If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

“If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable,”

A Study of Vulnerability in the Works of Jean Vanier.

James Cross
Spirituality Research Project. (First semester 2014)

CATHOLIC INSTITUTE SYDNEY

Supervisor, Dr. Matthew Del Nevo.

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 1/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

PRIMARY SOURCES BY JEAN VANIER. (In order of date of publication.)

Be Not Afraid (Toronto: Paulist Press, 1975)

The Challenge of L’Arche (Ottowa: Novalis Publishing, 1981)

Man and Woman He Made Them (Strathfield: Paulist Press, 1986)

The Broken Body (Strathfield: Paulist Press. 1988)

The Church after the Synod, a Quiet Revolution (The Furrow. Vol. 39, No 7 (July, 1988) 419-428)

Community and Growth: Our Pilgrimage Together (Strathfield: Paulist Press, 1989)

From Brokenness to Community (Harold M. Wit Lectures) (Strathfield: Paulist Press, 1992)

Jesus, The Gift Of Love (New York: The Crossroad Company 1994)

A Door of Hope, the Transformation of Pain (London: Holder & Stoughton. 1996)

Our Journey Home (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. 1997)

Becoming Human (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1999)

Drawn Into the Mystery of Jesus Through The Gospel of John (Strathfield: Paulist Press, 2004.

Encountering the Other (Adelaide: John Garrett Publishing, 2005)

Made for Happiness: Discovering the Meaning of Life with Aristotle (London: Darton, Longman &
Todd Ltd, 2005.

Our Life Together, A Memoir in Letters (London: Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd, 2008)

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 2/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

“IF GOD IS LOVE, IT MEANS THAT GOD IS TERRIBLY VULNERABLE”.1

A Study of Vulnerability in the Works of Jean Vanier’

“I can’t eat now because I have all these cuts and sores in my mouth. The doctor said she
would like to put a tube down my throat so that my stomach keeps getting nutrients. It’s
important, so that it doesn’t start to build up bacteria. She asked me what I thought. I said I
don’t think any more! I just have to trust. Today I woke up in immense pain! It wasn’t an
ache, but an intense, crazy feeling all over my body, as if it was trying to escape from itself. I
was shaking and soaked with sweat. I called to the nurse who was by herself. She came in to
check on me and said she’d get me some medication because the doctor had already signed
that I could have something strong if needed. Before she could get back to me I heard an
alarm on a monitor go off in another room. She went running to that. I felt weak and my head
slumped forward, then I started to cough and gag. It became uncontrollable and I started to
vomit, but I hadn’t eaten. Then the tube that was in my nose came up out of my stomach and
out of my mouth. It was just hanging there as all this liquid came out of my mouth onto the
sheets. My head was still spinning. Then I noticed that in the violent coughing a tube had
come out of my arm and there was blood leaking out. I had also lost control of my bowels and
they had emptied too. I was so weak I couldn’t call out. I couldn’t do anything but sit and wait
until I was found. Then as clearly as if it were a voice, I felt Jesus speak:

I will cover up your nakedness as if it were My own!

Those words were just repeated again and again, like a mother’s soothing sounds to a
distressed baby. I have no idea where that phrase came from. I know He is with me. He didn’t
take me away yet, but He came here to sit in the mess with me.” 2

The above is an extract from my experience of a bone marrow transplant. I do not intend to moralize on the
basis of my own experience. Neither do I seek to "use" my experience merely as a theological example, I
seek more fundamentally to explore my localized experience in a way that draws upon theological and
philosophical resources and begins— albeit tentatively—to formulate a vision that, for me, not only makes
sense but offers constructive possibilities for fruitful living and humanizing relationships. In writing about
Jean Vanier there is a tenuous line between the "personal" and the "academic”. Theology cannot help but be
personal and localized; but it is also public in a way that speaks to a community of human beings sharing
common concerns and struggles. I offer these reflections in the midst of an ongoing struggle to love, hoping
that readers may find in them something of value.

In this essay I will focus on vulnerability as a key aspect of Vanier’s work. I will examine first the language
and paradox of vulnerability for spirituality in a broad context. Then I will show the valuable contribution
Vanier’s writing makes to this subject using the following themes: Human nature, finitude, Relationships,
Lessons from the most vulnerable, Our internal vulnerability and Community as the space for vulnerability.

