I liked this book. As a spiritual reflection on one of the best-known parables of Jesus, that of the Prodigal Son, it is excellent. There are some nuggets of provocative and thoughtful Christian spirituality; and any Christian can be nourished by these reflections. Also, the reference underlying the reflection on the parable to Rembrandt’s painting of it is a nice, tangible, visual way to navigate his spiritual and theological ideas. I came away with some choice things to chew on, reflect on, and even to pray on.

But as a treatise, it’s less tight and more rambling than it needs to be. Nouwen repeats a lot of his ideas perhaps too much. I get the sense that his repetition is the product of his still working through his ideas in real time. That’s fine as far as it goes, but it gives the book a kind of unpolished and even tentative, uncertain feel.

For me, the most meaningful and penetrating and lucid chapters were the ones about the elder brother.

Would I recommend the book to Christians? Yes. Without reservation. I think it offers much more for the soul than books like “The Shack.” But its appeal is more to “cerebral” Christians than to emotive Christians. If you want to “feel” faith, rather than “think” faith, this book may not resonate so much for you. But it’s worth a read for all serious Christians who question and struggle with their faith and spirituality.

Lots of great takeaways but loved this quote especially: “But grief is the discipline of the heart that sees the sin of the world, and knows itself to be the sorrowful price of freedom, without which love cannot bloom.”

A unique book and exploration of the parable of the prodigal son, or should I say prodigal sons and the Father. Exploring each character in turn, Nouwen shares personal reflections on his journey with recognising the characteristics and challenge of each in his own life, and encourages us to do the same. I found the chapter on the elder brother especially helpful and poignant, which probably says a lot! The consideration of the call to be like God the Father was helpful and a new perspective on the well-known parable for me. A book worth reading slowly and pondering.

Henri Nouwen is a favorite of mine--always pointing the way toward greater growth in love, always recognizing the challenges involved, and sharing openly his own struggles and vulnerability.

In this book, Nouwen describes his encounter with the Rembrandt painting of the parable of the return of the prodigal son. It germinated within him for a year before he began to intellectually--and then emotionally--unpack what the picture meant for him.

There are three major figures in the painting (as in the story): the younger son (who took his inheritance, left home, and spent it all), the elder son (bitterly jealous of the father's forgiveness of the younger son, the self-righteous, "good" son), and the Father (who represents God, the all-forgiving, endlessly loving, accepting, and compassionate parent).

Initially, Nouwen says he identified with the younger son. This was my experience as well with the parable. Later he came to see himself as much if not more as the older son. The relentlessly "good" person, always doing the "right" thing but expecting a reward for doing so: the admiration, even the love of others, in this case of the Father. It is a great temptation to fall into being the older son. It is--or was for me anyway--more painful to recognize oneself in this bitter, resentful, self-righteous character. And yet--to return home after being lost may be difficult but ultimately easier to see that you need forgiveness and to accept compassion but to see yourself as doing the right thing, being obedient and following the rules but being held in the same esteem as the person who has spent their life indulging in every whim and dissipation can (and for most of us is) a big ego blow. What is the point of being "good", if it doesn't make you "better" than the people who don't obey the rules and give way to temptation.

In short: how can the father love and value both equally? The younger son's challenge is to receive this all-embracing love and forgiveness, the older son's challenge is to let go of his pride and reenter his family, including his brother. The ultimate challenge for all of us, says Nouwen, is to become the all-loving, forgiving, and compassionate father (or mother). He writes of his own struggles to let go of youth and become the fully mature adult, no longer begging for love but becoming its source.

This is a very rough description of the book which is filled with beautiful insights. "I can see 3 ways to a truly compassionate fatherhood--grief, forgiveness, and generosity....This grieving is praying." and "Joy and resentment cannot coexist" are two of my favorites. But I've underlined so much of this book that I can see I will want to read this book again and again, for comfort and courage.

Ik ben blijkbaar een van de weinige mensen die niet op deze spirituele kaskraker aanslaat. De boodschap is prachtig, de overdenking van Nouwen scherp en precies, maar na de inleiding en een vluchtige blik op de inhoud ben je er doorheen. Voor wie op zoek is naar een laag dieper in de materie, is dit niet een geschikt boek. Omdat ik dat wel had verwacht: lichte teleurstelling, waarbij mijn enige troost is dat ik in elk geval kan zeggen dat ik wat van Nouwen heb gelezen.

This book has taken me a while to review as it’s given me so much to process and think about. A lecturer I had at university once said a book is good if it makes you think for more time than it takes to read it, something very true I think with this.

‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’ was inspired by Nouwen’s encounter with Rembrandts painting with the same name (based on the parable). Nouwen talks of his own experience with the painting and the artist itself but most essentially writes of the younger son and his return, the older son and his resentment and ultimately the father and his compassion and love. Nouwen shows how we embody (or at least could embody) each of these three characters and the decisions it leads us to.

The thing that really stood out for me in this book as strange as it may be is just that it made so much sense. So often books may point out something and then suggest this may be a reason for change but then not say what the change may be, or may come up with something that is complex and looses something within that. Instead Nouwen puts it all simply before the reader and therefore far more powerfully. He shows in his reflections how our thoughts or decisions might take us to various cross roads and how to take the first few steps on the more difficult paths. Mostly though above all this is a book about love and what it means at the end of everything to be reduced to love. A book I think I will return to often.

It’s always so amazing to me how providential the timing of reading books is. I started this one so long ago but just finishing it this week at this time, and it resonates so differently than it likely would have months ago.
This book is beautiful, hopeful, and filled with grace. It’s for prodigal sons AND elder sons (or daughters) alike.
Also, if you love art you will especially enjoy the deep meditation and insights on Rembrandt’s piece portraying this familiar story. Highly recommend.

ENGLISH: A religious meditation based on the detailed analysis of a single parable by Jesus, and a single representation of the parable as a work of art by Rembrandt. The parable is just a page long, and the painting is just a painting, but Nouwen gets out of this a book 140 pages long, and makes us identify first with the younger son, then with the elder son, then with the father.

I think this is a good book, out of the ordinary, although I didn't like everything he says.

In fact, Nouwen didn't just got a book out of the parable, but two, as my edition also contains a second book, "Home Tonight," which abounds in the subject in the form of a full Lenten course with meditations.

ESPAÑOL: Meditación religiosa basada en el análisis detallado de una sola parábola de Jesús, y de la representación de la parábola en una obra de arte de Rembrandt. La parábola tiene solo una página y el cuadro es solo un cuadro, pero Nouwen saca de ahí un libro de 140 páginas y nos hace identificarnos, primero con el hijo menor, luego con el hijo mayor, finalmente con el padre.

Me parece un buen libro, fuera de lo común, aunque no me gustara todo lo que dice.

De hecho, Nouwen no sólo sacó de la parábola un libro, sino dos, ya que mi edición también contiene otro libro, "Home Tonight", que abunda en el tema en la forma de un curso cuaresmal completo, con meditaciones.

While very short, this is a richly profound look at the spiritual implications of Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son. It clearly came from years of reflection. And it gave me much to chew over. I think it is one I will have to come back to and chew on some more.

Este libro es muy bueno. Me gustó mucho. Creo que va al grano de la cuestión, en forma simple y clara. Desarma y le da vida a una historia fascinante. Logró que lo etiquete como favorito apenas termino de leerlo. Pero también lo marqué en la shelve de "arte", y "comentario biblico", y casi lo pongo en la de "discernimiento", y "must read" también. Me gusta que cuenta una historia personal, en forma abierta y generosa. Muy lindo libro para este tiempo de cuaresma del año de la misericordia y para cualquier momento. Un verdadero libro de espiritualidad para repensar nuestro vínculo con Dios y con los demás.

In The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen considers the Prodigal Son parable from many angles, using Rembrandt's painting as a window for considering each of the characters in turn. He gets his readers thinking about how one can easily be both the younger son and the elder son at different points in life.

I really appreciated his insights on being the elder son and how, with God's help, we can resist some of the inherent stumbling blocks associated with the elder son's mindset. Nouwen was actually the oldest of his siblings and always followed the rules while growing up. As the oldest sibling in my family, I identified with a lot of what he said in these chapters. He noted that the rigid rule-following that can accompany being the eldest carries its own spiritual risks - namely, resentment and envy. His thoughts on fighting those inclinations with gratitude were particularly powerful. Both gratitude and complaining are choices - he calls them self-perpetuating traits. The more you "practice," the more ingrained one or the other becomes in your life.

I skimmed the portion where he discussed God as our mother. Is God like a mother - yes, undoubtedly. I'm thinking of Jesus's comments when he observed the temple - how he longed to gather his people like a mother hen under his wings. But I am hesitant to carry it any further than that. The old Protestant in me just can't go there.

Beautiful, brilliant, probing, and profound. I am not necessarily sold on Nouwen’s theology or hermeneutical method; nonetheless, it was an incredibly relatable and deeply soul-searching listen. If the likelihood of a reread is the basis for a rating, I give “The Return of the Prodigal Son” 5 stars.