Friday, December 9, 2016

The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with Father Henri J. M. Nouwen DAILY MEDITATION "Being Sisters and Brothers of Nature" for Friday, 9 December 2016

The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with Father Henri J. M. Nouwen DAILY MEDITATION "Being Sisters and Brothers of Nature" for Friday, 9 December 2016

Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.com
When we think of oceans and mountains, forests and deserts, trees, plants and animals, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the galaxies, as God's creation, waiting eagerly to be "brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God" (Roman 8:21), we can only stand in awe of God's majesty and God's all- embracing plan of salvation. It is not just we, human beings, who wait for salvation in the midst of our suffering; all of creation groans and moans with us longing to reach its full freedom.
In this way we are indeed brothers and sisters not only of all other men and women in the world but also of all that surrounds us. Yes, we have to love the fields full of wheat, the snowcapped mountains, the roaring seas, the wild and tame animals, the huge redwoods, and the little daisies. Everything in creation belongs, with us, to the large family of God.

For further reflection..."It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to the end."[Deuteronomy 11: 12 (NIV)]
Your response...Both Henri and Pope Francis speak eloquently of how we are brothers and sisters with all of creation. How do you care for and reflect the beauty and majesty of God's creation?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Adam".

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Daily Meditation "Restored to Eternal Life" for Wednesday, December 7, 2016 


Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.comOne thing we know for sure about our God: Our God is a God of the living, not of the dead. God is life. God is love. God is beauty. God is goodness. God is truth. God doesn't want us to die. God wants us to live. Our God, who loves us from eternity to eternity, wants to give us life for eternity.
When that life was interrupted by our unwillingness to give our full yes to God's love, God sent Jesus to be with us and to say that great yes in our name and thus restore us to eternal life. So let's not be afraid of death. There is no cruel boss, vengeful enemy, or cruel tyrant waiting to destroy us - only a loving, always forgiving God, eager to welcome us home.

For further reflection...The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let the one who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let them come; and whoever wishes, let them take the free gift of the water of life.[Revelation 22: 17 (NIV)]
Your response...How can you "give your full 'yes!' to God's love" today?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Life of the Beloved".
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Daily Meditation "Christmas Greetings!"



Let me take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very meaningful and blessed Advent and Christmas.
I am deeply grateful that there are so many of you who share my belief that Henri Nouwen has much to offer those who desire to live a spiritual life. Please accept my sincere and heartfelt thanks for journeying with us!
In the spirit of Christmas, please consider making a special gift to enable us to continue to broaden Henri's impact through our various outreach initiatives.
At this time each year we celebrate the transformative impact of Henri's work. Our hope is to continue to nourish spiritually hungry readers and seekers in new and exciting ways.
This past fall we celebrated the release of "Love, Henri", which has been receiving enthusiastic reviews everywhere. And two of Henri's most popular companion books "The Return of the Prodigal Son" and "Homecoming" were released as a gorgeous new two-in-one volume. Both of these publications make wonderful Christmas presents - or treat yourself if you've yet to read them!
Your support helps fund our Daily Meditation and social media outreach, our young adult seminars and retreats, the Henri Nouwen Archives and Research Collection, scholar support, and ongoing Nouwen-focused events and courses.
When I read Henri, I am made aware over and over of the depth and richness of his invaluable legacy - a legacy he left to each of us. His books transcend time, place and culture because what he writes is simple, direct, and true:
God loves you. You are worthy of God's love. You are beloved of God.
This is the very heart of Henri's message.
Despite how dark and troubled the world often seems, I trust you will find this Christmas season brimming with hope and joy. As Henri poignantly reminds us: Joy is based on the spiritual knowledge that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness, God has overcome the world!
Thank you for considering a special donation to ensure we continue to share Henri's spiritual legacy through initiatives that reach audiences worldwide.
May God richly bless you this Christmas and throughout 2017.
With gratitude,

Karen Pascal
Henri Nouwen Society
www.henrinouwen.org
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Daily Meditation "God's Timeless Time" for Tuesday, December 6, 2016


Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.comThere is no "after" after death. Words like after and before belong to our mortal life, our life in time and space. Death frees us from the boundaries of chronology and brings us into God's "time," which is timeless. Speculations about the afterlife, therefore, are little more than just that: speculations. Beyond death there is no "first" and "later," no "here" and "there," no "past," "present," or "future." God is all in all. The end of time, the resurrection of the body, and the glorious coming again of Jesus are no longer separated by time for those who are no longer in time.
For us who still live in time, it is important not to act as if the new life in Christ is something we can comprehend or explain. God's heart and mind are greater than ours. All that is asked of us is trust.

