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

Henri J. M. Nouwen (Author), Duccio (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books; Gift edition (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570755086
• ISBN-13: 978-1570755088
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Arts & Photography > Religious

More About the Author

Henri Nouwen was born in Holland in 1932 and ordained a Catholic priest in 1957. He obtained his doctorandus in psychology from Nijmegen University in the Netherlands and taught at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard. He experienced the monastic life with Trappist monks at the Abbey of the Genesee, lived among the poor in Latin America with the Maryknoll missioners, and was interested and active in numerous causes related to social justice. After a lifetime of seeking, Henri Nouwen finally found his home in Canada, as pastor of L'Arche Daybreak - where people with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers live together in community.

Henri Nouwen wrote over 40 books on spirituality and the spiritual life that have sold millions of copies and been translated into dozens of languages. His vision of spirituality was broad and inclusive, and his compassion embraced all of humankind.

He died in 1996. His work and his spirit live on.

Henri Nouwen pronounced his name "Henry Now-en." For more information on his life and work, please visit www.henrinouwen.org .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, May 16, 2006

By 

Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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

Recently I heard a priest from Opus Dei state that Henri Nouwen's books are not spiritual writing, that all of Nouwen's books are about Nouwen. After finishing this volume I would have to disagree lately, but not completely, this book like many of Nouwen's draws from Henri's personal experience, but all writers write from the lense that filters all we see and do. How could our life experience not affect how we see the world.

Nouwen states in the introduction: "Every day I celebrate the Eucharist. Sometimes in my parish church with hundreds of people present, sometimes in the Daybreak chapel with members of my community, sometimes in my father's living room with just him and me. Very few days pass without my saying, `Lord, have Mercy,' without the daily readings and a few reflections." p.9 The rest of the book is a series of reflections on the Christian life through the filter of the Eucharist and through the eyes of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The five sections in the book are:

1. Mourning Our Losses: "Lord Have Mercy"

2. Discerning the Presence: "This is the Word of God"

3. Inviting the Stranger: "I Believe"

4. Entering into Communion: "Take and Eat"

5. Going on a Mission: "Go and Tell"

Each section draws us into a deeper understanding of our life, and our life as a people of the word and of the Eucharist.

The first section focuses on loss, our loss of what we believe in, what we hope for and what we sometimes dream of. After loss the disciples questioned their following Jesus, and if we are honest sometimes we doubt as well. "We remember the time that Jesus was so real for us that we had no question about his presence in our lives. He was our most intimate friend our counselor and guide. He gave us comfort, courage, and confidence. We could feel him, yes, taste and touch him. And now? We no longer think of him very much, we no longer desire to spend long hours in his presence. We no longer have that special feeling about him." p. 27,28. through the losses we have in our life we have come to have periods of doubt and struggle with our faith, we come bruised and broken by this world. "We come to the Eucharist with hearts broken by many losses, our own as well as those of the world." p. 31 but Nouwen goes on to give us hope, our hearts are broken and we experience loss so that we can also be healed and restored, so that through the Eucharist we can receive the water of God's grace.

After we have a renewed hope and have begun healing we must discern the presence of God in our lives. He declares "We cannot live without words that come from God, words to pull us out of our sadness and lift us up to a place from where we can discover what we are truly living." p.51 In this section we are reminded that God's words give life, we are nourished by them, challenged, encouraged and admonished. "Without the word, our life has little meaning." p.60 As Catholics as Christians how could we not live immersed in the Word, in the guidebook God has given to us.

Inviting the Stranger, "Interesting, stimulating, and inspiring as all these strangers may be, when I do not invite them into my home, nothing truly happens." p.69 Jesus stated that he stands at the door and knocks, the question is do we invite him in? Do we want him to permeate our whole life? Do we want to have Jesus be a part of our everyday life? This section asks many good questions that if we are honest will challenge us.

Communion is central to the Catholic faith. It is what unites Catholics around the world, we are a people who share a common table, and Nouwen focuses on what that means to us. "We can't really live without bread that is taken, blessed and broken, and given. Without it there is no fellowship, no community, no bond of friendship, no peace, no love, no hope. Yet, with it, all can become new!" p.80,91 Later he states: "God desires communion; a unity that is vital and alive, an intimacy that comes from both sides, a bond that is truly mutual. Nothing forced or `willed,' but a communion freely offered and received. God goes all the way to make communion possible." p.87 Through the Eucharist we can have communion with God and through that communion with each other.

