Item 1720 - L'Arche and the world

5 p. of textual records

This item is a 5 page article from a talk given by Henri Nouwen entitled ‘l’Arche in the World’ published in The Letters of l’Arche, September/December, 1987, Nos. 53 & 54, pp. 29 – 33. This publication was a special issue devoted to the l’Arche Federation Meeting, Rome, May, 1987. Nouwen begins his article by stating how irritating he first found a common l’Arche expression: ‘l’Arche is given to the world’. Nouwen believed that such a phrase ‘had an insane ring to it’. The remainder of the article goes on to deal with the following statement: ‘ How is our small daily, routine life at l’Arche connected with our immense world, groaning in labour pains, eagerly waiting to be set free? I propose to look for a response to this question in the resurrection stories as we find them in the four gospels’. Nouwen then divides his comments in three sections: The Stranger, The Intimate Friend and The Teacher. In The Stranger Nouwen speaks of the hiddenness of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, how he comes to his disciples after his death as at first, a stranger and the disciples both knew and didn’t know him. Nouwen tells the story of Adam Arnett who lives in his house and then speaks of the hidden quality of all suffering: ‘Only by acknowledging this hidden suffering that bonds our heart with the heart of all human beings can we become truly compassionate people… In The Intimate Friend Nouwen states, ‘The stranger reveals himself to us as the most intimate friend’. Nouwen goes on to suggest that our lives are built on deep personal relationships and not, for instance, issues. Nouwen then relates the story of the growth of his relationship with Bill in his community and concludes by saying, ‘l’Arche is there to remind us that the intimate personal relationships developed over months and years of faithfulness allow us to be in the world without being destroyed by its countless urgencies and emergencies’. In the section entitled The Teacher Nouwen states,’ Jesus teaches his disciples that suffering and death are no longer connected with sin and punishment, but with the glory of God…It is hard to grasp the revolutionary character of this teaching. Nouwen notes that ‘l’Arche teaches the possibility of a suffering that leads to glory. Finally, Nouwen concludes ‘As people of l’Arche , people of the resurrection, our small daily lives must be connected to the great struggles of our contemporary world’.

Published in Letters of L'Arche no. 53 & 54 (September - December 1987): 29-33.
See French translation in Published works series, box 297, item 1722.

Added by L Joson, 13 November 2017