Daily Meditation: Focusing on the Poor

Friday October 31, 2014 Focusing on the Poor Like every human organization the Church is constantly in danger of corruption. As soon as power and wealth come to the Church, manipulation, exploitation, misuse of influence, and outright corruption are not far away. How do we prevent corruption in the Church? The answer is clear: by focusing on the poor. The poor make the Church faithful to its vocation. When the Church is no longer a church for the poor, it loses its spiritual identity. It gets caught up in disagreements, jealousy, power games, and pettiness. Paul says, "God has composed the body so that greater dignity is given to the parts which were without it, and so that there may not be disagreements inside the body but each part may be equally concerned for all the others" (1 Corinthians 12:24-25). This is the true vision. The poor are given to the Church so that the Church as the body of Christ can be and remain a place of mutual concern, love, and peace.   Comment on this Daily Meditation.   Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.     Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson.

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Daily Meditation: The Weakest in the Center

Thursday October 30, 2014 The Weakest in the Center The most honored parts of the body are not the head or the hands, which lead and control.  The most important parts are the least presentable parts. That's the mystery of the Church.  As a people called out of oppression to freedom, we must recognize that it is the weakest among us - the elderly, the small children, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the hungry and sick - who form the real center.  Paul says,  "It is the parts of the body which we consider least dignified, that we surround with the greatest dignity"  (1 Corinthians 12:23). The Church as the people of God can truly embody the living Christ among us only when the poor remain its most treasured part.  Care for the poor, therefore, is much more than Christian charity.  It is the essence of being the body of Christ.   Comment on this Daily Meditation.   Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.     Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson.

Forward this Daily Meditation to a friend! This email was sent to cbgamb@gmail.com, by email_lists@henrinouwen.org Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Henri Nouwen Society | PO Box 220522 | St. Louis | MO | 63122 | USA Henri Nouwen Society | John M. Kelly Library, 3rd Fl. | 113 St. Joseph Street | Toronto | ON | M5S 1J4 | Canada

Daily Meditation: One Body with Many Parts

Wednesday October 29, 2014 One Body with Many Parts The Church is one body.  Paul writes,  "We were baptised into one body in a single Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13).  But this one body has many parts.  As Paul says, "If they were all the same part, how could it be a body?  As it is, the parts are many but the body is one" (1 Corinthians 12:19).  Not everyone can be everything.  Often we expect one member of the body to fulfill a task that belongs to others.  But the hand cannot be asked to see nor the eye to hear. Together we are Christ's body, each of us with a part to play in the whole (see 1 Corinthians 12:27).  Let's be grateful for our limited but real part in the body.   Comment on this Daily Meditation.   Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.     Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson.

Forward this Daily Meditation to a friend! This email was sent to cbgamb@gmail.com, by email_lists@henrinouwen.org Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Henri Nouwen Society | PO Box 220522 | St. Louis | MO | 63122 | USA Henri Nouwen Society | John M. Kelly Library, 3rd Fl. | 113 St. Joseph Street | Toronto | ON | M5S 1J4 | Canada

Daily Meditation: Our Spiritual Leaders

Tuesday October 28, 2014 Our Spiritual Leaders The Church as the body of Christ has many faces.  The Church prays and worships.  It speaks words of instruction and healing, cleanses us from our sins, invites us to the table of the Lord, binds us together in a covenant of love, sends us out to minister, anoints us when we are sick or dying, and accompanies us in our search for meaning and our daily need for support.   All these faces might not come to us from those we look up to as our leaders.  But when we live our lives with a simple trust that Jesus comes to us in our Church, we will see the Church's ministry in places and in faces where we least expect it. If we truly love Jesus, Jesus will send us the people to give us what we most need.  And they are our spiritual leaders.   Comment on this Daily Meditation.   Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.     Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson.

Forward this Daily Meditation to a friend! This email was sent to cbgamb@gmail.com, by email_lists@henrinouwen.org Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Henri Nouwen Society | PO Box 220522 | St. Louis | MO | 63122 | USA Henri Nouwen Society | John M. Kelly Library, 3rd Fl. | 113 St. Joseph Street | Toronto | ON | M5S 1J4 | Canada