We Need Each Other: Responding to God's Call to Live Together - Softcover

Vanier, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1640604502 ISBN 13: 9781640604506

Publisher: Paraclete Pr, 2019

Synopsis

"Jean Vanier is a living saint." --James Martin, SJ

In April 2008, Jean Vanier led a simple retreat in Nyahururu, Kenya, a place recently shattered by violence between people, and bloodshed. People there were shaken. With frequent reference to the Gospel of John, this book comprises the talks that Vanier gave:

• What Are You Looking For?
• The Cry of the Poor
• The Feast Is Ready
• To Live in Unity
• Be Open
• Encountering the Other
• The Washing of the Feet

"I am a broken man like all human beings, but I also know that Jesus loves me and that he is calling me to grow. This is the experience of being loved in my brokenness and therein lies the incredible gentleness of our God. We all have to discover the point of our brokenness because that is precisely the place where we are the beloved. Sometimes we hide behind the idea that we are better than others. We have to discover that none of us is better, that we are all children of God... God has a desire to bring people together in love. There are two fundamental things that Jesus came to reveal to us. First, God is a lover. God loves. Second, this incredible, gentle, and tender God is in love with each one of us. Each person is precious to God and together we are to build a community where we love each other." --from the book

About this title

Review

"We Need Each Other is a treasure. . . . Though these lectures were first delivered ten years ago, and halfway around the world, they couldn't be timelier. They are timely because they are timeless." --John Pattison, Englewood Review of Books

"We all want to be noticed and loved by those who are famous, beautiful, and admired. To be loved by them gives us a good feeling. But to be loved by the poor, by those with disabilities, by those who have no place with the famous, the beautiful, and the admired, is the real place where unconditional love and healing will find us. How do we come to that practically in our lives? In this book, Jean Vanier gives us both a vision and a map. This is vintage Vanier." --Ronald Rolheiser, author of The Holy Longing and Bruised and Wounded

"Jean Vanier is a living saint." --James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

"This is a sweet, small, hardback volume that offers the reflections of this living saint and Winner of the Templeton Prize. You may recall that Vanier is a master of writing about community and has given his life to offering care and hospitality among the mentally and physically challenged. (Henri Nouwen famously went to one of Vanier's L'Arche communities to live with the disabled in Toronto.) This book actually came out of a retreat Vanier led in Nyahururu Kenya (a land that has been shattered by violence and bloodshed.) There is a powerful endorsing blurb on the back by Ronald Rolheiser notes how Vanier helps us get to a place of feeling accepted, loved. What a graceful little volume this is." --Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Books

"We all want to be noticed and loved by those who are famous, beautiful, and admired. To be loved by them gives us a good feeling. But to be loved by the poor, by those with disabilities, by those who have no place with the famous, the beautiful, and the admired, is the real place where unconditional love and healing will find us. How do we come to that practically in our lives? In this book, Jean Vanier gives us both a vision and a map. This is vintage Vanier." --Ronald Rolheiser, author of The Holy Longing and Bruised and Wounded

"His powerful message and practice of love has the potential to change the world." --Jennifer Simpson, granddaughter of Sir John Templeton, announcing award of the 2015 Templeton Prize to Vanier

"Jean Vanier brings you in touch with a place inside yourself that few people have reached." --Henri J. M. Nouwen

"He opens our eyes and touches our hearts in speaking to us about the Savior." --Rev. Rawley Myers, author, Daily Reflections with Jesus

"Jean Vanier is a spiritual friend on the journey of life." --Sue Mosteller, Henri Nouwen Literary Center

"The witness and teachings of Jean Vanier have never been so necessary." --Michael W. Higgins, author, Jean Vanier: Logician of the Heart

From the Back Cover

In April 2008, Jean Vanier led a simple retreat in Nyahururu, Kenya, a place recently shattered by violence between people, and bloodshed. People there were shaken. With frequent reference to the Gospel of John, this book comprises the talks that Vanier gave:

• What Are You Looking For?
• The Cry of the Poor
• The Feast Is Ready
• To Live in Unity
• Be Open
• Encountering the Other
• The Washing of the Feet

"His powerful message and practice of love has the potential to change the world."
-Jennifer Simpson, granddaughter of Sir John Templeton, announcing award of the 2015 Templeton Prize to Vanier

"Jean Vanier brings you in touch with a place inside yourself that few people have reached."
-Henri J. M. Nouwen

"He opens our eyes and touches our hearts in speaking to us about the Savior."
-Rev. Rawley Myers, author, Daily Reflections with Jesus

"Jean Vanier is a spiritual friend on the journey of life."
-Sue Mosteller, Henri Nouwen Literary Center

"The witness and teachings of Jean Vanier have never been so necessary."
-Michael W. Higgins, author, Jean Vanier: Logician of the Heart

"I am a broken man like all human beings, but I also know that Jesus loves me and that he is calling me to grow. This is the experience of being loved in my brokenness and therein lies the incredible gentleness of our God. We all have to discover the point of our brokenness because that is precisely the place where we are the beloved.
Sometimes we hide behind the idea that we are better than others. We have to discover that none of us is better, that we are all children of God...
God has a desire to bring people together in love. There are two fundamental things that Jesus came to reveal to us. First, God is a lover. God loves. Second, this incredible, gentle, and tender God is in love with each one of us. Each person is precious to God and together we are to build a community where we love each other." --from the book

Jean Vanier is a philosopher, theologian, and man of letters with great heart and compassion. He was awarded the Templeton Prize in 2015. Past recipients include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and H.H. the Dalai Lama. The first L'Arche Community was started in 1964 in Trosly-Breuil, a village in the north of Paris when Vanier invited two people with intellectual disabilities to live with him in a small house. This house he named L'Arche, French for "The Ark," a name then adopted by all communities around the world that have been founded on these principles. Today, L'Arche is made up of 151 communities spread over five continents.

About this edition

• Publisher: Paraclete Pr
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1640604502
• ISBN 13: 9781640604506
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 138