Henri Nouwen was a writer, teacher, spiritual guide and Roman Catholic priest. In the 1960s, he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, marching with Martin Luther King, Jr.
He also taught at some of the best universities in the United States, including Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard. He did a lot of good for a lot of people, so much so that he was in great demand as a speaker.
Nouwen was a close friend and spiritual collaborator of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, my boss in Chicago during the 80’s and 90’s. At the end of his life, Cardinal Bernardin suffered from pancreatic cancer. Nouwen helped Bernardin to see that death was his friend, and the Cardinal went on to explain this is his best-selling book, The Gift of Peace.
Henri Nouwen died in a hospital on September 21, 1966 in the Netherlands, his home country. He died of a second heart attack at the age of 64 as he was recovering from his first heart attack. Cardinal Bernardin was especially saddened at his friend’s passing since he had asked Nouwen to do his funeral. Bernardin died two months later on November 14, 1966 at the age of 68.
In one of his books Henri Nouwen admits to being corrupted by the need for recognition. He said that he would return from the mailbox with a handful of letters inviting him to speak. He would lay them out on the table, ordering them from the most prestigious to the least, and saying “yes” only to those that would bring him the greatest honor. He said that his need to be recognized at times corrupted his service to God.
My Commentary:
Henri Nouwen’s confession reveals a profound spiritual truth: even the holiest of callings can be subtly distorted by ego. His honesty about arranging invitations by prestige is not a tale of vanity, but of vulnerability – a reminder that service can easily become self-service when recognition becomes the goal.
In Nouwen’s life, the tension between acclaim and humility mirrors the struggle within every person who seeks to do good while also craving affirmation. His courage to name this weakness turned it into wisdom. It reminds us that the truest service to God is not measured by the size of the audience or the prestige of the platform, but by the purity of intention and the quiet joy of doing God’s will, unseen and unpraised.
Do YOU agree that service can easily become self-service when recognition becomes the goal? What are some examples of this in our world today with the people YOU see every day on TV?
ACT IN SUCH A MANNER THAT YOU ARE A LIVING PROOF OF A LOVING GOD!
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