Henry J.M. Nouwen & Queer Spirituality
By Clayton Mercieca
THE CHRISCO YEARS 16 – 18 Years old
I never left the Church & the Church never left me
“I came to see that praying had something to do with silence, with acceptance, with hope, with compassion, and even with revolution�
“but what does this have to do with anyone else? Aren’t my own experiences so personal that they might just as well remain hidden? …Ultimately I believe that what is most personal is also the most universal”
“The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but selfrejection,�
The man invited to pray is asked to open his tightly clenched fists. The first prayer is often a painful prayer because we find that we do not want to let go of our hurts and personal afflictions
“When you dare to let go and surrender one of those many fears, your hand relaxes and your palms spread out in a gesture of receiving�
PRAYER & SILENCE
“The man who is thus sent into silence is like the dope addict who must go through the painful withdrawal process�.
“In silence, new life can be born, it is this silence which we find peace. And only once we are at peace with ourselves our journey towards acceptance can continue.
PRAYER & ACCEPTANCE Prayer requires a constant readiness to lay our weapons and defenses down because only then we are able to receive. A person becomes a person only when he is capable of standing open to all the gifts which are prepared for him.
“When you notice that someone accepts you, you want to give everything in return and you discover that you have much more to give than you thought�
Above all, praying means to be accepting toward God who is always new. A man who prays is a man who has the courage to stretch out his arms and to let himself be led.
PRAYER & HOPE
“To go fearlessly into things without knowing how they’ll turn out, to keep on going, even when something doesn’t work for the first time, to have trust in whatever you’re doing”
PRAYER & COMPASSION
“We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. There is so much separation and segregation: between black people and white people, between gay people and straight people, between young people and old people, between sick people and healthy people, between prisoners and free people, between Jews and Gentiles, Muslims and Christians, Protestants and Catholics, Greek Catholics and Latin Catholics. There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the street once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might become neighbors.�
PRAYER & REVOLUTION
Praying becomes the most critical activity man is capable, for a man who prays is never satisfied with the world of here and now, is constantly striving to realize the new world.