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Jean Vanier
Winner of the 2015 Templeton Prize and numerous other international and prestigious honors, Jean Vanier lives a radical poverty of surrender in a time of fanatical acquisitiveness, economic disparity, and mounting bellicosity among nations. He is a philosopher of the heart, icon of wholeness, and justice activist.
Through such key notions as trust, community, relationship, and humility, Vanier has built up a network of service and nurturing growth spanning the globe: the L'Arche Movement. He has advocated for peace in a world that treasures its violence, written extensively about the very meaning of human personhood, and championed sensitivity to the diverse spiritual traditions that make up our world. His remarkable life has included rich friendships with Blessed Mother Teresa, St. John Paul II and Henri Nouwen.
Jean Vanier is a man of complexity and formal philosophical training, a scion of a family of national pedigree, and one of the seminal religious and inspirational figures of our time. In this volume, Michael Higgins focuses on Vanier’s many interconnections—personal and conceptual—with the mighty and the humble, the pious and the secular, as well as the young and the seasoned.
People of God is a series of inspiring biographies for the general reader. Each volume offers a compelling and honest narrative of the life of an important twentieth or twenty-first century Catholic. Some living and some now deceased, each of these women and men has known challenges and weaknesses familiar to most of us but responded to them in ways that call us to our own forms of heroism. Each offers a credible and concrete witness of faith, hope, and love to people of our own day.
Through such key notions as trust, community, relationship, and humility, Vanier has built up a network of service and nurturing growth spanning the globe: the L'Arche Movement. He has advocated for peace in a world that treasures its violence, written extensively about the very meaning of human personhood, and championed sensitivity to the diverse spiritual traditions that make up our world. His remarkable life has included rich friendships with Blessed Mother Teresa, St. John Paul II and Henri Nouwen.
Jean Vanier is a man of complexity and formal philosophical training, a scion of a family of national pedigree, and one of the seminal religious and inspirational figures of our time. In this volume, Michael Higgins focuses on Vanier’s many interconnections—personal and conceptual—with the mighty and the humble, the pious and the secular, as well as the young and the seasoned.
People of God is a series of inspiring biographies for the general reader. Each volume offers a compelling and honest narrative of the life of an important twentieth or twenty-first century Catholic. Some living and some now deceased, each of these women and men has known challenges and weaknesses familiar to most of us but responded to them in ways that call us to our own forms of heroism. Each offers a credible and concrete witness of faith, hope, and love to people of our own day.
168 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2016
About the author
Michael W. Higgins
31 books5 followersHe has been a columnist, a radio documentary maker, a television commentator on Vatican affairs, and a regular contributor to Commonweal magazine, and a commentator for the Irish Catholic. He was the chief advisor for the widely acclaimed TV series, Sir Peter Ustinov’s Inside the Vatican.
Dr. Higgins has been studying, writing about, and has given numerous lectures on John Moriarty and has found his audience in the United States, Canada, and Ireland to be very receptive to Moriarty’s ideas. Dr. Higgins’ recent publications of other important 20th century thinkers has allowed him to place Moriarty’s ideas in context.
Dr. Higgins has been studying, writing about, and has given numerous lectures on John Moriarty and has found his audience in the United States, Canada, and Ireland to be very receptive to Moriarty’s ideas. Dr. Higgins’ recent publications of other important 20th century thinkers has allowed him to place Moriarty’s ideas in context.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
July 15, 2019
Checking my reading list, I have previously read 8 books by Michael W. Higgins. But that was all between 1998 and 2006. But after reading this volume I have already picked up three others of his recent offerings to add to my summer reading list. I had the privilege of taking a course with Higgins when I returned to university as a mature student. And many year later attended a retreat at a convent where he gave a series of talks about the process of making saints, based on his book, Stalking the Holy. It does not seem to matter if you encounter him in person or through his writings there is a passion, energy, and a presence. And in this volume, he focuses that on a man, of whom, many would say the same, Jean Vanier.
I never had the benefit of meeting Jean Vanier in person. But know many people who have. In fact, most of my knowledge if Vanier is third hand from those who knew and interacted with Henri J.M. Nouwen (another whom Higgins has written about). This book was a fascinating read. I was familiar with Vanier the Catholic Humanist, the founder of L’Arche. But I was completely unaware of his military career. His decision to enter the navel academy at a young age. There is much about this man’s life that can serve as both inspiration and a challenge to us. No matter where we fall on the religious spectrum. When I read this book, I highlighted several passages. I want to share a few of them in this review. The first quote that really impacted me was:
“Vanier is not an economist, any more than Pope Francis. He does not issue periodic jeremiads, pronounce with oracular majesty from a distance, nor proffer solutions to complex politico-economic issues. What he does, like Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is offer a palpable alternative to being human whereby the homeless garner as much attention and sympathy as a dysfunctional celebrity or financial climber.”
