Mysterious Things

V. Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto.

R. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius.

Pater, Ave.

Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum Benedictum, quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuae praeesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quaesumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus praeest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

If in every person's heart there is a thirst for communion and friendship, there are also deep wounds, fears and a whole world of darkness which govern our lives in a hidden way. Coming to know this shadow side, and then to accept it, seems to me to be a first step towards true self-knowledge. 

- Jean Vanier, Our Journey Home, p. xii

All of us are called to grow in Wisdom, but growth is also painful. To be fully human means sometimes being able to stay in the anguish and not let it scare us away. When people experience anguish they often feel guilty, as though this shouldn’t be happening. Anguish is very human. It is part of lasting relationships, and it has a spiritual aspect that is connected to loneliness and the fear of death.

- Jean Vanier, A Human Future, November 2004

And in the book of Genesis we hear God saying, "Where are you?" And we have the incredible words of Adam - and I would say incredibly modern words. "I was frightened because I was naked and I hid." Three words -- fear, nakedness and hiding. We are a fearful people.

- Jean Vanier, Address to the Business Community, April 2005

Each one of us is both body and spirit. Each one has his/her own physical make-up, psychological history and spiritual journey. We are one person. However, we risk becoming fragmented within ourselves and allowing divisions to become rooted in us. It is not just the pain of our past that prevents us from being fully alive and restricts in sadness; it is also our refusal to look at and accept reality, to live in the truth of who we are and to take responsibility for our own lives.

- Jean Vanier, Seeing Beyond Depression, p. 79

Then, we begin to understand that we ourselves are not perfect either, and never will be! We too have our share in wrongdoing: we have wounded our parents, our children, our husband, our wife and our friends. When we realize this, we do not have to condemn ourselves but rather to learn to accept our own poverty and inner brokenness.

- Jean Vanier, Seeing Beyond Depression, p. 71