Quote

The resistance to praying is like the resistance of tightly clenched fists. This image shows a tension, a desire to cling tightly to yourself, a greediness which betrays fear.

Henri Nouwen

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Henri Nouwen
Age: 64 †
Born: 1932
Born: January 24
Died: 1996
Died: September 21
Catholic Priest
Presbyter
Priest
Psychologist
Theologian
University Teacher
Writer
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen
Tension
Resistance
Greediness
Image
Clenched
Praying
Betrays
Desire
Tightly
Fear
Cling
Shows
Fists
Like
Betray

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The evangelical movement has become just a bit victimized by a success-oriented culture, wanting the church - like the corporation - to be successful.
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His (Christ's) appearance in our midst has made it undeniably clear that changing the human heart and changing human society are not separate tasks, but are as interconnected as the two beams of the cross.
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Through discipline, discipline is the other side of discipleship. If you want to follow Jesus, you have to have discipline.
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When we break bread and give it to each other, fear vanishes and God becomes very close.
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Praying is no easy matter. It demands a relationship in which you allow someone other than yourself to enter into the very center of your person, to see there what you would rather leave in darkness, and to touch there what you would rather leave untouched.
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Although I am a committed Catholic priest, and nowhere hide that fact, my focus is very much a spiritual journey.
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Ministry in no way is a privilege...it is the core of the Christian life. No Christian is a Christian without being a minister.
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In our production-oriented society, being busy, having an occupation, has become one of the main ways, if not the main way, of identifying ourselves. Without an occupation, not just our economic security but our very identity is endangered.
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We cannot make it rain but we can see to it that the rain falls on prepared soil.
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Waiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.
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It is to this silence [contemplative prayer] that we all are called.
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Joy and laughter are the gifts of living in the presence of God and trusting that tomorrow is not worth worrying about.
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In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
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To give someone a blessing is the most significant affirmation we can offer.
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I speak of God's love and grace and redemption and freedom, but when I say in the context of this community, it is heard differently. To be with people so obviously broken, so obviously handicapped, and here to discover real joy and peace - that makes the Word of God come alive.
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There is nothing so important in the family as the sacred quality of the meal.
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Without Pentecost the Christ-event - the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about and reflect on. The Spirit of Jesus comes to dwell within us, so that we can become living Christs here and now.
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Intimacy is not a happy medium. It is a way of being in which the tension between distance and closeness is dissolved and a new horizon appears. Intimacy is beyond fear.
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Solitude does not pull us away from our fellow human beings but instead makes real fellowship possible.
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