Esta noche en casa: más reflexiones sobre la parábola del hijo pródigo: Más reflexiones sobre la parábola del hijo pródigo

The Return of the Prodigal Son #0.5

by Henri J.M. Nouwen

"Desde el principio te animo a que permitas que el relato del hijo pródigo del Evangelio penetre en ti -pasando de tu mente a tu corazón-, de forma que las imágenes de esta historia lleguen a grabarse en tu espíritu. Confío en que algo nuevo nacerá en ti, que será muy diferente de lo que pasó en mí; algo que será solamente tuyo. Que sepas simplemente que lo verdaderamente importante es cómo recibes esta parábola. La parábola y el cuadro te están invitando a pasar, te están llamando a entrar y a participar como uno de los personajes. Escoger formar parte del relato te permitirá llegar a ser consciente de nuevas relaciones con tu propia vida, por lo que te exhorto a que dejes que su historia se convierta gradualmente en tu propia y más íntima historia".

Genres: Spirituality, Religion, Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian Living

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, theologian, psychologist, professor, and spiritual writer whose work profoundly shaped contemporary Christian spirituality. Born in Nijkerk, the Netherlands, in 1932, Nouwen pursued religious studies and was ordained a priest in 1957. His intellectual curiosity led him to study psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen and later at the Menninger Clinic in Kansas, where he explored the connection between faith and mental health. Throughout his life, Nouwen remained committed to integrating pastoral care, psychology, and spiritual theology in a way that addressed the emotional and existential needs of believers.
Nouwen held teaching positions at prestigious institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School, and Harvard Divinity School. He authored over three dozen books and hundreds of articles, with notable works such as The Wounded Healer, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Life of the Beloved, and The Inner Voice of Love. His writing, often rooted in personal vulnerability and spiritual struggle, resonated with readers across denominations. Nouwen openly explored themes of loneliness, identity, intimacy, and the human desire for love and belonging, making his voice especially relatable and influential.
Though he was a gifted academic and popular speaker, Nouwen found his deepest calling later in life through his involvement with L’Arche, a network of communities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After a transformative stay at the original L’Arche community in France, Nouwen accepted an invitation to become the pastor of L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill, Ontario. There he developed a close bond with Adam Arnett, a core member with severe disabilities, which inspired the book Adam: God’s Beloved. At Daybreak, Nouwen discovered a deep spiritual home and a community that helped him embrace his humanity in profound ways.
Throughout his life, Nouwen wrestled with issues of identity, including his sexuality and his longing for connection, though he remained faithful to his vows. His openness about depression and inner conflict gave depth to his pastoral message, and his ability to turn personal struggle into shared spiritual insight made him one of the most beloved spiritual writers of the 20th century.
Henri Nouwen died in 1996 of a sudden heart attack, but his legacy endures through his writings, the Henri Nouwen Society, and the continued global reach of his message of belovedness, vulnerability, and compassionate community. His books remain bestsellers, widely read in seminaries, churches, and among individuals seeking a more intimate walk with God.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

For Christmas a year or so ago I bought a mate a day by day calendar on which there was a quote from George Bush Junior. As you can imagine there were some wonderfully weird ones and indeed most days had something odd or off-key but then I stopped and thought.....'If someone was recording everything I ever said at any time in any situation then you could probably fill a calendar with Skeltonisms of some acute embarrasment'. Now having read and enjoyed so much of Nouwen's work I found this one quite disappointing for a not wholly dissimilar reason. Not every word of this wise and genuine man needs to be or indeed should be recorded and published.

This is a posthumous publication of a three day workshop he gave where five people have come together to edit the material collected and publish it in book form for others to share in his reflections and encouragement to prayer.

Sue Mosteller, one of the editors, claims we hear Henri Nouwen's authentic voice, I cannot say that was my reaction. It seems a little like spirituality constructed by committee. A good deal of repetition which, when being lead in conferences or meditation probably works but it is just frustrating in a book i find.

At the end of the book I am left wondering why they brought this out. There were not the normal insights of Nouwen, there were none of the opening out of new vistas. All this he has said before in other works and it seems to me that just because a man of obvious spirituality and love has said something that doesn't mean the world should hear it. This book is okay but, (imo), it does not add anything to Nouwen's contribution to the world's wealth of insight.

Is it cynical for me to wonder about book sales etc. maybe that is unjust but I do not think this book would even serve as a good introduction to Nouwen. If you want to read and be wowed by his reflections on Rembrandt's amazing picture then read his 'The Return of the Prodigal Son'. That is a so much more beautiful and powerful book and, more to the point, Nouwen intended that to be read.

