Walk with Jesus: Stations of the Cross

Overview

This book of meditations by Henri Nouwen, inspired by a series of drawings by Sr. Helen David, represents traditional Stations of the Cross through the passion and suffering of the world's poor. A political prisoner behind bars, a peasant burdened by a load of wood, an abandoned child, a mother grieving for her murdered son, an exhausted farmer, four martyred churchwomen . . . In these images Nouwen sees the ongoing passion of Christ.

Sr. Helen's drawings are stark and moving, but they do not lead to despair. Rather, they "help us unite our own broken humanity with the humanity of the men, women, and children portrayed . . . This union becomes possible through the suffering and risen body of Jesus. In and through Jesus, our world can become one because in this divine love he embraces all of us, and desire that we all be one as he and his father are one."

The late Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), a Dutch-born priest, remains one of the most popular spiritual writers in the world. He spoke and taught around the globe, including at Yale and Harvard, and spent the latter part of his life as a member of the L'Arche Daybreak Community in Toronto, Canada. His many books include Adam: God's Beloved, With Burning Hearts: Meditations on the Eucharistic Life, and The Selfless Way of Christ.

Sister Helen David Brancato, IHM, lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.