To mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Henri Nouwen, one of the most beloved spiritual writers of contemporary times, this retreat companion offers a guide for spiritual transformation and growth based on Nouwen's own writings and experience. Nouwen’s own spiritual journey, marked by a restless quest and yearning for an experience of the divine, led him down paths familiar to many spiritual seekers today. The questions he wrestled with are the same that speak to our own hearts: Who am I? Who is God? How do I know God loves me? Where is God when suffering surrounds me? How can I find interior peace in anxious, troubled times? On Retreat with Henri Nouwen provides a retreat experience for both individuals and churches seeking to renew their self-understanding and purpose. It offers connections to contemporary life, points for reflection, prayer pauses for contemplation and prompts for engaging in one’s own spiritual quest, whatever shape it may take.

A synthesis of Henri Nouwen’s integrated approach to spiritual formation which is both driven and tempered by his integral relationship with psychology, ministry, and theology.

An intimate look at this important spiritual writer's life, enriched with the personal accounts of some of the people closest to him: friends, family, and colleagues. A twelve-page photo section is included.

Written in journal form as a preparation for a retreat on Henri Nouwen, one of the most revered spiritual writers and guides of our time, this engaging book examines themes of brokenness transcended and integrated into Christian wholeness. Waldron takes full measure of Nouwen's often conflicted personal nature--struggles with loneliness, rejection, depression and sexuality--and professional--from brilliant tenure as a pastoral psychologist at Yale, Harvard and Notre Dame, to his call to personal ministry to the profoundly mentally and physically disabled at L'Arche Daybreak in Canada. He augments it with in-depth accounts of Nouwen's literary works, his interest in painting, iconography, music, and clowning. The result is this poignant, multifaceted work that resounds in its chief conceit--the "walk" or journey toward wholeness is achieved through the balm of healing that we receive when we follow Jesus' example and take on the crosses of the broken and weak. Students and scholars of art, literature, psychology, and religion, followers of Nouwen, retreatants, and the general public, will find this work compelling.

In 1969, the year following the death of Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen published his first book. Who, reading Intimacy: Essays in Pastoral Psychology, at the time could have guessed that its 37 year old Dutch priest-author would become one of the most popular spiritual writers of the 20th-century?Unlike Merton, whose strictly spiritual writings appealed almost exclusively to Roman Catholics, Nouwen had an enormous following among Protestants as well as Catholics. What was it about this man and his work that so resonated with the American psyche over the past thirty years?In The Spiritual Legacy of Henri Nouwen, Deidre LaNoue analyzes Nouwen's voluminous writings in the context of his life and times, providing a key to his more than forty individual books as well as a cogent summary of his contribution to the spiritual lives of millions of people. The book includes a complete bibliography of Nouwen's writings as well as a Scripture index of his books.

"Glaser is clearly cloaked in Henri's mantle as he reflects on specific gems from Henri's works. The reader is treated to the enriched nourishment of Henri's thought enhanced by the insights and experience of his long-standing friend and colleague. Henri's Mantle is real food for the spiritual journey." --Sue Mosteller, CSJ, literary Executrix of the Henri Nouwen Estate "Henri's Mantle is a cloak of many colors, interwoven with rich seams of theological insight and underlain with a perceptive appreciation of Nouwen's work. Glaser's personal reminiscences of his mentor are particularly compelling, allowing us to look over the author's shoulder and observe the intimate world of a spiritual master. But through these meditations, we are given a glimpse into the soul of Glaser himself--and sense he, too, is close to God." --Michael Ford, author of Wounded Prophet: A Portrait of Henri J. M. Nouwen and Father Mychal Judge: An Authentic American Hero "Henri Nouwen's trapeze troupe trusted the firm grip of God's catching commitment to all of us: 'You are my beloved, on you my favor rests.' In this book, Glaser gracefully glides across various spiritual themes to illustrate God's grasp and how much Glaser is a full-fledged spiritual acrobat." --Laurent Nouwen, Henri's youngest brother "By weaving information about his own life and spiritual journey, Glaser shows how Henri's mantle has been gratefully received by him, and how eager he is to pass it on. This is a fine addition to the ever-expanding Nouwen collection." --Wendy Wilson Greer, President, Henri Nouwen Society "In life and death, Henri was in the vestibule of on incomplete Church and on unfinished world, welcoming others and their own experiences of God and justice. Glaser brilliantly evokes our own weaknesses, guiding us to keep our faith in the strength and love of the Divine Catcher who will lift us up and carry us home." --Walter Sanchez, Universidad de Chile

"What is the secret that allows L'Arche to exist? I'll tell you: pleasure!" explains Jean Vanier, founder of the international federation of L'Arche communities where people with and without intellectual disabilities share their lives. Vanier's spiritual vision and playful sense of humour shaped L'Arche, but the organization was also informed by its surprising history with the United Church of Canada. In Tender to the World Carolyn Whitney-Brown explores the connections between the two organizations through diverse critical insights from Julia Kristeva, Doreen Massey, and Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as Vanier's controversial articulation of the gift of weakness. Tracing the five-decade relationship between L'Arche and the United Church alongside evolving disability theories, Whitney-Brown examines both the fundamental importance of stories and the agency of people with intellectual disabilities. Inversion – a transformative overturning of expectations in social interactions – can be upsetting or exciting, challenging or inspiring, she argues. This book offers a fresh look at how L'Arche and the United Church have worked to break down walls of difference, illuminating how each tenders something unexpected to the other and to the world. At a time when many are seeking new visions for society, the long and complex relationship between Canada's largest Protestant denomination and L'Arche offers both encouragement and a deeper way to approach questions of living in diverse communities.

“We always have a choice to live the moment as a cause of resentment or as a cause for joy.”—Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) The insights of Henri Nouwen have shown millions of people how to choose joy in any moment—even moments full of pain and brokenness. Few spiritual writers have ever spoken so powerfully and directly to the heart as he did, in part because he compassionately bared his own soul and struggles to his readers, but also because he deeply understood that God can be discovered in every aspect of ourselves, even—almost especially—in the parts we find difficult to acknowledge. This anthology of Nouwen’s teaching covers all his major themes—God, love, life, death, psychology, woundedness, healing, and social action—and is drawn from among his more than forty books. It’s the perfect, compact introduction to this brilliant and humble Catholic priest whom Christianity Today called “one of the world’s great spiritual writers.”

When we choose retreat we make a generous investment in our friendship with Christ. Seasoned spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton gently and eloquently leads us into an exploration of retreat as a key practice that opens us to God, guiding us through seven invitations to retreat. You will discover how to say yes to God's winsome invitation to greater freedom and surrender.