[Oguz Alhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book by Henri, that makes me say out loud to a thin air, which I say everytime I read a book or letter by him: “Henri, my brother, I wish you were here today, I wish I could get to know you, love and beloved by you. So that we could ease the pain and suffering of this world on us.” One day, in a great banquet, I’d love to sit next to him and talk for eternity.

“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 Nouwen, Home Tonight

[Barbara P · Rating 5 out of 5]

A number of years ago I read Nouwens book The Return of the Prodigal Son, his reflections on Rembrandt's painting of the prodigal son. His current book was put together after Nouwen's death. The book is a series of his lectures followed by practical questions, exercises. The book is really about finding our spiritual home. A Beautiful, thoughtful, inspiring book. I have given away about 20 of Nouwen's books and have kept a few on my shelves at home. I will add this to them and never part with it.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't do right by this book.

This is a spiritual guide, one meant for introspection and interaction. It'd be perfect for a weekend religious retreat, and I think reading it would be very rewarding under those circumstances. It is not, however, meant for listening on 2.5x speed while blasting up I-95 at 65 miles per hour. Henri Nouwen is a serious person with serious insights to consider. I look forward to giving this book another go, in print, at a leisurely and contemplative pace.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some fresh nuggets in here, but I didn't enjoy this as much as the original. This is a book based on a seminar that asks you to reflect and write, etc. Maybe one day I'll come back to it and get more out of it; however, this didn't blow me away right now.

[Kate Schwarz · Rating 4 out of 5]

thought-provoking book, though some of it I admit flew over my head. but lots sunk in and gave me plenty to think about for the next months, years. my dad gave it to me for Christmas two years ago, but finally read it now.

Noewen's experience with the parable of the prodigal son was at first strange to
me--how could you write a whole book on it?! and this is the second--albeit smaller, thinner--one! but I was amazed at how much you could learn from the three different characters in the parable: the son who takes his father's money and squanders it then comes back home; the son who stays beside his father and does what he ought to do (and is thus filled with resentment); the father who wants his sons home no matter what they've done, as they are enough just by being his sons.

some of my favorite parts/quotations (there are too many quotations in the book, I think, but i liked a lot of them):

- in the author's Catholic home "everything was crystal clear. nothing was ambiguous."

- the story of how rembrandt painted his Prodigal Son (only after having lost all his children and both his wives...only after learning what sadness and grief was could he have painted a masterpiece that captured such agony, pain, but also love and acceptance) "it took a man who experienced immensed loneliness to paint this picture"

- giving people permission to be who they are, and learning to accept them as is

- the references to L'Arche brought back good memories of Seattle U for me

- "suffering can be like a grain of sand in an oyster: it can create a magnificent pearl" - Teresa of Avila

- and finally, a quotation I associate with my years in Seattle (did my freshman year roommate have it read at her wedding? I can't remember):

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing...I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive...I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it...I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself." From The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

[John Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a posthumous production of Nouwen's material they did a great job. It carried a lot of the same falovor and content that was found in his earlier book, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, that is still one of my favorite books ever. I regularly refer to the first book in my own ministry, and can now refer to Home Tonight as well. I think Home Tonight, however, is better used as a resource for individual and / or group devotional practices instead of just straight reading. The Return of the Prodigal Son could be used either way - reading or devotional.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very profound!

[Andy Hickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son” by Henri J. M. Nouwen, (NY: Doubleday, 2009).

A beautifully inspirational book that challenges us readers to be honest about the state of our hearts and how we can be open to the transforming power of God's love.

INTRODUCTION
“The marvelous thing about learning from a story is that a story never ends, so our learning from it need not end either.” - Parker J. Palmer, 'The Active Life' (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1990), 98. (p.ix)

“I would like to beg you, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday, far into the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” - Rainer Maria Rilke, 'Letters to a Young Poet' (p.x)

“Where's your home?” “Are you home tonight?” (p.xi)

PROLOGUE
“Furthermore, I urge you not to walk into the story alone, just in your own name. Rather, enter into the story in solidarity with all your brothers and sisters in the human family on earth. … Your desire to participate with those in the parable is not just good for you alone, but it is also good for many others because your personal life is a gift for the people immediately around you and beyond. … This is an invitation, then, to see yourself right here and right now 'in the name' of many brothers and sisters, believing that as something moves in you, something may also transpire in those in whose name you live.” (p.xiv)

“As we feel the pain of our own losses, our grieving hearts open our inner eye to a world in which losses are suffered far beyond our on little world of family, friends, and colleagues. It is the world of prisoners, refugees, AIDS patients, starving children, and the countless human beings living in constant fear. Then the pain of our crying hearts connects us with the moaning and groaning of a suffering humanity. Then our mourning becomes larger than ourselves.” - Henri J. M. Nouwen, 'With Burning Hearts' (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 28.

