Spirit of Wisdom Hermitage

05/24/2026

OUR TRUE VOCATION

From: In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership

Too often I looked at being relevant, popular, and powerful as ingredients of an effective ministry.

The truth, however, is that these are not vocations but temptations.

Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” Jesus sends us out to be shepherds, and Jesus promises a life in which we increasingly have to stretch out our hands and be led to places where we would rather not go.

He asks us to move from a concern for relevance to a life of prayer, from worries about popularity to communal and mutual ministry, and from a leadership built on power to a leadership in which we critically discern where God is leading us.

Reflection Question:
How do you experience the temptation to be relevant, popular, or powerful - and how might you move away from them?

Henri Nouwen

05/23/2026

A PLACE TO DWELL

From:
Heart Speaks to Heart: Three Gospel Meditations on Jesus

Your heart, Jesus, is so full of the desire to love me, so aflame with a fire to warm me.

You so much want to give me a home, a sense of belonging, a place to dwell, a shelter where I feel protected and a refuge in which I feel safe.

You stand at so many squares and corners of my life and say with so much tenderness, “Come and see, come and stay with me.

When you are thirsty, come to me…. you who put your trust in me, come and drink.

Come, you who are tired, exhausted, depressed, discouraged and dispirited.

Come, you who feel pain in your body, fatigue in your anxious mind and doubt and anguish in the depth of your heart.

Reflection Question:
Where do you sense Jesus tenderly calling you?

Henri Nouwen

05/22/2026

REFRESHING OUR MEMORY

From: The Genesee Diary

I am struck by the fact that the prophets speaking about the future of Israel always kept reminding their people of God's great works in the past.

They could look forward with confidence because they could look backward with awe to Yahweh's great deeds.

All this seems extremely important in a time in which our sense of history is so weak….

Without anchors in its early promises and aspirations, a nation is in danger of drifting and losing direction.

And not only a nation but the Church as well.

It seems that progress is always connected with a refreshing of our collective memory.

Reflection Question:
What will you remember today that will help you be anchored in God's faithfulness?

Henri Nouwen

05/21/2026

THE SOURCE OF ALL PEACE

From:
Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit

Do not give up working for peace.

Always remember that the peace for which you work is not of this world.

Do not let yourself be distracted by the great noises of war, the dramatic descriptions of misery, and the sensational expressions of human cruelty.

The newspapers, movies, and war novels may make you numb, but they do not create in you a true desire for peace.

They tend to create feelings of shame, guilt, and powerlessness, and these feelings are the worst motives for peace work.

Keep your eyes on the prince of peace, the one who doesn't cling to his divine power; the one who refuses to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights, and rule with great power; the one who says, “Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness” (see Matt. 5:3-11).

See the one who touches the lame, the crippled, and the blind; the one who speaks words of forgiveness and encouragement; the one who dies alone, rejected, and despised.

Keep your eyes on him who becomes poor with the poor, weak with the weak, and who is rejected with the rejected.

That one, Jesus, is the source of all peace.

Reflection Question:
When you engage current events, are you more likely to feel powerless or motivated to work for peace?

Henri Nouwen

05/20/2026

GOD'S PREPARATIONS IN THE INTERRUPTIONS

From:
Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

A few years ago I met an old professor at the University of Notre Dame.

Looking back on his long life of teaching, he said with a funny twinkle in his eyes: “I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work.”

That is the great conversion in our life: to recognize and believe that the many unexpected events are not just disturbing interruptions of our projects, but the way in which God molds our hearts and prepares us for his return.

Our great temptations are boredom and bitterness. When our good plans are interrupted by poor weather, our peace of mind by inner turmoil, our hope for peace by a new war, our desire for a stable government by a constant changing of the guards, and our desire for immortality by real death, we are tempted to give in to a paralyzing boredom or to strike back in destructive bitterness.

But when we believe that patience can make our expectations grow, then fate can be converted into a vocation, wounds into a call for deeper understanding, and sadness into a birthplace of joy.

Reflection Question:
In what ways might you resist both boredom and bitterness in this season of your life?

Henri Nouwen

05/19/2026

CHOOSING THE LIGHT

From:
Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life

I know quite well the difference between darkness and light but do not always have the courage to name them by their true names.

There is a strong temptation to deal with the darkness as if it were light, and with the light as if it were darkness.

Knowing Jesus, reading his words, and praying create increasing clarity about evil and good, sin and grace, Satan and God.

This clarity calls me to choose the way to the light fearlessly and straightforwardly.

The transparent life is a life in which heart, mind, and gut are united in choosing the light.

Reflection Question:
In what ways has scriIpture helped you to know the difference between darkness and light?

Henri Nouwen

05/18/2026

THE GIFT OF JOY AND PEACE

From:
Lifesigns: Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in Christian Perspective

When we enjoy a good atmosphere in the family, a peaceful mood among friends, or a spirit of cooperation and mutual support in a community, we intuitively know that we did not produce it.

It cannot be made, imitated, or exported.

To people who are jealous, and who would like to have our joy and peace, we cannot give a formula to produce it or a method to acquire it.

It is always perceived as a gift, to which the only appropriate response is gratitude.

Reflection Question:
When was the last time you felt joy and knew that it was given to you as a gift?

Henri Nouwen

05/17/2026

https://www.youtube.com/live/DL2dKFL7WFI?feature=shared

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord Mass celebrated in the Saint Meinrad Archabbey Church on May 17, 2026.

05/17/2026

OUR HEART: CENTER OF OUR BEING

From:
Finding My Way Home:
Pathways to Life and the Spirit

I am speaking here about something very, very real.

It is about the hidden mystery of the primacy of the heart in our true identity as human beings.

Let me say here that by “heart” I do not mean the seat of human emotions in contrast to the mind as the seat of human thought.

No, by heart I mean the center of our being where God comes to dwell with us and bring us the divine gifts of trust, hope, and love.

Reflection Question:
In what ways do you experience God dwelling in the center of your being?

Henri Nouwen

05/16/2026

LIVING IN THE LIGHT

From:
Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety

Lord Jesus,

I come to you to enter into the mystery of your way – the way of discipleship, the way that leads from the cross to new life.

It is not an easy way, but it is a way of peace and joy.

Help me to be here with a heart open to suffering, a mind open to understanding, and a will ready to follow.

There are many struggles and I will always have many struggles, but with you, O Lord, I am living in the Light.

With you, O Lord, I am moving more and more toward life.

With you, O Lord, I know I am safe.

Let me celebrate my life in a spirit of gratitude.

Grateful that I am here and grateful you are my God.

Amen.

Reflection Question:
How will you celebrate your life in a spirit of gratitude today?

Henri Nouwen