September 1st, 2026

Dear Friends, Blessings of Christ’s peace!

     September 21st marks the 30th anniversary of the death of the beloved spiritual writer Henri Nouwen. In honor of Henri, the Beatitudes Center will host his friend Robert Jonas, editor of his selected writings, to reflect on Henri’s insights, on Saturday September 19th.

     “Where is peace to be found?” Henri asked. “The answer is surprising but clear,” he wrote. “In weakness. Few people are telling us this truth, but there is peace to be found in our own weakness, in those places of our hearts where we feel most broken, most insecure, most in agony, most afraid. In our weakness, our familiar ways of controlling and manipulating our world are being stripped away and we are forced to let go from doing much, thinking much, and relying on our self-sufficiency. Right there, where we are most vulnerable, the peace that is not of this world is mysteriously hidden. When we trust that the God of love has already given the peace we are searching for, we will see this peace breaking through the broken soil of our human condition and we will be able to let it grow fast and even heal the economic and political maladies of our time.”

     Peace does not come from domination, power, or violence, but through weakness, humility, vulnerability, weakness and loving service. From Henri’s perspective, if we accept our brokenness and weakness as a gift, we transform it, and discover the spiritual depths of peace and thus can offer palpable peace to those around us.

Join me as I welcome Dr. Robert Jonas to share with us some of Henri Nouwen’s spiritual insights, on Saturday September 19th. To register, visit 
www.beatitudescenter.org.

The programs will begin 11am Pacific/ 12pm Mountain/ 1pm Central/ 2pm Eastern time. You will receive the zoom link a few days beforehand, and a recording link afterwards. If you have questions, email Kassandra at 
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com. Scholarships are available.

God bless you!–Fr. John

1. And please consider joining me for the four Mondays of October, as we read and discuss together the Gospel of Mark. This Gospel study will help us through this election season that we might go forward rooted in the nonviolent Jesus!