Listening, Journalling, Communing (p.xxi-xxii)

PART ONE - LEAVING AND RETURNING HOME
Ch.1
“Suffering is a dreadful teacher but often the beginning of the best in us. Suffering and creativity are often interdependent.” (Teresa of Avila) (p3)

“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.”

“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.”

“Parental love is a limited reflection of an unlimited love. In the experience of parental love I was wounded as were you, and every other human being. Most parents are the best and the greatest, but in the human experience, parents are also very, very broken people.” (page 36)

“Jesus knew who he was and was thus able to live the days of his passion in agony and peace. He didn't need to blame others or himself, because he understood the brokenness of those who caused him pain. Jesus, in the knowledge that he was loved, was able to stand in his pain and forgive those who wounded him.” (p40)

“If I encourage you to live the great struggle of your life and your pain standing up, I do so trusting that we are in solidarity with something larger than our individuality. Mary stood under the Cross. 'Stabat mater' is the Latin for ‘the standing mother.’ Under the Cross she didn’t faint but stood with her son and with the world in her suffering.” (p45)

“Try to grasp that this practically blind father, who recognizes his beloved child not so much by seeing as by touching, has something very primal to do with real human loving and being loved. It has nothing to do with declarations or statements or arguments. The father’s love is before speech.” (p46-7)

“Resentment, the curse of the faithful, the virtuous, the obedient, and the hardworking, settles itself in the human heart and causes havoc. That is why it’s important to think about it. All of us who give our lives for loved ones, work hard, and objectively have many virtues to be praised, are sometimes not really free from the burden of resentment in our hearts.” (p59)

“Psychology tells us that if we are in touch with our angry feelings, name them, and even perhaps lash out, the anger loses some of its power over us.” (p59)
 
“But when, in our efforts to be pious, we eat up the angry feelings and do not make them known, resentment begins. One begins feeling a little angry but does nothing about it. With time, as unattended anger builds in a given relationship or life situation, one becomes progressively more irate. The constant swallowing of negative feelings causes them to pervade the inner universe and usurp one’s power to relate in a truly loving way. Gradually it is no longer hot anger, but it grows cold and settles itself deep into the innermost heart. And over the long term, resentment becomes a way of being.

Resentment is cold anger. That’s what it is. The greatest difficulty with resentment is that it’s very hidden and interior as opposed to being overt. It has the potential to present itself as holiness and that makes it even more pernicious. Resentment resides in the very depths of our hearts, sitting in our bones and our flesh while we are mostly unaware of its presence. Whereas we might imagine that we are faithful and good, we may in fact be very lost in a much deeper way than someone who is overtly acting out.” (p59-60)
 
“And he’s probably the only one who hasn’t recognized his frozen smile as a cover-up for the anger that seeps out in all his interactions.” (p61)
 
“Ask for the strength to become more aware of the hidden exile of your self-righteousness and judgments.” (p63)


HIDDEN EXILE OF RESENTMENT
“'Why don't you look at me and trust that I rejoiced in your coming before you were even born? Don't you know that I recognise you as my flesh and blood, that I know you well, and that I love you deeply? Can't you even see that my love has nothing to do with whether you work hard or not?'” (p72)

“I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson: to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power that can move the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi (p74)

P78 – “Because gratitude is the opposite of resentment and gratuity moves us away from the world of earning-and-repayment in love.”

P80 – “Solidarity with others requires attitude changes, acceptance of difference, and the struggle to live humbly and respectfully with them.”

P82 - “... clear a decent shelter for your sorrow … And if you have given sorrow the space its gentle origins demand, then you may truly say: life is beautiful and so rich. So beautiful and so rich that it makes you want to believe in God.”

p84 - “We feel angry and we rationalize by our 'justice' mentality. At least the landowner could have paid the early-comers first and sent them away so that they wouldn't see what the latecomers got! But no! Right in the face of those early-comers who worked the whole day the master pays a day's wage to the latecomers.”

