Item 1648 - The spirituality of peacemaking

12 p. of textual records

This item is a 12 page article/talk by Henri Nouwen entitled The Spirituality of Peacemaking, given on the occasion of the celebration of the anniversary of the Norbertine Foundation of the Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, on November 18, 1982. Nouwen opens by suggesting that various of the Beatitudes ‘jump out’ at certain historical times. He states his sense that for this time the question is ,’how are we going to live out “blessed are the peacemakers”? Nouwen states that this is a question for all Christians and all churches. Nouwen states that he wishes to use the words of Jesus, ‘May you have peace in Me; in the world you will have trouble. I have come to conquer the world’. Nouwen goes on to say that he wishes to use these words to speak about peace in terms of prayer, resistance and community. Nouwen suggests that human beings act out neediness, woundedness, aggression and this is a barrier to peace. ‘But I say that Jesus Christ came to take us out of that interlocking world of needs…Prayer and the life of prayer is the life in which we move out of that dwelling place of needing and move towards the house of the Lord’. Nouwen follows this by suggesting that prayer gives us the ability to resist evil, to resist being overcome by suffering and death. Finally, Nouwen states that ‘it is the community that helps us to see the true meaning of prayer and resistance’. Nouwen concludes by stating that ‘we are a Eucharistic people and that is to be peacemakers’.

Unknown publishing information. At the conclusion is a note that states in part 'This article was transcribed from a tape by Sister Mary Rita McCullough'.
"1983" written on the top of the article.
"File: Nouwen transcripts" also written on the top of the article.
This material is thought to have been prepared for an extended version by Henri Nouwen for a book to be entitled 'The Spirituality of Peacemaking' which was never published in his lifetime. Some portions of this material are published in Nouwen, Henri: The Road to Peace, Ed. by John Dear, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y., 1998 in the section entitled The House of Peace and in Nouwen, Henri: Peacework, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y. 2005.

Added by L Joson, 9 November 2017