Category: Lent 2020 – The Return of the Prodigal Son

Reading: None. Review the book and our discussion.

As I look at my own aging hands, I know that they have been given to me
to stretch out toward all who suffer, to rest upon the shoulders
of all who come, and to offer the blessing that emerges
from the immensity of God’s love. (p. 139)

As we enter Holy Week, we come to the end of another Henri Nouwen Society book discussion made fruitful through your participation and the thoughtful, inspiring and meaningful comments shared by many of you.

For me personally, our time together led me to reflect on my own journey over the past sixteen years: from when I first read The Return of the Prodigal Son in 2004 primarily from the perspective of the younger son to today as I seek to become the compassionate father to my children and grandchildren and to all of God’s children that my wife Dawn and I meet along the way. As is the case for many, Henri’s writing seems to apply directly to my own experience, and that is certainly true here. Shown below are excerpts from the Prologue and the Epilogue that help me to better understand my journey and my calling.

From the Prologue: I came to Daybreak in August 1986 with the conviction I had made the right choice . . . I became more and more aware of how long I have played the role of observer. . . had I, myself, really ever dared to step into the center, kneel down, and let myself be held by a forgiving God? . . . . I have been led to an inner place where I had not been before. It is the place within me where God has chosen to dwell. . . . and says, “You are my beloved son”. . . To make my home where God has made his, this is the great spiritual challenge. . . When I first saw Rembrandt’s painting, I was not as familiar with the home of God within me as I am now. . . I have a new vocation now. It is the vocation to speak and write from that place back into the many places of my own and other people’s restless lives. . . . The only way to that place is prayer, unceasing prayer.

From the Epilogue: (T)he greatest gift from L’Arche is the challenge of becoming the Father. . . the true call is to become a father who only blesses in endless compassion, asking no questions, always giving and forgiving, never expecting anything in return. . . . My people, whether handicapped or not. . . seek a father who can bless and forgive without needing them in the the way they need him. . . (and) to convince them that. . . there is a safe place to return to and receive an embrace. . . . True fatherhood is sharing the poverty of God’s non-demanding love. (Note: Henri concludes the Epilogue with the quote at the top of this post.)

You are encouraged to look back on your own spiritual journey with the insights you have gained from this book. Are you the younger son, the elder son, or the father today and why? Are there other times in the past when you were living as a different character from the parable? Do you feel called to become the compassionate father? How do you feel about your responses? Are there things you might do differently or disciplines you may adopt in the future? Please share what you discover to the extent you are comfortable.

Announcing a Special Summer 2020 Book Discussion. It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Henri Nouwen Society will be holding a special summer 2020 book discussion that is the ideal follow on to our Lenten one. We will read and discuss the new book Henri Nouwen and The Return of the Prodigal Son: The Making of a Spiritual Classic by Nouwen scholar Gabrielle Earnshaw, the founding archivist for the Henri J.M. Nouwen Archives and Chief Archivist for the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust. The book will be published by Paraclete Press on May 12, 2020. For more information:

A Concluding Thought. One final time, heartfelt thanks for joining us on our Lenten journey. It is a privilege and a blessing to share this time with each of you as we walk together with Henri as our guide. Gathering in this virtual community several times a year to read and share Henri’s work is an important spiritual discipline for me and it would not be possible without you. I’m deeply grateful for your presence.

May the Lord give you peace and may he keep you and your loved ones safe.
Ray

Reading: Conclusion: Becoming the Father; Epilogue: Living the Painting (p. 120 to 139)

Perhaps the most radical statement Jesus ever made is: “Be compassionate
as your Father is compassionate.” God’s compassion is described
by Jesus. . . to invite me to become like God and to show the
same compassion to others that he is showing to me. (p. 123)

Heartfelt thanks to those of you who have continued to participate in our Lenten journey, those posting comments and those remaining silent. I have been personally blessed by the warm and comforting thoughts exchanged among our virtual community during a Lent unlike any we have ever experienced.

Adapting Henri’s words that open the Conclusion and making them my own, when I found The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen for sale outside the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore in 2004, a spiritual journey was set in motion that led me to where I am in my life today. (c.f. p. 120) When I first read The Return during that most difficult period in my life I was, in Henri’s words, “. . . deeply touched . . . because everything in me yearned to be received in the way the prodigal was received.” (p. 134) Reading The Return again this Lent–16 years later and for the third time as a participant in these discussions–my perspective has shifted dramatically and I better understand the challenge in the quotation above to “be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.” While I remain, and we all remain, the younger son and the elder son, we are all called to become the compassionate father. And this has never been more true than it is now in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jesuit Cardinal Czerny recently tweeted, “During my years working on HIV/AIDS in Africa (2002-2010), I learned a helpful slogan ‘We are all infected or affected‘- so simple, true and challenging for the current pandemic, like the second half of the Great Commandment: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.‘” In the Conclusion and the Epilogue, Henri shows us that to live as people who are “infected or affected” we must become the compassionate Father and live the painting by “sharing the poverty of God’s non-demanding love.” (p. 138)

In words of great poignancy as we are social distancing or sheltering in place, Henri says it is the “Father’s call to be home. . . As the Father, I have to believe that all the human heart desires can be found at home (p. 132). . . . Living out this spiritual fatherhood requires the radical discipline of being home.” (p. 133). Home is where we grieve for our lost and suffering children and brothers and sisters; home is where we welcome them with forgiveness and generosity when they return.

