In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership
Henri J M Nouwen
Nouwen presents a series of short reflections on “servant leadership” which he saw as the essence of Christian ministry. At that time of writing, he was working in a community of mentally challenged people in Toronto, Canada. He avoids an academic approach and bases his thoughts on his experience with the people with whom he was living at the time in the new community “trying carefully to discern which of (his) own experiences and insights could speak to priests and ministers who live in very different circumstances.” Nouwen took one of the inmates of the community to join him on the stage as he addressed the large gathering.
One temptation among the religious is to be “relevant.” Nouwen likens this to the experience of Jesus who was tempted to turn stones into bread, to satisfy hunger. According to him, “the Christian leader of the future is called upon to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing but his own vulnerable self.” “Man does not live by bread alone.” Speaking on the question, “Do you love me? “ he observes, “The Christian leader of the future is the one who truly knows the heart of God as it has become flesh—a heart of flesh—in Jesus.” There are two kinds of love that we experience—the love of God that is totally unconditional, and that of our fellow humans which is “conditional.” This second love is fraught with ambiguity and darkness as “only a broken reflection of the first love. Christian leaders are not simply to be well-informed people with opinions about the issues of today. “Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent intimate relationship with the incarnate word Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance. To be fruitful in the future, it needs to move form the moral to the mystical.” Like Jesus, his ministers are also tempted to be spectacular, which is tantamount to putting the Lord to the test.
Nouwen sees confession and forgiveness as the concrete forms through which we the sinful love one another. We have to shun the temptation to be powerful. “Power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love.” The Christian leader of the future “must choose to be radically poor.” And be led rather than lead. Nouwen believes that the future Christian leadership needs a deep spiritual formation of the whole person, a “formation in the mind of Christ.”
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith: 101 Stories to offer Hope, Deepen Faith and Spread Love
Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & LeAnn Thieman.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are joint creators of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which includes about forty international best sellers. This volume, focused on the Catholic faith, contains 101 real life stories covering various aspects of Catholic life and spirituality. The stories contain a variety of experiences—amusing, sad, heartwarming, miraculous—and include rediscovery and return to lost faith and so on. Some are about how people encounter the love of God in various real life situations in life, like a teacher encouraging a poor immigrant student in her class or a son honouring his mother at a school event. There is also an incident that recalls a youth’s encounter with Pope St John Paul in Rome during the 15th annual World Youth Day. There are also reports of miraculous experiences and healings, of the experience of conversions, of finding meaning in suffering, and the power of the sacraments, forgiveness and reconciliation. There are also nostalgic and humorous recollections by some whose convent school life experiences might bring an amused smile of recognition to those who have been through it. Each one is inspiring in its own different way, reflecting the experience of Catholic faith lived in the modern world by ordinary people. These testimonies can make us also recognize similar experiences in our own lives and help us with a deeper understanding of what it means to live the Catholic way today.
Dr Gigy Joseph
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