“Love invites us as a spiritual discipline to communicate with our loved ones more and more from hearts broken open by compassion.” (p90)

“And all the glory I receive from the One who affirms me in my humanity is available for you to receive as well. You are to be fully the adult child of Unconditional Love as me. You are to live a communion with Love itself that is so intimate that you also become the visibility of Love's Spirit present in the world.”
Jesus came to offer us the same full communion with the Spirit-Father-Mother-Lover that he enjoys, where he is in no way smaller than the One who sent him. - (p96)

“Jesus taught us about the whole movement of God's love with bread. His actions with bread in Scripture image his and our loves as beloved children of God. in the multiplication of the loaves at the Last Supper, Jesus took the bread first. Bread was chosen as God chooses each one of us uniquely as a beloved daughter or son after the bread was in his hands Jesus blessed it, just as our Creator confirms each of us as beloved children. The bread is broken as Jesus was broken on the Cross and as we are broken because of undeserved suffering n our loves. Finally the bread was given for the life of others, just as Jesus' life was given, and ours is to be given. Jesus does this many, many times: taking, blessing, breaking, and giving. We experience the joys of being chosen and blessed. And we are broken not because we are cursed but because, like Jesus, passion moves us to compassion and to be given for others who suffer.” (p104) - Henri J. M. Nouwen, “Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son”, (NY: Doubleday, 2009).

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book by the late Henri J. M. Nouwen changed my life. The Wounded Healer helped to heal some of my bitterness and challenged me to be more transparent to those with whom I worked and ministered. On a recent trip, I found Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, a book published posthumously from notes and audiotapes from the modern mystic and contemplative. In this book, Nouwen takes a look at the parable of the two sons (often called the parable of the prodigal son and, sometimes, the parable of the waiting father) through the lens of Rembrandt’s painting about the prodigal’s return. But don’t think that he ignores any of the three major characters.

With meditations on the painting as a backdrop, Nouwen confesses that he has found himself in the position of both sons and he has found himself lacking in both positions. As the younger son, he has encountered loneliness and separation from God due to his ambition and pride. As the elder son, he has neglected his partnership with God because of duty and resentment. To my amazement, I found myself confessing aspects of my own failures in my relationship with God (the Loving Father) as I read Nouwen’s confessions.

Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son is not the kind of devotional book I would normally seek. Each thought provoking essay is concluded with guidelines for listening (i.e. meditating), journaling, and communing (i.e. prayer). There’s nothing wrong with any of those three exercises, but in book form, it often seems like force-feeding. I’m ready to move on with the study and my process is interrupted by this touchy-feely section.

On the positive side, the book features clever quotations and insights from many traditions. I particularly liked the paraphrases of Psalm 42, 50, and 84 from Nan Merrill, Wayne Muller’s observation on the need for Sabbath (“A period of rest…is a spiritual and biological necessity. A lack of dormancy produces confusion and erosion in the life force.”-p. 63), and insights on Benedictine living from John McQuiston II (“Live this life and do whatever is done in a spirit of thanksgiving. Abandon attempts to achieve security, they are futile.”-p. 78). There are also quotations from Gandhi, Annie Dillard, and a Sufi mystic.

Once again, I owe a debt of gratitude to Henri Nouwen because he has challenged my perception of myself and my relationship with God. I may not have completed all of his exercises, but my study and meditations on the book have been transformative.

[Ethan Jarrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Home Tonight was slightly more accessible for me than some of Nouwen’s other work, but I still found it hard to connect with. The structure of the book, with its focus on meditating and journaling about a specific painting, felt very personal to Nouwen’s own experience—almost too much so. The reflections seemed to assume that the painting would evoke the same depth of feeling in me that it did for him, and that just wasn’t the case. While there were some thoughtful insights, the book mostly alternated between personal reflections and theological musings that didn’t offer enough practical application for me. I admire Nouwen’s heart and his desire to invite readers into deeper contemplation, but his style just doesn’t quite mesh with mine. I prefer books that combine deep reflection with real-world stories and experiences that help anchor the ideas more tangibly.

[Drew Fajen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book after finishing Return of the Prodigal Son. I was studying for a sermon series I was doing on Jesus’ parables in Luke 14-15. I came into it as a study, halfway through I realized it was an experience. This is a devotional, a prayer exercise, and a self-examination tool more from the heart of Henri Nouwen than from his pen. It demands to be read slowly and prayerfully. I learned about myself, my God, and found healing for wounds I didn’t even know I had. I highly recommend a prayer guide/devotional. I felt like I was on a prayer retreat with Henri himself. Absolutely beautiful.

[Dr Ariel Rainey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a companion book to his previous book, The Return of the Prodigal. It's based on his live lectures of that material, with additional introspective questions and action steps. Both books are impressive and profound, exploring the relationships of both sons with their father, and all Christians with the Father who gives us our identity and purpose. From His love, flows everything else, when we've let go of our wandering hearts and our resentful hearts and come home to Him.

