Click on any of the links below to learn more about Henri:. His Life. His Spirituality. The gift that he claimed, by going deep into the dark swamplands of his soul, was the gift of compassion -- which literally means to "suffer with". That's at the core of being a "wounded healer". Nouwen popularized the term to describe those who sought to help others while acknowledging their own woundedness. Sister Sue Mosteller sums it up this way: "You have to bandage your own wounds.
You have to make sure your wounds are bandaged, so that you're not asking for anything. You're speaking to a fellow human being about an experience that you know a little bit about, because of the fact that you yourself are dealing with wounds.
Nouwen knew that what was most personal -- our fears, insecurities, despair, and hopelessness -- was most universal. I wished I had the language and the spiritual power to convince my fellow Catholics in Holland of that.
It makes us look at the poor, obedient, and prayerful man of Nazareth. There lies our first hope. We like to work , and we relish seeing tangible results. Initially Nouwen looks like a poster boy for activism. Climbing the ladder to the highest echelons of the ivy-covered ivory tower, jetting around the world as a conference speaker and lecturer, publishing books with prestigious New York houses, Nouwen was a high achiever.
He relished the stage and often fell prey to its attendant trials of loneliness and overly sensitive self-awareness. After withdrawing from his teaching post at Harvard and moving to the Daybreak community in Toronto, Nouwen was given the task of caring for a year-old epileptic patient named Adam Arnett, about whom Nouwen wrote his final book.
In it, he describes what Adam taught him about the limits of activism. Caring for Adam, Nouwen had to slow down, to realize the futility of pushing Adam beyond his limits, to accept the inability of Adam to achieve anything.
It was the language of stillness, the language of simply being present to another. Already a subscriber? Log in to continue reading. To unlock this article for your friends, use any of the social share buttons on our site, or simply copy the link below. To share this article with your friends, use any of the social share buttons on our site, or simply copy the link below.
Sections Home. Bible Coronavirus Prayer. Had he instead come out in his published writings, he would have helped so many struggling victims of Roman Church homophobic propaganda. But in the end he stayed in his closet and did NOT save — did not liberate — himself or others.
A lost opportunity to do some real good. So it seems Henry Nouwen remains a martyr — not in the sense of a witness to the Truth but rather as a victim of the Lie. I really recommend you read John, Chapter 6. John Chapter 6 days it well too. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. What will you do? For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
And everything starts and ends with Jesus and what is natural is then no longer relevant but is Godly. And being human, no saint is perfect. Well yes … and no. Jesus wants to conquer countries by getting people to willfully embrace Godly ideology but not using methods of humans who are living according to the flesh.
Perhaps this is obvious to you, for some it is not. There is a thing called unGodly compassion — where one defines loving as endorsing sinful behavior. A simple example is a. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
The simple truth is that God did not define human romantic relationship as the highest form of human relationship. The highest form of human relationship is first a relationship with the almighty God and second, living in loving and affirming friendship with those also on the journey with him. Yes, read his own journals. You should not be so upset that there are many great gay spiritual people. Some of the comments above about Henry have filled me with some disquit. From the distance of so many years it is hard for the general public to access the veracity of such claims.
If true it is terrible such unpriestly behaviour has had such psychological consequence. If untrue it is utterly distructive. Hi Terrence. I have no way of knowing if these are true. I am not curious but sad. Either the reputation of a dead man has been much maligned or a cry for help and redress has not been heard. We will never fully know which now.
Oh my. But, having said that, he does plumb the depths of Christian love. Over and over. They were thinly veiled expressions of desire. He was a man in love that could never be fulfilled. This year for the first time I received several comments similar to yours on Facebook and Twitter… about how sad and difficult it is to read about how Nouwen tormented himself. I suppose it is a sign of progress that his struggle can now be seen as unnecessary and rooted in homophobia.
Actually, he was a man in love……….. There is no earthly love that can compare to that. All priests make a vow of chastity. He gave himself totally to the Lord God, what or to whom his attractions were, are irrelevant. Only those who try to define themselves by their sexuality instead of who they truly are in their soul go this route.
I acknowledge the suffering of the individual who commented here, and of everyone who was abused by priests. I acknowledge the role of the church and its members in covering up such truths.
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