The Bookshelf

The Only Necessary Thing

In the book The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, editor Wendy Greer collects writings from Father Henri J.M. Nouwen, a Dutch-born Catholic priest. Drawn from many decades of his life, the compilation of Henri's thoughts and feelings reveal the core of the man and his belief that prayer is the only necessary thing.

The love of Jesus will give you an ever-clearer vision of your call. The more you are called to speak for God's love, the more you will need to deepen the knowledge of that love in your own heart. The farther the outward journey takes you, the deeper the inward journey must be. Only when your roots are deep can your fruit be abundant.

Henri J.M. Nouwen, author of more than 40 books, is considered one of the great spiritual writers of modern times. He taught at the University of Notre Dame, Harvard, and Yale, but shared the last seven years of his life with people with mental handicaps as pastor of l'Arche Daybreak community in Toronto.

Thirsting for Prayer

"Thirsting for Prayer", by Fr. Jaques Philipe is a book that is a very practical way to learn about prayer and understand what prayer really is. It is not overly theological, but rather a very accessible resource to build a foundation of prayer. When I was in seminary, a few of us read this book and it was a jump starter for us. Too often, we have ideas of what prayer is "supposed" to be and that blocks us from growing closer to God. This book really helps with overcoming the roadblocks.

Our Father: Reflections on the Lord's Prayer

Father. Without saying this word, without taking it to heart, we cannot pray.

To whom do I pray? Almighty God? Too far away. I cannot feel that he is near. Even Jesus did not refer to God as “the Almighty God.”

To whom do I pray? The cosmic God? That is fashionable these days, praying to the cosmic God. But that is nothing but a polytheistic idea of who God is, typified by a lite culture.

To whom do we pray? No, not am Almighty God or a cosmic God, but a… Father. We have to pray to the Father! It is a powerful word, “father.”

We have to pray to the one who has begotten us, the one who has given us life. He has given life to everyone of course, but “everyone” is too anonymous. He has given life to you. He has given life to me.

He is also the one who accompanies us on our journey. He knows our whole lives, the good and the not-so-good.

If we do not begin our prayer with this word, spoken not with our lips but with our hearts, we cannot pray as Christians.