Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son »

HENRI J. M. NOUWEN (1932–1996) was a Catholic priest who taught at several theological institutions and universities in the United States. He spent the final years of his life teaching and ministering to the mentally and physically disabled at L’Arche Daybreak community in Toronto, Canada.

Home Tonight follows the path of Henri Nouwen’s spiritual homecoming. More than three years prior to writing his great classic, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Nouwen suffered a personal breakdown followed by a time of healing solitude when he encountered Rembrandt’s famous painting. Within his solitude he reflected on and identified with the parable’s characters and experienced profound and inspiring life lessons.

This captivating book was created from never-before-published materials that formed the basis of the small workshop inspired by Nouwen’s intimate encounter with Rembrandt’s painting. Readers are led to welcome their unique Belovedness through practices of “spiritual listening,” journaling, and communing with God, thus connecting personally with the unique, unconditional love of the One who created them. Home Tonight is a practical guide for the inner journey home.

Graham Christian - Library Journal

Works by Nouwen (1932-96) are still read with admiration and profit. This one, assembled by Sue Mosteller from transcripts of workshops Nouwen gave relating to his Return of the Prodigal Son, brings Nouwen's reflections on Rembrandt's famed painting of the Scriptural subject, along with his profound meditations on fathers, sons, vocations, and God's love, into the context of journal keeping and "spiritual listening." Highly recommended.