For further reflection...In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."[Isaiah 25: 9 (NIV)]
Your response...When it comes to matters of life and death, do you find comfort in knowing that "All that is asked of us is trust?"
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Can You Drink the Cup?"
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Daily Meditation "Giving Permission to Die" for Tuesday, December 5, 2016

Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.comOne of the greatest gifts we can offer our family and friends is helping them to die well. Sometimes they are ready to go to God but we have a hard time letting them go. But there is a moment in which we need to give those we love the permission to return to God, from whom they came. We have to sit quietly with them and say: "Do not be afraid ... I love you, God loves you ... it's time for you to go in peace. ... I won't cling to you any longer ... I set you free to go home ... go gently, go with my love." Saying this from our heart is a true gift. It is the greatest gift love can give.
When Jesus died he said: "Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit" (Luke 23:46). It is good to repeat these words often with our dying friends. With these words on their lips or in their hearts, they can make the passage as Jesus did.

For further reflection..."See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."[Hebrews 12: 15 (NIV)]
Your response...Letting go of someone we love can be incredibly painful. What has helped you in the process of letting go?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Our Greatest Gift".
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Daily Meditation "Nurturing the Eternal Life Within Us" for Sunday, December 4, 2016


Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.com
The knowledge that Jesus came to dress our mortal bodies with immortality must help us develop an inner desire to be born to a new eternal life with him and encourage us to find ways to prepare for it.
It is important to nurture constantly the life of the Spirit of Jesus - which is the eternal life - that is already in us. Baptism gave us this life, the Eucharist maintains it, and our many spiritual practices - such as prayer, meditation, spiritual reading, and spiritual guidance - can help us to deepen and solidify it. The sacramental life and life with the Word of God gradually make us ready to let go of our mortal bodies and receive the mantle of immortality. Thus death is not the enemy who puts an end to everything but the friend who takes us by the hand and leads us into the Kingdom of eternal love.

For further reflection..."Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast."[Hebrews 3: 5, 6 (NIV)]
Your response...What practices help you nurture the life of the Spirit?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "With Open Hands".
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"Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent"



Come to me,
all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.
[Matthew 11:28]
Second Sunday of Advent "God Works In Us"
Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is "Do your best and God will do the rest." When life is divided into "our best" and "God's rest," we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our resources are depleted. Then even the Lord has become the victim of our impatience. Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us. As disciples, we find not some but all of our strength, hope, courage, and confidence in God. Therefore, prayer must be our first concern.
Allow God to do something through you today.
It might be an act of charity for someone in need, a visit to someone who is lonely. Or it might be a willingness to forgive an injury or to accept forgiveness. It might even be something God wants you to do for yourself, like accept the rest God is offering to you.
Whatever God accomplishes through you, give heartfelt thanks.

Advent Online Book Discussion 
Please join us for the Advent Book Discussion. This year's featured book is the new release Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life. Facilitated by Brynn Lawrence and Ray Glennon, you are welcome to participate in any way that is spiritually nourishing for you!
Read * Reflect * Share
For more information, click here.
This week's Advent reflection is from Compassion © 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.
Please remember us throughout this Advent season.
Your support is needed - and greatly appreciated.
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Henri Nouwen Society
www.henrinouwen.org
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Daily Meditation "Death, a New Birth" for Saturday, December 3, 2016


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There comes a time in all our lives when we must prepare for death. When we become old, get seriously ill, or are in great danger, we can't be preoccupied simply with the question of how to get better unless "getting better" means moving on to a life beyond our death. In our culture, which in so many ways is death oriented, we find little if any creative support for preparing ourselves for a good death. Most people presume that our only desire is to live longer on this earth. Still, dying, like giving birth, is a way to new life, and as Ecclesiastes says: "There is a season for everything: ... a time for giving birth, a time for dying"(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).
We have to prepare ourselves for our death with the same care and attention as our parents prepared themselves for our births.

