With Burning Hearts: A Meditation on the Eucharistic Life [Paperback]

Henri J. M. Nouwen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998

One of the most popular of contemporary spiritual writers offers a profound and beautiful reflection on the meaning of the Eucharist for ourselves and our communities. The word "eucharist", Nouwen tells us, originally comes from the Greek for "thanksgiving". And while the ancient source provides one dimension of the Christian experience, Nouwen finds that the wisdom of prior insights no longer suffices in a world changing as rapidly as ours. What we need is to realize the intimate connection between celebrating the Eucharist, and living a "eucharistic life". With Burning Hearts seeks a fuller understanding of Eucharist through the story of the disciples on their way to Emmaus from Jerusalem after the crucifixion (Luke 24: 13-35). They did not know they travelled with the risen Christ until they recognized him suddenly in the breaking of the bread. Marveling, they asked one another, "Did our hearts not burn withing us while he was talking to us...? Their story models the order of the eucharistic celebration: the coming together in our brokeness before God, the hearing of the Word, the profession of faith, the offering of the meal, and the going forth as Jesus bid them, to renew the face of the Earth. Henri Nouwen shows us how the eucharistic event is intensely human, revealing the deepest of human experience: sadness and loss, attentiveness and invitation, intimacy and engagement. Just as the disciples on the road to Emmaus passed through all these stages so our participation in the Eucharist mirrors each one. Along this five-step journey, the disciples travel, grow, and learn. Their hearts at first are laden with failure and loss, then come to burn with recognition,and finally to burst open with gratitude and new life. This is the "eucharistic" moment: the goal of thanksgiving, of giving thanks to the One who has made us whole. From mourning to discernment, from invitation to intimacy, and finally from community to the charge to go forth and witness: With Burning Hearts calls us to experience all of this journey, to know that what we celebrate and what we are called to live are one and the same.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

HENRI J.M. NOUWEN is one of the most prolific and popular spiritual writers of our time. He wrote more than 40 books and taught at the University of Notre Dame, as well as Yale and Harvard. For the 10 years before his death in 1996, he was part of the L'Arche Daybreak community in Toronto, sharing life with people with developmental disabilities. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570751161
• ISBN-13: 978-1570751165
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #734,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Walk Down the Road With the Gentlest of Writers, February 9, 1999

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This review is from: With Burning Hearts: A Meditation on the Eucharistic Life (Hardcover)

Henri Nouwen explains the Lord's Supper in the context of the two disciples' walk with Jesus down the road to Emmaus at the end of Luke's gospel. He sees five interrelating movements in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, each movement corresponding to an event along the disciples' walk. This is a meditation, not a theological treatise, so the soul and the mind share the road. Nouwen's meditations are challenging and joyous, and this is one of the best I've read. Going on any trip with Henri Nouwen brings joy, whether it's into a painting ("Return of the Prodigal Son"), into the desert ("Way of the Heart"), across a calendar ("Bread for the Journey"), or into his own anguish ("Inner Voice of Love"). I was so taken with Nouwen challenge to a "eucharistic life" in this book that I have celebrated the Lord's Supper by myself several times.