The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with Father Henri J. M. Nouwen DAILY MEDITATION "The Poverty of Our Leaders" for Friday, 4 November 2016

The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with Father Henri J. M. Nouwen DAILY MEDITATION "The Poverty of Our Leaders" for Friday, 4 November 2016

Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.com
There is a tendency to think about poverty, suffering, and pain as realities that happen primarily or even exclusively at the bottom of our Church. We seldom think of our leaders as poor. Still, there is great poverty, deep loneliness, painful isolation, real depression, and much emotional suffering at the top of our Church.
We need the courage to acknowledge the suffering of the leaders of our Church - its ministers, priests, bishops, and popes - and include them in this fellowship of the weak. When we are not distracted by the power, wealth, and success of those who offer leadership, we will soon discover their powerlessness, poverty, and failures and feel free to reach out to them with the same compassion we want to give to those at the bottom. In God's eyes there is no distance between bottom and top. There shouldn't be in our eyes either.

For further reflection..."Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."[Isaiah 64: 8 (NIV)]
Your response...
Where do you see a poverty of spirit in the world today?

Continue the Inspiration
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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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