Vanier it appears often did things in a new way. Often an untested, untried way. He followed his gut. And from reading this book, his trust in his instinct was strengthened by his father’s trust in him at a crucial point. Another is:
“Vanier responds unequivocally that it is praying because praying is not doing, it’s clicking, it’s compassion, thankfulness and peacefulness, gratitude and communion. “Prayer, then,” Brown surmises, “is a way of reminding ourselves . . . ,” and Vanier completes his thought with “to be who we are.””
Vanier had a keen insight into people, and strove to understand others, and through that work to better understand himself. We are told about Vanier that:
“People with disabilities, in particular, often lack a community that can bring them life. Human beings are not made to be alone. It is not what the Creator intended. Loneliness often begets hyperactivity because we need to compensate, and so we develop dependencies that are unhealthy, we become addicted, and we become frightfully competitive. And all this works against what we are meant to be: rooted in a place, bonded with others, supporting the weak, and comforting the strong. In a competitive culture, individual success is privileged; those who are weak or disabled are seen at best as losers or a nuisance, and are quickly put aside, and in some cases eliminated.”
Vanier’s beliefs and life work is a string contrast to some of what we see happening in the world today. I believe he would have been sickened by a recent case in France where a man starved to death once denied medical intervention, against his and his parents’ objections. And the final quote I will share is:
“In Eau Vive, Père Thomas’s “school of wisdom,” Vanier recognized the Dominican’s postwar vision: doing the “international work of the heart.” His commitment to doing theology and philosophy in a community of prayer and love attracted Vanier, who would join the community in the fall of 1950. The catalyst for that decision was his meeting with Père Thomas. Vanier would recall years later that it was clear he needed “a master, a teacher, a spiritual father.” He likened his response to Père Thomas to Jesus’ summons to two disciples to leave John the Baptist and follow him, to come and see where he dwelled. The meeting with the mystical French friar was that transformative and foundational; Vanier followed and he dwelled.”
Vanier spent his life living that proves of being discipled and building communities. And his example is one we desperately need today. This book is an easy read. It has challenged my thinking. And It has inspired me to pray in new ways. And I trust it will do the same for you.
A great read that I highly recommend.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Michael W. Higgins.
I never had the benefit of meeting Jean Vanier in person. But know many people who have. In fact, most of my knowledge if Vanier is third hand from those who knew and interacted with Henri J.M. Nouwen (another whom Higgins has written about). This book was a fascinating read. I was familiar with Vanier the Catholic Humanist, the founder of L’Arche. But I was completely unaware of his military career. His decision to enter the navel academy at a young age. There is much about this man’s life that can serve as both inspiration and a challenge to us. No matter where we fall on the religious spectrum. When I read this book, I highlighted several passages. I want to share a few of them in this review. The first quote that really impacted me was:
“Vanier is not an economist, any more than Pope Francis. He does not issue periodic jeremiads, pronounce with oracular majesty from a distance, nor proffer solutions to complex politico-economic issues. What he does, like Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is offer a palpable alternative to being human whereby the homeless garner as much attention and sympathy as a dysfunctional celebrity or financial climber.”
Vanier it appears often did things in a new way. Often an untested, untried way. He followed his gut. And from reading this book, his trust in his instinct was strengthened by his father’s trust in him at a crucial point. Another is:
“Vanier responds unequivocally that it is praying because praying is not doing, it’s clicking, it’s compassion, thankfulness and peacefulness, gratitude and communion. “Prayer, then,” Brown surmises, “is a way of reminding ourselves . . . ,” and Vanier completes his thought with “to be who we are.””
Vanier had a keen insight into people, and strove to understand others, and through that work to better understand himself. We are told about Vanier that:
“People with disabilities, in particular, often lack a community that can bring them life. Human beings are not made to be alone. It is not what the Creator intended. Loneliness often begets hyperactivity because we need to compensate, and so we develop dependencies that are unhealthy, we become addicted, and we become frightfully competitive. And all this works against what we are meant to be: rooted in a place, bonded with others, supporting the weak, and comforting the strong. In a competitive culture, individual success is privileged; those who are weak or disabled are seen at best as losers or a nuisance, and are quickly put aside, and in some cases eliminated.”
Vanier’s beliefs and life work is a string contrast to some of what we see happening in the world today. I believe he would have been sickened by a recent case in France where a man starved to death once denied medical intervention, against his and his parents’ objections. And the final quote I will share is:
“In Eau Vive, Père Thomas’s “school of wisdom,” Vanier recognized the Dominican’s postwar vision: doing the “international work of the heart.” His commitment to doing theology and philosophy in a community of prayer and love attracted Vanier, who would join the community in the fall of 1950. The catalyst for that decision was his meeting with Père Thomas. Vanier would recall years later that it was clear he needed “a master, a teacher, a spiritual father.” He likened his response to Père Thomas to Jesus’ summons to two disciples to leave John the Baptist and follow him, to come and see where he dwelled. The meeting with the mystical French friar was that transformative and foundational; Vanier followed and he dwelled.”
Vanier spent his life living that proves of being discipled and building communities. And his example is one we desperately need today. This book is an easy read. It has challenged my thinking. And It has inspired me to pray in new ways. And I trust it will do the same for you.
A great read that I highly recommend.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Michael W. Higgins.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review