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My Sister, My Brother: Life Together in Christ, by Henri J.M. Nouwen. The Word Among Us Press, 2005.
Communion makes us look at each other and speak to each other, not about the latest news, but about him who walked with us. We discover each other as people who belong
together because each of us now belongs to him.
Nouwen was well aware that we are sons and daughters of God, and brothers and sister to Christ and one another. He learned this especially when he cared for the handicapped, and this led him to a deeper experience of God. He knew he must live a common life, to support, to affirm, and to encourage one another because we are "people who
together make God visible in the world."
This book takes articles from forty of his books and addresses some of the communion to which each person is called. The readings begin with God's desire for us to live in the love of the Trinity. Other sections see the Eucharist as bringing people together. Nouwen shows the need for prayer
with and for others, as well as the strength and gifts found in others. He notices the bonds shared with the saints who preceded us.
"The more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to let your heart grow wider and deeper. When your love is truly giving and receiving, those
whom you love will not leave your heart even when they depart from you. They will become part of yourself and thus gradually build a community within you."
In public life, Nouwen taught pastoral theology to divinity students. He took a sabbatical with Trappists at Genesee Abbey. He spent months in Peru and Bolivia in language school, living among the poor, before coming back to the classroom
in New England. In 1985, he began a new life in the L'Arche communities near Toronto where able-bodied persons live and care for those with severe disabilities.
In September of 1996, while visiting in Holland, Nouwen had a massive heart attack and died a few months before his 65th birthday.
(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman OP for this review) Hardback. Kindle version available.
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Saint of the Week
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St. Stephen (d. 36 A.D.?): December 26
All we know of Stephen is found in Acts of the Apostles, chapters Six and Seven. It is enough to tell us what kind of man he was.
At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenist (Greek-speaking) Christians complained about the Hebrew-speaking Christians, saying that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the
Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit... (Acts 6:1-5).
Acts says that Stephen was a man filled with grace and power, who worked great wonders among the people. Certain Jews, members of the Synagogue of Roman Freedmen, debated with Stephen but proved no match for the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke. They persuaded others to make the charge of blasphemy against him. He was seized and carried before the Sanhedrin.
In his speech, Stephen recalled God's guidance through Israel's history, as well as Israel's idolatry and disobedience. He then claimed that his persecutors were showing this same spirit. "[Y]ou always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors" (Acts 7:51b).
His speech brought anger from the crowd. "But [Stephen], filled
with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, 'Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God....' They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.... As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.... Lord, do not hold this sin against them'" (Acts 7:55-56, 58a, 59, 60b). americancatholic.org site
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