Finally our life as people of the word and of the table we are given a mission. Nouwen tells us "It is not just the Eucharist, but the Eucharistic life that makes the difference." p.106 Through those two things we are prepared and called to mission, the mission to live as Catholics, as people who make a positive difference in the lives of those we impact and those who cross our path. "We have a mission to fulfill and it is good that we are excited about it, but first we have to listen to what others have to say. Then our stories can be told and bring joy." p.109 Nouwen also sows us a vision of what that life would look like: "In the Eucharist we are asked to leave the table and go to our friends to discover with them that Jesus is truly alive and calls us together to become a new people - a people of the resurrection." p.110

The meditations and reflections in this book, will draw you closer to the Lord's supper, and through that to the people in your life. It is beautifully illustrated with artwork by Duccio Di Buoninsegna, the combination of words and pictures will feed your soul and challenge your mind.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A manual for letting go of pain and loss, July 17, 2007

By 

Veronica Singh (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

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

Henri Nouwen introduces a new and life-changing idea: living losses Eucharistically. He starts by acknowledging that life is full of "dark" and "agonizing" losses: "It is a world of endless losses, and many, if not most, of our fellow human beings walk with faces downcast on the surface of this planet." We go through life mourning...just like the two disciples walking to Emmaus, ruminating on their loss of Jesus.

Nouwen says that must mourn for our losses. We must "shed tears over them and allow ourselves to grieve deeply," acknowledge "the painful truth of our brokenness," and "experience the abyss of our own life" where "everything is constantly shifting and changing." In doing this, we realize that we are not the only ones with losses: in fact, all of humanity is "moaning and groaning" with the pain of losses.

Then Nouwen reveals that "there is a blessing hidden in our grief" - a gift is hidden in our tears. He says that suffering can actually lead us to gratitude. But what is the gift, and how do we recognize it? Nouwen says that "through mourning our losses we come to know life as a gift."

We need to gain a contrite heart, by realizing that our losses are connected with evil, and that there is evil in our own hearts - and so, "we are willing to take responsibility, even for the pain we didn't cause directly: blaming is converted into an acknowledgment of our own role in human brokenness." We begin to cry: "Lord have mercy". We cry out for the "healing of our cynical hearts", and we "dare to believe" that there may be a gift hidden in our pain.

We come to the Eucharistic celebration. We meet Jesus in the sacred Scriptures, though which he speaks to us. And we realize that we have a role to play in the salvation of the world: "The great temptation of our lives it to deny our role as chosen people and so allow ourselves to be trapped in the worries of our daily lives." Jesus makes our hearts burn. He encourages us to "let go of our hardened hearts and become grateful." We learn that our losses were not an end, but a "necessary way to freedom" and a "suffering leading to glory."

We receive the Eucharist, and enter into communion with Christ. "It is at that place of communion that we cry out: `God, my God, why have you abandoned me?` It is at that place, too, that our emptiness gives us the prayer: `Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.'" Because, as Nouwen explains, "Communion with Jesus means becoming like him. With him we are nailed on the cross, with him we are laid in the tomb, with him we are raised up to accompany lost travelers on their journey." We no longer belong to the world that brings us so many losses, so much pain: "There we belong to Christ and Christ to us, and with Christ we belong to God."

We are then called to bring the good news to others - we have a mission. We must learn to listen to their losses, and then to tell them: "Didn't you know that what you are complaining about can also be lived as a way to something new? Maybe it is impossible to change what has happened to you, but you are still free to choose how to live it." We can lead them "from despair to hope, and from bitterness to gratitude...breaking through the boundaries of death." There is a light that shines in the darkness.

This very basic summary, leaving much out, only scratches the surface. Nouwen proposes a truly radical and profound way of living life with joy and gratitude rather than resentment, anger, bitterness and disillusionment. What Nouwen proposes takes much thought and much effort, and it is not necessarily immediately easy to understand. But for those who want to try, his book offers a way out of pain and suffering through the only means that can truly liberate us: Christ.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Look at the Road to Emmaus, August 7, 2010

By 

Grad Student (Glen Cove, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

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

Henri Nouwen is a master of taking New Testament passages and making them relevant in our daily lives. In this book he writes about the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and their encounter with the risen Jesus. A few years ago when I was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land it was told to me that it is not certain where this event actually occurred. Over time the exact location has become clouded. During my pilgrimage it was suggested to me that I look to place myself in the spirit of a pilgrim and look for the 'Footsteps of Jesus." Exact physical locations are not as important as trying to meditate on the events that occurred and how they are relevant to my present life.

Luke tells a story occuring on the evening of Jesus' resurrection. The two discliples are on a road and they are discussing that they heard that Jesus has risen from the dead. They are also discussing the other events of the past few days such as Jesus' arrest and execuation. A stranger joins them on the road. The stranger gives them a bible lesson. They do not recognize who he is. At the end of the road they invite the stranger to eat with them. During the dinner when he breaks the bread they recognize him as Jesus. Jesus disappears only to reappear later to the Aposltes and tells them to evanglize.

"With Burning Hearts" is a short book but it has a powerful message. What impressed me most was the message that we need to invite Jesus into our lives when we receive the Eucharist. Jesus only enters our lives when He is invited. He does not force himself into our lives. The other message is our responsibility to carry the Eucharist out into the world. It is only in inviting Jesus in and our going out that we truly encounter Christ in the Eucharist.