I feel that this book is a little deeper, particular for ministers, but it may have been just the timing of reading it.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking. Consider the parable of the prodigal son and how we may have more in common with the prodigal son, the elder son and the parent than we might initially think. Home may be a geographic place, but is also an emotional/spiritual place where we allow ourselves to be known and loved unconditionally. The flip side of that is that we should be willing to see/know and love others unconditionally.

[Susannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's ok. You might think it's a stretch, but the story arch kinda reminded me of Mark Wahlberg's "Father Stu" movie in that it's about a prodigal son returning home from a very personal perspective. If that's what you're looking for, then great. I'm more about the divine Father's mercy. Also personally, I haven't been able to get into Nouwen's books, just as I've struggled with other famous authors like Flannery O'Connor and GK Chesterton. Just personal taste I guess.

[Richard Fitzgerald]

Home Tonight was compiled from retreats by Nouwen that re-cover the material in his excellent book on the Prodigal Son. This book is more pastoral and provides spiritual practices that lead the reader into their encounter with Rembrandt’s painting and the parable. It isn’t as moving as the original book, but it suggests ways Nouwen’s work can be extended into small group and other ministry. This makes the book worth reading, though it would be worth reading anyway.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just not my kind of book. I don't even like the painting-- it certainly doesn't speak to me as it does to Nouwen. As someone who already incorporates journaling into my spiritual practice, his journal prompts weren't valuable to me. His ideas on spiritual moments felt a lot like make believe. Maybe all of it works for some, but this book didn't resonate with me, I didn't relate with much of it

[Gerry-Ann Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit of a dry read but still very good. Interesting take on the prodigal son. The only thing I couldn’t really get behind was the Idea that we “need” to go off from the Lord from time to time to be able to come back to him. I thought it was an odd concept of saying leaving isn’t good but it has good parts and I’m not sure that’s actually truth.

Otherwise the parts about the elder brother etc very good.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mostly for the close read of the other son and what may have been lacking in him, as maybe being faithful for the wrong reasons, or competitive, etc. It views being faithful as a chore rather than a reward in itself and that’s why the parables of the vineyard and of the prodigal son both strike contemporary ears as at least a bit unfair.

[Dianne Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stake in the heart of bitterness.

Each of us has a history of pains, and being raised in a Christian home is good, but nonetheless can be a source of hurts. As parents we also make such mistakes.
This goes a long way towards gently prodding us to deal with these things with compassion and insight.

[Gideon Yutzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Nouwen unpacks the Prodigal Son masterfully, and makes us see both sons in ourselves. I love his gentle spirit ("offer thanks to God for what he is showing you about yourself"). This finally is healthy introspection, not beating ourselves up or exalting ourselves. We are all the Prodigal and the older brother and we are also, all of us, the Beloved. Nouwen is an author for our times.

[Book2Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The depth of the prodigal son story has always interested and touched me with its many levels of meaning and instruction. Brother Nouwen is one of my favorite teachers, or became such after reading this book. If you also love the story, go deeper with Brother Nouwen.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Nouwens book The Return of the Prodigal Son, his thoughts on Rembrandt's painting of the prodigal son. He sat looking at the original in Russia for days on end. This book was put together after Nouwen's death. The book is a series of his lectures followed by practical questions, exercises.

[Marcus Ellard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read Return of the Prodigal Son years ago, and really enjoyed this book, for its useful, reflective insights. I particularly found value in reading it slowly and participating in the activities of reflection and journaling.

[Rich Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nouwen reflects on the parable of the prodigal son, which he had also seen in a painting by Rembrandt. He invites us into the story and the painting to see who we relate to whether it be the prodigal, the older brother, or the father. At different times he saw himself in each of them.

[Adam Bloch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Several people I respect seem to quote Nouwen all the time, so I finally picked up one of his books to read. Ignoring the heresy, it was still hokey. He words many things well, but so do many more orthodox authors.

[Timothy Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not a book I would put into everyone’s hands. But coupled with the rewritten The Dark Night of the Soul this book has really impacted me.

We all go through seasons of loneliness and this book helped me make sense of mine.

[Hannah Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot say enough good things about Henri Nouwen. This was a beautiful tribute and well put together. The audio version was so special because it included part of his PBS interview. If you were a fan of the Return of the Prodigal Son, this is a must read.

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A workbook on the Return of the Prodigal.
I found things to ponder and loved what I discovered about myself.

[C.S. Areson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I theologically disagree with Nouwen, I found his insight into the prodigal son interesting and was absolutely worth the reading for me.