Item 1715 - To meet the body is to meet the word: living the incarnation at L'Arche

4 p. of textual records

This item is a 5 page article by Henri Nouwen entitled, ‘To Meet the Body is to meet the Word’ published in the New Oxford Review, Vol. LIV, No. 3, April 1987, pp. 3 – 7. This is an excerpt from Nouwen’s diaries written during his year at L’Arche Trosley Breuil, France. The entries begin March 15, 1986 and end April 7, 1986 with gaps. In his first entry Nouwen is reflecting on the gospel of the day; the story of Nicodemus and his struggle to both do the right thing and be respected by his peers. Nouwen writes of that same struggle in his own life. In the second entry Nouwen reflects on Jean Vanier’s statement that L’Arche is built upon the body not the word. Nouwen then discusses his resistance to that but concludes with the question, ‘I wonder when and how I will learn fully to live the incarnation.’ In the third and fourth entries Nouwen reflects upon the covenant retreat that he has experienced. Following these is an entry talking about Jesus’ wounds in his resurrected body and Nouwen writes, ‘ Thus I proclaim that my wounds are not causes for embarrassment, but the source of a joyful acknowledgement of my unique vocation to journey with Jesus through suffering to the glory of God’. The next entry, probably written for Easter Sunday 1986 reflects on our need to be able to speak of the risen Lord. The final entry is about the arrival of his friend Charles Bush.

Item is 7 of a series of 10 articles, later published in, Nouwen, Henri: Road to Daybreak, A Spiritual Journey, Doubleday and Co., N.Y., 1988. See also Published works series, items 1701, 1702, 1705, 1706, 1709, 1710, 1717, 1718, 1719.

Published in New Oxford Review 54, no. 3 (April 1987): 3-7.

Added by L Joson, 13 November 2017
Revised by L Joson, 22 June 2018