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The pain that comes from deep love makes your love more fruitful. It is like a plow that breaks the ground to allow the seed to take root.

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
Makes
Seeds
Take
Roots
Love
Ground
Like
Allow
Plow
Deep
Fruitful
Break
Seed
Pain
Breaks
Comes
Root

More quotes by Henri Nouwen

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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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The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection.
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Often we come home from a sharing session with a feeling that something precious has been taken away from us or that holy ground has been trodden upon.
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Our life is full of brokenness - broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful except by returning again and again to God's faithful presence in our lives.
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Peacemaking is a full-time vocation that includes each member of God's people.
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The great teachers are always those who can live the tension. They are not criticizing everybody, they're not complaining. They give young people a vision.
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Friendship and love are impossible without a mutual vulnerability.
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Resentment and gratitude cannot coexist, since resentment blocks the perception and experience of life as a gift. My resentment tells me that I don't receive what I deserve. It always manifests itself in envy.
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I often wonder if my knowledge about God has not become my greatest stumbling block to my knowledge of God.
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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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The members - mentally handicapped people who are marginal in society and not useful in an economic sense - welcomed me into their lives. And I was loved, not because of what s doing but because of who I was.
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Ministry means the ongoing attempt to put one's own search for God, with all the moments of pain and joy, despair and hope, at the disposal of those who want to join this search but do not know how.
Henri Nouwen
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Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves.
Henri Nouwen
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A prayerful life is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of him who is the origin and purpose of our existence.
Henri Nouwen
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Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love?' These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will be many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.
Henri Nouwen
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Everything changes radically from the moment you know yourself as being sent into this world.
Henri Nouwen
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I am very grateful that I am in touch with so many different church groups. I am always very moved by the fact that so many people - practically over the spectrum of the Christian world - are responding to my writing.
Henri Nouwen
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There is nothing so important in the family as the sacred quality of the meal.
Henri Nouwen
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Your heart is greater than your wounds.
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Community life is not easy for somebody like me, who is used to living by himself and doing what he wants. It's a demanding life, and you quickly get in touch with your own handicaps and weaknesses.
Henri Nouwen