On Line Library - Henri Nouwen

Henri Nouwen, was a Dutch born Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life. His books are widely read today by Protestants and Catholics alike. The Wounded Healer, In the Name of Jesus, Clowning in Rome, The Life of the Beloved and The Way of the Heart are just a few of the more widely recognized titles. After nearly two decades of teaching at the Menninger Foundation Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and at the University of Notre Dame, Yale University and Harvard University, he went to share his life with mentally handicapped people at the L’Arche community of Daybreak in Toronto. He died in September 1996 from a sudden heart attack.

His spirituality was influenced by many, notably by his friendship with Jean Vanier. At the invitation of Vanier he visited L'Arche in France, the first of over 130 communities around the world where people with developmental disabilities live and share life together with those who care for them. In 1986 Henri Nouwen accepted the position of pastor for a L'Arche community called "Daybreak" in Canada, near Toronto. Father Nouwen was a good friend of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.

Books written by Henri Nouwen

The Wounded Healer
In this hope-filled and profoundly simple book, Nouwen offers a radically fresh interpretation of suffering. According to Nouwen, people are called to identify the suffering in their own hearts and make that the starting point of their service to others. For Nouwen, people must be willing to go beyond their comfortable boundaries, somewhat aloof role and leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they are in contact with. In other words, we heal from our wounds. An powerful insight into the gift of suffering!

The Return of the Prodigal Son
When Henri Nouwen stumbled across a poster of Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son he began a spiritual journey that would help him understand the biblical parable as well as the story of his own life. Take this opportunity to join Henri as he leads the wayward prodigal and judgmental sibling who resides within each of us towards the open-handed, overwhelming compassion and eternal love of the Father. The Return of the Prodigal Son is a powerful reflection that will transform your reading of the parable and the way you understand your life story.

In the Name of Jesus
Henri Nouwen gave up a academic career to work with the disabled. This proved to be a great source of blessing and an incredible journey of how the people we encounter can change our lives! These reflections come out of his openness to personal struggle and growth. He recounts experiences at a L'Arche community for the mentally handicapped. His message lovingly conveys how his relationships with these broken people have so deeply touched him and changed his life.

The Way of the Heart
The Way of the Heart shows us a spiritual path whose steppingstones are three: Solitude (learning not to be alone but to be alone with God); Silence (the discipline by which the inner fire of God is tended and kept alive); and Prayer (standing in the presence of God with the mind in the heart). In reflections that are clear and practical, the author helps the reader separate the wheat from the chaff in their spiritual lives--and reconnects us with what truly matters.

Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
This spiritual classic began as a simple request from one friend to another for a book explaining the spiritual life in terms that he and his friends could understand, avoiding theology and technical language. Nouwen's answer has become one of the most cherished books of our era. "All I want to say to you is, 'You are the Beloved.” Includes reflection guide.

With Open Hands
The lives of too many of us are like a tightly clenched fist---unable to give, to receive, or to reach out, unable to let go.. Nouwen beckons us toward a better way---being open to God and to others, and being aware of our own fears and needs. Illustrated with photos.

Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life.
It is the heart, at the very core of our being, from which true meaning flows. Nouwen calls the reader to discover who they really are and how crucial their relationship to God is. In solitude they come to realize that being is more important than having, and that their worth is beyond even their finest achievements.

Show Me the Way: Reading for each day of Lent
Show Me the Way: Readings for each day of Lent provides a daily insight for each of the forty days of the Lenten season. Starting on Ash Wednesday and culminating on Easter Sunday, each meditation, chosen from the works of Henri Nouwen, aim to guide the reader through a period of prayer and reflection. Each devotion begins with a scripture reading, followed by a meditation and a summary prayer.

Reaching Out
Reaching Out is one of Nouwen's finest works and may very well be one of the best treatments of Christian spirituality written in the twentieth century. In Reaching Out Nouwen describes the spiritual life as a series of movements. Thus, in order to proceed towards maturity in Christ he suggests that we need to move from: loneliness to solitude, hostility to hospitality and from illusion to prayer. This book is a sure guide that will help you learn how to accept yourself, love others more effectively and learn to love God more passionately.