An Invitation to Give!

Dear Friends, “I’ll be home for Christmas” has become a yuletide standard. It evokes the best of warm family celebrations. Homecoming was a significant theme and longing for Henri Nouwen too. He never hid his restless searching for connection and intimacy. Yet he also saw through the veneer of Christmas cheer that our culture of consumerism manufactures. “Somehow I realized that songs, music, good feelings, beautiful liturgies,    nice presents, big dinners, and many sweet words do not make Christmas.  Christmas is saying "yes" to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying "yes" to a hope based on God's initiative,  which has nothing to do with what I think or feel.”  So many feel deep emptiness and loneliness around Christmas. Henri reminds us, that no matter who we are or what we have or who we spend the holidays with, the hope of Christmas is true and secure in the gift of Jesus Christ. The home we long for is found in the embrace of a God who calls us Beloved! Today, we need Henri’s voice more than ever! In the nearly 30 years since Henri’s death, it has become all the more challenging to quiet the clamor and resist the lure of false comfort and security. Henri calls us to make space for God and find rest in our true home. Your Christmas gift to support the work of the Henri Nouwen Society will enable us to keep reaching out with Henri’s deepest truth: We are God’s Beloved! There are generations who have never heard of Henri, who may be disillusioned with religion or the church, but will resonate with Henri’s honest and vulnerable invitation to return home to the God who runs to us with arms open wide.   Help us to reach them! DONATE TODAY While much has changed, our deepest questions, deepest fears, and deepest longings remain the same: we want to come home for Christmas! Thank you for being part of the Henri Nouwen community. Our prayer for you is that you would truly experience that you are home in God’s loving embrace throughout the Advent season and celebration of Christ’s birth. Faithfully, Karen Pascal, Executive Director Henri Nouwen Society Henri Nouwen Society | www.henrinouwen.org | 1-866-226-2158

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