For further reflection..."Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death -- that is, the devil -- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."[Hebrews 2: 14, 15 (NIV)]
Your response...What might it be like for you to be intentional about preparing for your death?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Our Greatest Gift".
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Daily Meditation "The Dilemma of Life" for Friday, December 2, 2016


Photo courtesy of V. Dobson
Do we desire to be with Christ in the resurrection? It seems that most of us are not waiting for this new life but instead are doing everything possible to prolong our mortal lives. Still, as we grow more deeply into the spiritual life - the life in communion with our risen Lord - we gradually get in touch with our desire to move through the gate of death into the eternal life with Christ. This is no death wish but a desire for the fulfillment of all desires. Paul strongly experienced that desire. He writes: "Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would be a positive gain. ... I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and to be with Christ, and this is by far the stronger desire - and yet for your sake to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need" (Philippians 1:21-24). This is a dilemma that few of us have, but it lays bare the core of the spiritual struggle.

For further reflection..."Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."[Romans 8: 5 (NIV)]
Your response...At this time in your life, how desirable is passing through the gates of death into eternal life with Christ? What hopes or hesitation do you feel?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Beyond the Mirror".
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Daily Meditation "Meeting the Risen Christ" for Thursday, December 1, 2016


Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.com
When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, he convinced them that he was not a ghost but the same one that they had known as their teacher and friend. To his frightened and doubtful friends he said: "See by my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Touch me and see for yourselves" (Luke 24:39). Then he asked them for something to eat and later, when he appeared to them for the third time, he offered them breakfast, bread and fish (see Luke 24:42-43 and John 21:12-14).
But Jesus also showed them that his body was a new spiritual body, no longer subject to the laws of nature. While the doors of the room where the disciples had gathered were closed, Jesus came and stood among them (see John 20:19), and when he offered them breakfast, nobody dared to ask: "Who are you?" They knew it was Jesus, their Lord and teacher, but they also knew that he no longer belonged to their world (see John 21:12). It was this experience of the risen Jesus that revealed to his disciples the life in the resurrection that was awaiting them. Are there any experiences in our lives that give us a hint of the new life that has been promised us?

For further reflection...He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.[Luke 24:45 (NIV)]
Your response...What do you imagine life after death ­­eternal life with Christ ­ will be like?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "A Letter of Consolation".
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Daily Meditation "Spiritual Bodies" for Wednesday, November 30, 2016


Photo courtesy of Judith Leckie
In the resurrection we will have spiritual bodies. Our natural bodies came from Adam, our spiritual bodies come from Christ. Christ is the second Adam, offering us new bodies not subject to destruction. As Paul says: "as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man [Adam], so we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly one [Christ]" (I Corinthians 15:49).
Our spiritual bodies are Christ-like bodies. Jesus came to share with us the life in our mortal bodies so that we would also be able to share in his spiritual body. "Mere human nature," Paul says, "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50). Jesus came to dress our perishable nature with imperishability and our mortal nature with immortality (see I Corinthians 15:53). Thus it is in the body that our spiritual life finds its fullest manifestation.

For further reflection..."For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."[I Corinthians 15: 21-22 (NIV)]
Your response...What does this mean for you?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Here and Now".
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Daily Meditation "Our Lives, Sowing Times" for Tuesday, November 29, 2016


Photo courtesy of Paul Williamson www.colourbox.ca
Our short lives on earth are sowing time. If there were no resurrection of the dead, everything we live on earth would come to nothing. How can we believe in a God who loves us unconditionally if all the joys and pains of our lives are in vain, vanishing in the earth with our mortal flesh and bones? Because God loves us unconditionally, from eternity to eternity, God cannot allow our bodies - the same as that in which Jesus, his Son and our savior, appeared to us - to be lost in final destruction.
No, life on earth is the time when the seeds of the risen body are planted. Paul says: "What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). This wonderful knowledge that nothing we live in our bodies is lived in vain holds a call for us to live every moment as a seed of eternity.
The wonderful knowledge, that nothing we live in our body is lived in vain, holds a call for us to live every moment as a seed of eternity.

For further reflection..."Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together."[John 4: 36 (NIV)]
Your response...How can you live this out today?
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Bread for the Journey".
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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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