A Henri Nouwen Book Study “Making All Things New: An Invita on to the Spiritual Life” WEEK ONE – AN INTRODUCTION TO HENRI NOUWEN Who was Henri Nouwen? He was a Catholic Priest
He was a Psychologist and a Theologian • University of Notre Dame • Yale Divinity School • Harvard Divinity School • Wrote over 40 books, which have sold over 7 million copies
He was an Ac vist • Marched with Mar n Luther King Jr. • Helped the poor in Peru • Served with L’Arche
He was a Spiritualist • A disciple of Thomas Merton • Par cipated in several monas c retreats
He was a Wounded Healer, a Wounded Prophet A short biographical sketch of Henri Nouwen’s life:
• Born in Nijkerk, Holland, on January 24, 1932. • Received an inward call to be a priest at 6 years old. • Ordained in 1957 as a diocesan priest in Utrecht, Netherlands. • Completed his PhD in Pschology in 1963. • From 1964-66 studied at the Menninger Clinic; during this me marched with MLK from Selma to Montgomery. • Taught at Notre Dame from 1966-68. • Taught at Yale Divinity School from 1971-1981;during this me he was a Fellow at Saint John’s Abbey in 1976 and also took a 6 month leave at the Abbey of the Genesee in 1979. • Joined the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers to serve the poor in Peru from 1981-1982 • Taught at Harvard Divinity School from 1983-1985. • Joined L’Arche Trosly, France with Jean Vanier for a year and then served at L’Arche Daybreak near Toronto, Canada from 1986-1996. • Died suddenly of a heart a ack on September 21st, 1996, in Holland; was la er buried in King City, Ontario. Four things that were central to Nouwen’s life:
His call to the Priesthood
The Eucharist
Spiritual Polari es
Being a Wounded Healer “Since I was six years old I have wanted to be a priest, a desire that never wavered except for the few moments when I was overly impressed by the uniform of a sea captain.” - Nouwen
Nouwen’s grandmother had a child-size alter and vestments made for him, so he pretend being a priest with his friends in the a c of their home. “I some mes wonder if those who are close to me are sufficiently aware of the fact that the Eucharist cons tutes the core of my life. I do so many other things and have so many secondary iden es – teacher, speaker, writer – that it is easy to consider the Eucharist as the least important part of my life. But the opposite is true. The Eucharist is the center of my life and everything else receives its meaning from that center.” “Henri seemed most drawn to polari es…Henri Nouwen welcomed the simultaneous outworking of brokenness and healing, power and powerlessness, glory and suffering, as conjoined reali es in our journey. The road to perfect comple on runs through our incomplete integra on.” – Will Hernandez, Henri Nouwen and Spiritual Polari es “Undoubtedly Henri Nouwen was one of the most remarkable spiritual figures of his genera on, above all a charisma c priest who powerfully mediated the presence of God through his life and through his wri ngs. But he was also a man with wounds, which became a source of healing for many people. He lived the spiritual life through his struggles and encouraged other people to live it through theirs. He was not a harmonious person who had everything in perfect balance. He lived with tensions.” – Michael Ford, The Wounded Prophet
The Frene c Pace of The Wound of His Contemporary Life and the Sexual Iden ty. Ivy League Culture. Some of Henri Nouwen’s most famous books include:
Return of the Prodigal Son Reaching Out
Can You Drink This Cup? The Inner Voice of Love
The Wounded Healer Life of the Beloved Theme’s in Henri Nouwen’s wri ngs include:
Life Focused Inward, Outward, and Upward
Spiritualty Moving From Communion, to Community, to Commission
Viewing Life “Eucharis cally;” We Are Taken, Blessed, Broken, and Given. The Occasion of the Book
The Intended Audience of the Book
The Structure of the Book “Although there was faculty resentment of Nouwen’s fame and his popularity among the students, Yale was a very good place for Henri Nouwen to expand and deepen his mission to America and the world. It was at Yale that Nouwen rounded out his persona as a humble seeker…It was at Yale that he learned to speak more openly about his own spiritual journey instead of using textbook examples and other abstrac ons…[It was at Yale] Nouwen began to wonder if he himself did not belong in a monastery…[Nouwen took a seven month sabba cal from Yale and joined the Genesee Monastery] Although he realized that he was not cut out for monas c isola on, the ideals and the vision of monas c spirituality informed all that he did from then on.” – Michael O’Laughlin, Henri Nouwen: His Life and Vision
“The spiritual life doesn’t remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.” Making All Things New: An Invita on to the Spiritual Life, pg.55 “I have wri en this book, first of all, for men and women who experience a persistent urge to enter more deeply into the spiritual life but are confused about the direc on in which to go. These are people who “know” the story of Christ and have a deep desire to let this knowledge descend from their minds into their hearts.” pg.14
“But I also want to speak, although indirectly, to the many for whom the Chris an story is unfamiliar or strange but who experience a general desire for spiritual freedom. I hope that what is wri en for Chris ans is wri en in such a way that there is enough space for others to discover anchor-points in their own search for a spiritual home.” pg.14-15 Chapter One focuses on the destruc ve effects of worry on our lives.
Chapter Two shows us how Jesus responds to our paralyzed worries by offering us new life.
Chapter Three offers us specific disciplines which can cause worry to lose its grip on our lives. Is this a book about the Spiritual Life or about how to overcome worry?
YES
Welcome to Henri Nouwen! A Henri Nouwen Book Study NEXT WEEK – CHAPTER 1, “ALL THESE OTHER THINGS”