October 2015

I recently received the July-August issue of the Liguorian in the mail and was touched by an article I read titled “The Leap” by William Stoos [about a man’s positive experience after changing jobs]. My family is going through a difficult time financially, and his article really spoke to us! My husband has been trying to find another job to increase his wages and find something that intrigues him more than his current job. We have a little boy who is almost two and another one on the way. We are devout Catholics, pray often, and attend Mass on Sundays. We look forward to this magazine as it has some wonderful spiritual reading material. We pray often and look for signs from God. This article gave us the hope and faith that we needed! Blessings. Faith k., MO

I recently reread Henri Nouwen’s book The Return of the Prodigal Son. I received the book as a gift from Nouwen himself. In it, I find a basic Christian message that I wish everyone could discover. The book is based on a Rembrandt painting, completed toward the end of the artist’s life. Nouwen interprets the painting as an expression of the most profound mystery of God’s love for us. Nouwen also saw it as an expression of his own life—his life-long struggle to change his outlook and complete his process of conversion. He spent hours and days looking at the original painting in Russia, and meditating on what God was saying through this painter. At first he saw the Prodigal Son as the central figure; we all can see ourselves as sinners who need to return and seek forgiveness. Over a longer period of time, Nouwen began to see himself more as the dutiful second son who was good and obedient but had a resentful attitude toward both his wayward brother and his loving and forgiving father. Henri Nouwen’s big discovery is that we are all called to become the loving father. We must gradually take on his attitude. That is the life work of every Christian. Nouwen believed that the title of the painting should be “The Loving Father,” rather than Return of the Prodigal Son. Larry C., MI

Editor’s note: The author of the letter, who invites us to read the book, shares this sentiment: “It took Henri years to give birth to it—a work of creative genius, as I see it; it’s well worth a few hours of our own time to read and see how it speaks to us.”