This is the latest collection of four talks given by Vanier, originally published in French in 2007.
I mention this because it seems significant that themes Vanier—the founder of L'Arche and Faith and Light—explored repeatedly with M.H. Mathieu continue to feel urgent and alive, so much so that they are often republished.
Four meditations circling around the fear of love, vulnerability, and the wounds of the heart that distance us from those who are wounded in body as well. Vanier's words and examples flush us out of our carefully maintained hiding places and confront us with our reality as fragile beings, children searching for wonder and awe. The book reads effortlessly, inviting us to look in the mirror and recognize the priest and the Levite who live in our hearts—so that the Good Samaritan in us might come alive.
Cristina Tersigni, 2015