Reflection of the Week - 15 July 2025
It is very important, friends, not to think of the soul as dark. We are conditioned to perceive only external light. We forget that there is such a thing as inner light, illuminating our soul.
Reflection of the Week - 26th November 2024
By Henri Nouwen
Posted in Faith
Caring for the Dying
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2: 17 NIV).
Caring for others is, first of all, helping them to overcome that enormous temptation of self-rejection. Whether we are rich or poor, famous or unknown, fully abled or disabled, we all share the fear of being left alone and abandoned, a fear that remains hidden under the surface of our self-composure. It is rooted much more deeply than in the possibility of not being liked or loved by people. Its deepest root lies in the possibility of not being loved at all, of not belonging to anything that lasts, or being swallowed up by a dark nothingness—yes, of being abandoned by God.
Caring, therefore, is being present to people as they fight this ultimate battle, a battle that becomes ever more real and intense as death approaches. Dying and death always call forth, with renewed power, the fear that we are unloved and will, finally, be reduced to useless ashes. To care is to stand by a dying person and to be a living reminder that the person is indeed the beloved child of God. . .
We shouldn’t try to care by ourselves. Care is not an endurance test. We should, whenever possible, care together with others. It is the community of care that reminds the dying person of his or her belovedness.
Reference
Henri Nouwen, Caring for the Dying - Henri Nouwen.
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Reflection of the Week - 08 July 2025
Paul tries to create some “audiovisual aids” for this big message, which he calls “churches” (a term Jesus used only twice, found in Matthew 16:18 and 18:17). Paul knows we need living, visible models of this new kind of life to make evident that Christ’s people really follow a way different from mass consciousness.
Reflection of the Week - 01 July 2025
Paul tries to create some “audiovisual aids” for this big message, which he calls “churches” (a term Jesus used only twice, found in Matthew 16:18 and 18:17). Paul knows we need living, visible models of this new kind of life to make evident that Christ’s people really follow a way different from mass consciousness.
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