Draw Ever Closer 30 Days with Henri J.M. Nouwen
Great Spiritual Teachers
Robert M. Hamma (Editor)
ISBN 9781594719639
eISBN 9781594719646
ASIN B082YN3RBG
This is the ninth volume in the Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read over the last year. This one was originally released in 200, and this book has been through a rebranding in 2025, though the eBook has not been updated as of the writing of this review. Last year the first I read in the series was Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. First some background between 2001 and 2006 I read about a dozen volumes by Henri Nouwen. My Mentor at the time was a huge fan, and have a large print of the Rembrandt print from The Prodigal Son in his office and spoke on the volume and parable often. When I returned to the Catholic Church, I went on a retreat and the spiritual director advised against reading any Nouwen or Merton. 19 years later on retreat at the same retreat house a different priest recommend a Nouwen volume. Earlier this year I read my first volume from Nouwen in 19 years and this seemed like a next logical volume in this series to be worked through.
The description of this volume states:
“Draw Ever Closer is an easy-to-use devotional for all who seek both intimacy with God and relationship with other people. This book offers you a personal, thirty-day retreat based on the most popular works of modern spiritual writer Henri J. M. Nouwen, a priest, psychologist, and lifelong seeker whose books include Out of Solitude and With Open Hands. Requiring only a few minutes each day, Draw Ever Closer allows you to reflect deeply on the fundamental longings for meaning, belonging, and intimacy as well as the call to service and social justice in each person’s life.
Henri Nouwen—renowned Dutch priest, teacher, and spiritual leader—explored the depths of human experience as a meeting place with God in his spiritual writings for popular audiences. Trained as a psychologist, he was keenly aware of the inner movements of the psyche: the search for authentic self-awareness, the longing for human intimacy, and the desire to draw ever closer to the fullness of union with God.
All titles in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series contain a brief morning meditation, a mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus your thoughts as the day ends. This simple book is the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in Nouwen’s timeless, and timely, teachings on relationship. Reflecting perceptively on the words and deeds of Jesus, Nouwen shares his own relationship with Christ in a way that leads readers to Christ and teaches them to follow his example.”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
I believe there are 16 volumes in this series currently in print, including the first I read last year that was new and another new release this year. There are a few that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the mid 90’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. And the current rebranding in 2024-2025. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added all of them to my ‘to be read list’; and have been able to track down all but one. I plan to do about 1 a month till I have completed the series. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes, and brings back into print some of the volumes currently not available; specifically the volumes on John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, Mother Theresa and others. But back to this specific volume.
The sections in this volume are:
Henri Nouwen
How To Pray This Book
Thirty Days With Henri Nouwen
One Final Word
Notes
While reading this I highlighted a several passages, some of them are:
“Henri J. M. Nouwen was one of the leading Catholic spiritual writers of the later part of the twentieth century. He was the author of thirty-nine books that sold millions of copies both in the United States and around the world. Nouwen had an exceptional ability to articulate his own inner experience of faith in an unreserved way and was thus able to give voice to the spiritual strivings of not only Catholics but also spiritual seekers of many diverse backgrounds.”
“As early as age six he wanted to be a priest as his uncle Toon was. His grandmother even had little vestments made for him so he could conduct play Masses with his friends.”
“Among the many things that can be said about Henri Nouwen, perhaps one of the most important is that he was a person of prayer who modeled his life on Jesus. Almost all of his books deal with prayer in some way. Because he recognized himself as often distracted, restless, and self-preoccupied, his reflections on prayer speak to the struggles of so many.”
“The purpose of this book is to open a gate for you, to make accessible the spiritual experience and wisdom of one of our time’s most important spiritual teachers, Henri J. M. Nouwen.”
“But most of all the purpose of the passage is to remind you that at this moment and at every moment during the day you will be living and acting in the presence of a God who invites you continually but quietly to live in and through him.”
“Remind me that, if I want to find you in the midst of my haste and activity, I must first remember that you are already here within me. Thank you, Lord, for your loving patience and your tender care.”
“My soul is indeed restless, O Lord, yearning for a peace that only you can give. You are, in truth, my heart’s deepest desire, though I continually seek fulfillment elsewhere.”
“It is the place within me where God has chosen to dwell. It is the place where I am held safe in the embrace of an all-loving Father who calls me by name and says, “You are my beloved son, on you my favor rests.” It is the place where I can taste the joy and the peace that are not of this world.”
“DAY 7 MY DAY BEGINS I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found. Why do I keep ignoring the place of true love and persist in looking for it elsewhere? Why do I keep leaving home where I am called to be a child of God, the beloved of my Father? I am constantly surprised by how I keep taking the gifts that God has given me—my health, my intellectual and emotional gifts—and keep using them to impress people, receive affirmations and praise, and compete for rewards, instead of developing them for the glory of God. Yes, I often carry them off to a “distant country” and put them in the service of an exploiting world that does not know their true value. It’s almost as if I want to prove to myself and to my world.
