Home Tonight Quotes

“The more we become sensitive to our own journey the more we realize that we are leaving and coming back every day, every hour. Our minds wander away but eventually return; our hearts leave in search of affection and return sometimes broken; our bodies get carried away in their desires then sooner or later return. It's never one dramatic life moment but a constant series of departures and returns.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Home Tonight: Further reflections on the parable of the prodigal son

“The Creator of the galaxies lives, whispers uniquely good things about us in our hearts, and urges us to rise up and use our freedom to become compassionate peacemakers in our world. This bond of love that touches each one of our lives from the very beginning of our creation to the very end of time and beyond is our original blessing. When you and I are home in this relationship, we find ourselves in the heart of the One that Jesus addresses as Father. We reside in the intimacy of the womb of Love Itself. Looking out from the heart of Love, our own hearts bleed with compassion, because from there we are seeing as God sees. From this intimate connection with God we grow to become like the One we love. You and I, along with all members of the human family, are blessed people with the blessing of unconditional love that will never be taken away. We are also people who offer compassion to those who suffer.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son

“Jesus' life is an invitation for us to believe, not primarily in him but in the relationship between himself and the God whom he names “Father.” Furthermore, Jesus comes into the world to communicate to those of us who are listening that this very same relationship is uniquely available to each one of us. By his life and death Jesus announces the yearning in the heart of Love Divine, to be in relationship with each individual person. For you or I to engage this primal encounter is for us to return “home.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son

“I slowly became aware, but only in my head, of something about “the first love” and “the second love.” Let me explain. I became more and more intellectually clear that the first love comes from the ultimate life force we call God, who has loved me unconditionally before others knew or loved me. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” And I saw that the second love, the love of parents, family, and friends, was only a modified expression of the first love. I reasoned that the source of my suffering was the fact that I expected from the second love what only the first love could give. When I hoped for total self- giving and unconditional love from another human being who was imperfect and limited in ability to love, I was asking for the impossible. I knew from experience that the more I demanded, the more others moved away, cut loose, got angry, or left me, and the more I experienced anguish and the pain of rejection. But I felt helpless to change my behavior.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son

“Healing begins when, in the face of our own darkness, we recognize our helplessness and surrender our need for control… we face what is, and we ask for mercy.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey. Teilhard de Chardin.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son

“Whatever happens to me in life, I must believe that somewhere, In the mess or madness of it all, There is a sacred potential—”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son