The journey of the younger son cannot be separated from that of his elder brother.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Only when we recognize the rich network of connections between the Eucharist and our life in the world can the Eucharist be "worldly" and our life "Eucharistic."
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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This invitation to a meal is an invitation to intimacy with God.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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The reward of choosing joy is joy itself.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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From God's perspective, one hidden act of repentance, one little gesture of selfless love, one moment of true forgiveness is all that is needed to bring God from his throne to run to his returning son and to fill the heavens with sounds of divine joy.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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That joy can be seen on the faces of the many simple, poor, and often suffering people who live today among great economic and social upheaval, but who can already hear the music and the dance in the Father's house.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Jesus lived this joy of the Father's house to the full.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Often you will catch yourself wanting to receive your loving God by putting on a semblance of beauty, by holding back everything dirty and spoiled, by clearing just a little path that looks proper. But that is a fearful response--forced and artificial. Such a response exhausts you and turns your prayer into torment.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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But what a painful difference between the two! The father bends over his returning son. The elder son stands stiffly erect, a posture accentuated by the long staff reaching from his hand to the floor. The father's mantle is wide and welcoming; the son's hangs flat over his body. The father's hands are spread out and touch the homecomer in a gesture of blessing; the son's are clasped together and held close to his chest. There is light on bo..
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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This man welcomes sinners and eats with them," Jesus confronted the Pharisees and scribes not only with the return of the prodigal son, but also with the resentful elder son. It must have come as a shock to these dutiful religious people."
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know that I am moving from fear to love.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Just as in the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus expresses here the great desire of his Father to offer his children a banquet and his eagerness to get it going even when those who are invited refuse to come. This invitation to a meal is an invitation to intimacy with God. This is especially clear at the Last Supper, shortly before Jesus' death. There he says to his disciples: "From now on, I tell you, I shall never again drink wine until ..
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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There is so much rejection, pain, and woundedness among us, but once you choose to claim the joy hidden in the midst of all suffering, life becomes celebration. Joy never denies the sadness, but transforms it to a fertile soil for more joy.
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |
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Are we really servants when we can become masters again once we think we have done our part or made our contribution? Are we really servants when we can say when, where, and how long we will give of our time and energy? Is service in a far country really an expression of servanthood when we keep enough money in the bank to fly home at any moment?
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Henri J.M. Nouwen |