As we come to the end of The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri ties together the threads of his spiritual journey in a way that encourages us to reflect on our lives and our call to “be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.” We have another great week of sharing and discussion ahead. You are invited to share what touched your heart this week or at any time on our Lenten journey. We look forward to hearing from you.

Here are several of Henri’s ideas that might prompt your thinking.

“(W)hether I am the younger son or the elder son. I am the son of my compassionate Father. I am an heir. . . . Indeed as son and heir, I am to become a successor. . . . The return to the Father is ultimately the challenge to become the Father.“(p. 123)

“(B)ecoming the compassionate Father is the ultimate goal of the spiritual life. . . . If God forgives sinners, then certainly those who have faith in God should do the same. . . . Becoming like the heavenly Father is not just one important aspect of Jesus’ teaching, it is the very heart of his message. . . . The great conversion called for by Jesus is to move from belonging to the world to belonging to God.” (p. 124-5)

“Jesus is the true Son of the Father. He is the model for our becoming the Father. . . . His unity with the Father is so intimate and so complete that to see Jesus is to see the Father. . . . In everything he is obedient to the Father, but never his slave. “(p. 126)

May the Lord be with you and give you peace.
Ray

Reading: Rembrandt and the Father; The Father Welcomes Home; The Father Calls for Celebration (p. 89 to 119)

Looking at the way in which Rembrandt portrays the father,
there came to me a whole new interior understanding
of tenderness, mercy, and forgiveness. (p. 93)

As we share our Lenten journey during these unprecedented times, it is a great blessing and comfort to come together in this online community to read and discuss Henri Nouwen’s peerless reflection on the “parable (which) is in truth a ‘Parable of the Father’s Love'” (p. 93) and the painting that is “the human expression of divine compassion.”
(p. 92) This week we will turn our gaze to the father and ponder the “infinite compassion, unconditional love, everlasting forgiveness–divine realities–emanating from a Father who is the creator of the universe.” (p. 93) These divine realities are sorely needed today in an uncertain and unsettled world struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

As always, this is a rich chapter with much worth considering. Please share what has touched your heart. Here are several ideas that might prompt your thinking.

Rembrandt’s masterpiece portrays a nearly-blind father “who recognizes his son, not with the eyes of the body, but with the inner touch of his heart. . . a seeing that reaches out to all humanity.” (p. 94). Henri paints a word portrait of a personal and loving father, not some distant authoritarian figure: “The heart of the father burns with an immense desire to bring his children home. . . . As Father, he wants his children to be free, free to love. . . . As Father, the only authority he claims for himself is the authority of compassion. . . . Here is the God I want to believe in: (emphasis added) a Father who, from the beginning of creation has stretched out his arms in merciful blessing, never forcing himself on anyone, but always waiting; never letting his arms drop in despair, but always hoping that his children will return. . . His only desire is to bless.” This week you might reflect on both Rembrandt’s painting and Henri’s words, to see how together they influence your conception and understanding of the loving Father. Share what you discover.

Consider the details from Rembrandt’s painting below. “The true center of Rembrandt’s painting is the hands of the father. . . Those hands are God’s hands. (p. 96) . . . The father’s left hand . . . is strong and muscular. . . . How different is the father’s right hand. . . It’s a mother’s hand. . . The Father is not simply a great patriarch. He is a mother as well as a father. ” (p. 98-9)
Does Rembrandt’s portrayal and Henri’s description of God in whom fatherhood and motherhood are fully present enrich or alter your understanding of God? If so, how?

Henri asks himself: “The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?” The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?” And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God? but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?” Consider these questions for yourself this week and share what you learn.

Finally, Henri says, in words that resonate today, “The father of the prodigal son gives himself totally to the joy that his returning son brings him. . . . I don’t have to wait until all is well, but I can celebrate every little hint of the Kingdom that is at hand. This is a real discipline. It requires choosing for the light even when there is much darkness to frighten me, choosing for life even when the forces of death are so visible. . . ” (p. 115) If the “reward of choosing joy is joy itself,” what can you do to choose joy in these difficult days and to bring joy to others?

We have another great week of sharing ahead of us. Remain in touch with those you love and those you know who may not have anyone else to check on them. If anyone in our virtual community needs or wants a way to remain connected after our discussion ends, please let us know and we will make sure it happens.

May the love of the Father give you peace and bring you comfort in the challenging days and weeks ahead.
Ray