Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings [Paperback]

Henri J. M. Nouwen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1992

Nouwen invites readers to join him on a 40-day Lenten path as fellow pilgrims, from the solemn beginning of Ash Wednesday to the joyous climax of Easter. This inspirational "search for the way" speaks directly to the heart during this time of reflection and prayer.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 187 pages
• Publisher: The Crossroad Publishing Company (1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824513533
• ISBN-13: 978-0824513535
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Education
  • #5 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Worship & Devotion > Devotionals
  • #7 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism

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

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It challenges me to find the 'descending way' to God., February 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings (Paperback)

I've used this book for the last three Lenten seasons, and it just gets better each year. Each day's text is very short, usually less than 2 pages, so I don't ever feel that I just don't have time to read it. Even though the meditations are short, every day's reading is filled with challenges for me to become closer to God, and to find, as Nouwen puts it, the 'descending way'.

This year I purchased three more copies of this book to share with friends for their Lenten meditations.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent lenten tool from a wounded master, April 5, 2001

By 

A. Hogan (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings (Paperback)

The late henri Nouwen, of blessed memory, was one of the mostinfluential spiritual writers of the last century .His writings are rarely academic,and often are quite personal. Therse selections are taken from many of Fr Nouwens writings, put together with the appropriate scipture reading of the day, and concluded with a prayer from Fr nouwen. Two pages long each day, this book has been a faithful companion the last 3 lenten seasons for me. Nouwens own foibles make all the more poignant the struggles he expresses during Lent. Powerful reading from a good great man.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nourishing selections that you want to prayerfully sip and taste and be transformed, February 24, 2008

By 

George Zee (www.frzee.org, Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings (Paperback)

The challenging journey of a major sickness and surgery and the solitude in hospital stay might have helped one's listening and gaining a renewed and deepened appreciation for Henri Nouwen's writings. The low-keyed compiler, F. Johna, name only given at Forward, has done an excellent job in selecting from diverse sources and woven choice pieces into apt themes for every day of Lent, with a quote at the beginning and meaningful prayer at the end. The new edition has a more attractive cover and format and a theme topic is given to each day.

You wish to quote from every page. I'll just give a few examples.

From 1st Sunday of Lent:

"...true joy comes from letting God love me the way God wants, whether it is through illness or health, failure or success, poverty or wealth, rejection or praise. It is hard for me to say, 'I shall gratefully accept everything, Lord, that pleases you. Let your will be done.' But I know when I believe my Father is pure love, it will become increasingly possible to say these words from the heart."

What a gift to live in the conviction that "my Father is pure love" no matter what!

He ends encouraging people to pray often and make our own Charles de Foucauld's Prayer of Abandonment. (All so similar to St Ignatius of Loyola's "Take and Receive".) But he cautions that we cannot realize this prayer through our own effort, only through the spirit of Jesus.

The Eucharist is so central in Nouwen's spirituality.

From 2nd Sunday of Lent:

"When we eat bread and drink wine together in memory of Christ, we BECOME his life and are thus enabled to represent his life in our time and place."

From 3rd Sunday of Lent:

"It is this, the enemy-loving love of God, that is offered to us in the Eucharist. To forgive our enemies doesn't lie within our power. That is a divine gift. That's why it's so important to make the Eucharist the heart and center of your life. It's there that you receive the love which empowers you to take the way that Jesus has taken before you: a narrow way, a painful way, but the way that gives you true joy and peace and enables you to make the non-violent love of God visible in this world."

The ongoing spiritual conversion, esp. during Lent, is not one of personal effort and achievement, though there is the need for spiritual discipline. Growth in surrendering oneself, forgiveness, compassion and love all stem from being loved, united with Jesus, to live because of the Father as beloved sons and daughters.

One will suffer from indigestion to read any of Nouwen's numerous books from cover to cover at one sitting. So daily meditation over these choice selections not only nourishes the spirit during Lent, but throughout the year.