“To live in the world without belonging to the world summarizes the essence of the spiritual life.”
“Help me, Lord, to make my house a house of love, and not a house of fear.”
“I will hold joy and sadness gently, together.”
“In solitude we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness.”
“When we live with hope we do not get tangled up with concerns for how our wishes will be fulfilled. So, too, our prayers are not directed toward the gift, but toward the one who gives it.”
“What we see, and like to see, is cure and change. But what we do not see and do not want to see is care: the participation in the pain, the solidarity in suffering, the sharing in the experience of brokenness. And still, cure without care is as dehumanizing as a gift given with a cold heart.”
“Gracious God, I thank you for your servant Henri Nouwen, and for these thirty days when you have used his words to teach and guide me. Help me to imitate his fidelity to you and his faithfulness. Help me, as he did, to encourage others in their spiritual lives by learning to share my own joys and struggles. You have been with me Lord, each day of my past, you will stay with me every day of the future, you are with me here, and you are with me now. Amen.”
A sample day is:
“DAY 13
MY DAY BEGINS
Praying is no easy matter.
It demands a relationship in which you allow
someone other than yourself to enter
into the very center of your person,
to see what you would rather leave in darkness,
and to touch there
what you would rather leave untouched.
Why would you really want to do that?
Perhaps you would let the other cross your threshold
to see something or to touch something,
but to allow the other into that place
where your most intimate life is shaped—
that is dangerous and calls for defense.
The resistance to praying
is like the resistance of a tightly clenched fist. . . .
When you want to pray, then,
the first question is:
How do I open my closed hands? . . .
Don’t be afraid of the One
who wants to enter your most intimate space
and invites you to let go of
what you are clinging to so anxiously.
Each time you dare to let go
and to surrender one of those many fears,
your hand opens a little
and your palms spread out in a gesture of receiving.
(With Open Hands, pp. 19–20, 24–25)
ALL THROUGH THE DAY
I stand before you with empty, open hands.
MY DAY IS ENDING
Dear God,
I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you
with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
to discover that I am not my own,
but what you want to give me.
And what you want to give me is love—
unconditional, everlasting love.
(With Open Hands, p. 27)”
I hope those quotes and the sample day give you a feel for this excellent volume. I have now read 9 volumes in this series, and currently working on a tenth, and I can state this is a great offering. I find that some speak to me more than others. With one almost every day was like an ‘aha’ moment, others are more work and fewer moments. This one is in the former category, as evidenced by highlights on nearly every day. This one almost every day was a great experience. I can state I benefited from the month with Nouwen. And if I went back and did a volume again at a different point or season in life I might interact with it differently. I already plan to circle back to a few volumes to reread them once I have completed the series, this is one of them.
This was a volume I really connected with. It was a wonderful read, it is one I really enjoyed reading. I can easily recommend this volume and the series as a whole, and I look forward to reading others in the series. If you have not given any in this series a try this would be a great place to begin.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books in the Great Spiritual Teachers Series:
Abide in love: the Gospel spirituality of John the Evangelist – John Kirvan
Fear Not the Night - John of the Cross and John Kirvan
God Awaits You Based on the Classic Spirituality of Meister - Richard Chilson
Grace Through Simplicity - Evelyn Underhill and John Kirvan
Living in the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence and John Kirvan
Love Without Measure - Mother Teresa and John Kirvan
Rejoice in the Lord - Augustine of Hippo and Trenton Mattingly
Set Aside Every Fear - Catherine of Siena and John Kirvan
That you may have life: let the mystics be your guide for Lent - John Kirvan
True Serenity - Thomas a Kempis and John Kirvan
We Are Beloved - Thea Bowman and Karianna Frey MS
Where Only Love Can Go - The Cloud of Unknowing and John Kirvan
Books by Henri J.M. Nouwen:
Intimacy
Creative Ministry
With Open Hands
Pray to live: Thomas Merton: a contemplative critic
Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life
Aging: The Fulfillment of Life
Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life
The Genesee Diary
The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society
Clowning in Rome: Reflections on Solitude, Celibacy, Prayer, and Contemplation
In Memoriam
The Way of the Heart
A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee
Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life
Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life
A Letter of Consolation
Gracias: A Latin American Journal
The Living Reminder: Service and Prayer in Memory of Jesus Christ
Lifesigns: Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in Christian Perspective
Behold the Beauty of the Lord
Letters to Marc About Jesus
The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey
Henri Nouwen (Modern Spiritual Masters): Writings Selected With an Introduction by Robert A. Jonas
In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership
Seeds of Hope: A Henri Nouwen Reader
Beyond the Mirror: Reflections on Death and Life
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings
Here and Now: Living in the Spirit
Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring
The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom
Can You Drink the Cup?
Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith
Adam: God's Beloved
Sabbatical Journey: The Diary of His Final Year
The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life
A Spirituality of Fundraising (Henri Nouwen Spirituality)
Turn My Mourning into Dancing
Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith
Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit
Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life
…
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