Note: Guest essay written by Cheri Cancelliere

Henri Nouwen’s favorite painting was “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt. Nouwen kept a print of the painting in his room that was among his most treasured possessions. He was on a journey to St. Petersburg for a film project based on his book about this poignant masterpiece when God called him home. Nouwen, the restless seeker, wounded warrior and suffering saint completed his journey upward to His Heavenly Father.

Nouwen had reflected and written about the timeless story often, integrating the spiritual journeys of the prodigal son, the older brother and the father. Nouwen considered their journeys of rejection, suffering, love and redemption as his own story and the story of all humanity. Each person is lured by the world to be relevant, spectacular and powerful; to think that the grass is greener, we know better, and there is something more exciting beyond the place in our hearts where we are safe, secure and loved by God.

            Like Nouwen, our pursuit of perfection lives in tension with the reality of our own imperfection. We must learn to embrace and befriend tension. The polarities of our lives help us move toward wholeness just as the consequences of the prodigal son’s rejection of his father’s love enabled him to finally accept his true self, worthy of love and capable of loving in return. On the journey of our lives, God’s perfect love runs to meet us in our imperfection and by grace we receive wholeness through brokenness, power through weakness and communion through suffering. When the prodigal son began his journey home, it was a journey upward. He had sunk so low, the only way for him to go was up. We too must begin our journey upward, for we cannot love ourselves as God’s beloved children or love others as ourselves if we do not first know and love God.

Long before the prodigal son came to himself and began his upward journey, his father was looking for him, waiting for him. God’s unconditional love calls us by name. Love draws us home. When we reach the end of ourselves, we find our way. With love, there is joy even in the midst of suffering and Nouwen understood suffering far too well. We are loved perfectly in spite of our imperfection. When the prodigal son returned to his father’s house, he said yes to love. When we say yes to God’s love, then “we can reach out to him in the midst of a broken world and feel at home while still on the way” (Reaching Out 1975).

Nouwen learned what it meant to be a father when he cared for a seriously disabled young man named Adam. In the eyes of the world, Adam did not have anything of value, but to Nouwen, he was a priceless gift. Nouwen’s greatest achievements meant nothing to Adam, only his unconditional love and acceptance. As a surrogate father, Nouwen discovered that “knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically, and very concretely to announce and reveal that God is love and only love” (In the Name of Jesus 1989). Through his relationship with Adam, Nouwen’s understanding of the circle of love became complete.

Like the story of the prodigal son, the story of Henri Nouwen’s life points the way to communion with God and assures that our Heavenly Father awaits us. He runs to greet us. He is eager to shower us with love and blessing. As we move upward, no matter how imperfectly, we will learn who we are and more importantly, who God really is. We will have come home to our Father’s house, filled with joy and praise in His healing presence that sets us free to truly love and serve others in their suffering, secure in the knowledge of our own belovedness.

By Cheri Cancelliere

Thank you Cheri for sharing the gift of your beloved reflection with us!