The Henri Nouwen Society of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Daily Meditation: "The Task of Reconciliation" for Monday, 25 December 2017
DAILY MEDITATION: "The Task of Reconciliation" for Monday 25 December 2017
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What is our task in this world as children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus? Our task is reconciliation. Wherever we go we see divisions among people - in families, communities, cities, countries, and continents. All these divisions are tragic reflections of our separation from God. The truth that all people belong together as members of one family under God is seldom visible. Our sacred task is to reveal that truth in the reality of everyday life.
Why is that our task? Because God sent Christ to reconcile us with God and to give us the task of reconciling people with one another. As people reconcile with God through Christ we have been given the ministry of reconciliation" (see: 2 Corinthians 5:18). So whatever we do the main question is, Does it lead to reconciliation among people?
For further reflection...
"Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that another has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to the other, and then come and present your offering." (Matthew 5: 23-24 (NIV))
Your response...
Jim Wallis, a friend of Henri's has said that in Jesus, God and God's love "hits the streets." In this broken world, where can you bring God's love and reconciliation?
Comment on this meditation.
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Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "The Wounded Healer".
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The Henri Nouwen Society of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Daily Meditation: "Holding On to the Christ" for Sunday, 24 December 2017
DAILY MEDITATION: "Holding On to the Christ" for Sunday 24 December 2017
Photo courtesy of V. Dobson
Life is unpredictable. We can be happy one day and sad the next, healthy one day and sick the next, rich one day and poor the next, alive one day and dead the next. So who is there to hold on to? Who is there to feel secure with? Who is there to trust at all times?
Only Jesus, the Christ. He is our Lord, our shepherd, our rock, our stronghold, our refuge, our brother, our guide, and our friend. He came from God to be with us. He died for us, he was raised from the dead to open for us the way to God, and he is seated at God's right hand to welcome us home. With Paul, we must be certain that "neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
For further reflection...
"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders." (Deuteronomy 33: 12 (NIV))
Your response...
On this Christmas Eve, how aware are you of Jesus as your shelter and the source of love from which nothing can ever separate you?
Comment on this meditation.
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Lifesigns".
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The Henri Nouwen Society of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Daily Meditation: "Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent" for Sunday, 24 December 2017
Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Then Mary said, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:38)
A Desire for Mercy
In Mary we see all the beauty of Advent concentrated. She is the one in whom the waiting of Israel is most fully and most purely manifested; she is the last of the remnant of Israel for whom God shows his mercy and fulfills his promises; she is the faithful one who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled; she is the lowly handmaid, the obedient servant, the quiet contemplative. She indeed is the most prepared to receive the Lord...
The Abbot of Genesee monastery said that we should desire not only the first coming of Christ in his lowly gentleness but also his second coming as the judge of our lives. I sensed that the desire for Christ's judgment is a real aspect of holiness and realized how little that desire was mine...
Now I see better how part of Christian maturation is the slow but persistent deepening of fear to the point where it becomes desire. The fear of God is not in contrast with his mercy. Therefore, words such as fear and desire, justice and mercy have to be relearned and reunderstood when we use them in our intimate relationship with the Lord.
Thank you for journeying with us through this Advent season.
From all of us at the Henri Nouwen Society,
we wish you a blessed and meaningful Christmas
and a joyous 2018!
Thank you for your prayers and financial support
throughout this year. It is greatly appreciated.
This week's Advent reflection is from The Genesee Diary © Henri J.M. Nouwen. Published by Penguin Random House and reprinted here with publisher's kind permission.
Photo Credit: Henri Nouwen by Frank Hamilton, used with kind permission.
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A Desire for Mercy
In Mary we see all the beauty of Advent concentrated. She is the one in whom the waiting of Israel is most fully and most purely manifested; she is the last of the remnant of Israel for whom God shows his mercy and fulfills his promises; she is the faithful one who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled; she is the lowly handmaid, the obedient servant, the quiet contemplative. She indeed is the most prepared to receive the Lord...
The Abbot of Genesee monastery said that we should desire not only the first coming of Christ in his lowly gentleness but also his second coming as the judge of our lives. I sensed that the desire for Christ's judgment is a real aspect of holiness and realized how little that desire was mine...
Now I see better how part of Christian maturation is the slow but persistent deepening of fear to the point where it becomes desire. The fear of God is not in contrast with his mercy. Therefore, words such as fear and desire, justice and mercy have to be relearned and reunderstood when we use them in our intimate relationship with the Lord.
Thank you for journeying with us through this Advent season.
From all of us at the Henri Nouwen Society,
we wish you a blessed and meaningful Christmas
and a joyous 2018!
Thank you for your prayers and financial support
throughout this year. It is greatly appreciated.
Photo Credit: Henri Nouwen by Frank Hamilton, used with kind permission.
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Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Scripture chosen by L. Yeskoo.
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