The spiritual life is a reaching out to our innermost self, to our fellow human and to our God. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Waiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Spiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life, but just knowing what to do next. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Joy is based on the spiritual knowledge that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness, God has overcome… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Although I am a committed Catholic priest, and nowhere hide that fact, my focus is very much a spiritual journey. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
One way to express the spiritual crisis of our time is to say that most of us have an address but cannot… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
I have an increasing sense that the most important crisis of our time is spiritual and that we need places where people… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Jesus invites us to abide in his love. That means to dwell with all that I am in him. It is an… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
In a strange way the spiritual life isn't "useful" or "successful." But it is meant to be fruitful. And fruitfulness comes out… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Without Pentecost the Christ-event - the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Spiritual identity means we are not what we do or what people say about us. And we are not what we have.… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
The spiritual life is a life beyond moods. It is a life in which we choose joy and do not allow ourselves… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Compassion- which means, literally, "to suffer with"- is the way to the truth that we are most ourselves, not when we differ… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Perhaps nothing helps us make the movement from our little selves to a larger world than remembering God in gratitude. Such a… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
It's not easy to sit and trust that in solitude God will speak to you - not as a magical voice but… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
The mystery of the spiritual life is that Jesus desires to meet us in the seclusion of our own heart, to make… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
I am beginning now to see how radically the character of my spiritual journey will change when I no longer think of… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
One of the most beautiful ways for spiritual formation to take place is to let your insecurity lead you closer to the… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Our spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, expecting that new things will happen to… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
If you feel a great loneliness and a deep longing for human contact, you have to be extremely discerning...and ask yourself whether… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
I still believe that the university is a place where people can develop their minds and learn skills, but also they can… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
It is precisely in times of spiritual dryness that we must hold on to our spiritual discipline so that we can grow… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Solitude is an essential element for the spiritual health of a child. If we only stimulate our children - keep them busy… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Joy is hidden in sorrow and sorrow in joy. If we try to avoid sorrow at all costs, we may never taste… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
For me the university has always been an ideal context for spiritual formation. I always felt that if you want to offer… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of loneliness and to change it… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. ...We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
The spiritual life is not a life before, after, or beyond our everyday existence. No, the spiritual life can only be real… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
It is not that the university as such is against spiritual formation. It is just that often the university does not know… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Each individual human being can claim the Spirit of Jesus as the guiding spirit of his or her life. In that Spirit… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
To receive spiritual direction is to recognize that God does not solve our problems or answer all our questions, but leads us… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Living a spiritual life requires a change of heart, a conversion. Such a conversion may be marked by a sudden inner change,… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
[The Return of the Prodigal book] came out of my emotional and spiritual journey during the four months I was gone from… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
The more we touch the intimate love of God which creates, sustains, and guides us, the more we recognize the multitude of fruits that… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
Feelings of guilt dominate our work as peacemakers we cannot last long. But when we have opened each other's eyes to the great human… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
...we all want to hear stories, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. Stories connect our little lives with the… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
Simply being with someone is difficult because it asks of us that we share in the other's vulnerability, enter with him or her into… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
Jesus says, "Keep your heart on the kingdom first. Keep your heart on God's love. Keep focused on the fact that you are God's… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
This sounds very simple and maybe even trite, but very few people know that they are loved without condition or limits. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
“The more preoccupied we are with security the more visible the force of death becomes, whether in the form of a pistol beside our… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
If you feel a great loneliness and a deep longing for human contact, you have to be extremely discerning...and ask yourself whether this situation… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
I choose L'Arche; L'Arche chooses me. I would be dead if I weren't here. I need people to love me and care for me. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share
![“[The Return of the Prodigal book] came out of my emotional and spiritual journey during the four months I was gone from Daybreak because of depression.” quote by Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/282/henri-nouwen-600_book_the-return-of-the-prodigal-book-came-out_592758.png)
