Jean Vanier: Logician of the Heart, by Michael W. Higgins. Liturgical Press, 2016.
“Jean Vanier is one of the most honored men on the planet.” That is not a concern of his. Honors are important but they are not for him.
The honors he
receives are for those with whom he lives, those who have never received any honors or recognition. They are the marginalized, the forgotten. They are not the company of the honored.
It will be remembered that Jean Vanier was highly intelligent, an instructor in important educational halls.
But after many years, he was getting tired of that type of life. Doesn’t life have more to offer? He tried other avenues. Travel, different educational arenas, various careers, perhaps a foreign country would better serve his wishes. He was getting closer to the needs of his heart.
People were surprised when Vanier spoke thus: we need people with disabilities. There is a sort of mystery about these people. “They are the very presence of Jesus.” Vanir came to see their fragility, their weakness, and their pain, and at the same time to see Jesus in them. Then he founded L’Arche, not because he wanted to help some unfortunate people, but because it was part of his larger yearning for peace.
Vanier spent his days and nights helping, living with, assisting a crippled and unfortunate young man. Vanier tended to his every need. Vanier was opened up to his own fragility which in turn moved him to form community, to be together in peace and friendship with others, those who are frail, dependent, and wounded.
Vanier came to know the
real world, the world of muck, mire, blood, and struggle. At last he was home with the handicapped, the needy.