1
Vanier, Jean. NPR Radio, ‘On Being’ The Wisdom of Tenderness: Lived Compassion, L'Arche, and Becoming Human. 24/12/2009
2
James Cross Pilgrimage to Life (Darwin: FreeThinking Media, 2008) 108

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 3/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

THE EXISTENTIAL VULNERABILITY

Before examining Jean Vanier’s contribution in detail I will outline the meaning of vulnerability in the broad
context of spirituality. The concept of ‘vulnerability’ as used in this essay refers to the tragic, aporetic,
contingent nature of existence in general; the various forms of suffering of humans and the rest of creation;
the fragility and interdependence of humans and of other creatures in all their relationships; the
predisposition to pain and suffering of so many humans and other creatures; the style, mode, and attitude of
brokenness, empathy, softness, and humbleness; and, regarding God, it refers to his compassion with the
suffering world, and to the interdependence of the three persons within the Trinity. 3

To be human to is to be vulnerable. This basic realization is essential to spirituality. The main point of the
spirituality of vulnerability is that vulnerability is not merely a weakness to be overcome or eliminated, but
rather an indelible feature of human existence. Vulnerability is what makes us human. Vulnerability,
finitude, sensibility and the possibilities both of being caressed and hurt – is not a lamentable fact, but the
basic precondition of a good and meaningful life – of joy, proximity and community. Love requires total
disarmament and vulnerability. They implicate openness to the surroundings, to nature, to fellow human
beings, and to God. For Jean Vanier there is no way to consider relationship without vulnerability, so of
course he see that God is also vulnerable, 4 “I'd say that what touches me the deepest, maybe because I'm
becoming myself more vulnerable, is the discovery of the vulnerability of God.” 5

Vulnerability should be considered as the central context for human relationships. Vulnerability means the
openness to being changed and taken outside of what is comfortable in our perception of our “self”. It creates
possibilities for great joy but also for great suffering. To desire another, to feel passion, is to be vulnerable,
capable of being wounded. The desire for others, for belonging, reveals our fundamental need and makes one
vulnerable.

3
Koopman, Nico. “Vulnerable Church in a Vulnerable World? Towards an Ecclesiology of Vulnerability”, Journal of Reformed
Theology 2 (2008) 240-254
4
The doctrine that God cannot suffer, accepted virtually as axiomatic in Christian theology from the early Greek Fathers until the
nineteenth century, has in this century been progressively abandoned. For many people today, the idea of that God is "impassible"
comes across as if God does not care about human life. What’s more, in the wake of the terrible persecutions of our time, particularly
the Holocaust, the impassibility of God is frequently blamed for the church's failure to make an adequate response. I have been
influenced by Jürgen Moltmann, who lived through the destruction of European Jewry and who had some personal experience of that
catastrophe. For many theologians, the only adequate way to continue the task is to begin with a "God after Auschwitz." On
Moltmann's view of divine suffering, see J. J. O'Donnell, Trinity and Temporality (Oxford: OUP, 1983), ch. 4; R. Bauckham, in P.
Toon and J. D. Spiceland (eds.), One God in Trinity (London: Bagster, 1980), pp. 121-4; Jurgen Moltmann, The Crucified God: The
Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology, trans. by R. A. Wilson and John Bowden (Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1993). For a concise discussion of other theologians representing this trend, see Warren McWilliams, The Passion of
God: Divine Suffering in Contemporary Protestant Theology (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985).
5
Vanier, Jean. NPR Radio, ‘On Being’ The Wisdom of Tenderness: Lived Compassion, L'Arche, and Becoming Human. 24/12/2009.

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 4/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

It is my position that a healthy spirituality is not about trying to deny the place of vulnerability in human life,
it is about trying to cultivate responsible or ‘appropriate vulnerability’. 6 The statement has two aspects.
Firstly: a human being is a vulnerable creature. We have a need for and right to protection against threats to
our life and liberty. Secondly: being vulnerable is part and parcel of human life. In other words, people will
always be vulnerable. Not only does this mean that vulnerability is inescapable at some level, it is also
important to see that vulnerability is a condition for acting humanely; it is a condition for humankind’s
ethical capacity and responsibility. Vulnerability implies an openness to one’s surroundings, to one’s fellow
human beings, to specific others, which enables people to recognize the pain of others as their own and
accept responsibility for alleviating the distress of others. It is inherent that relationships contains risk,
consequently the only appropriate relationship is one where vulnerability can take place. At times we need
eliminate unnecessary vulnerability, vulnerability that is caused by negative desires and behavior. When we
find another person in life that we love and want to share ourselves with, we seek to open ourselves, to reveal
our emotion, to share our anxieties. We quickly draw close and soon seek to embrace. Often we find that
with this embrace comes pain, as we discover that the other is not able to receive all we have to unload.
Unless we respect the core center of holiness, the pure space that must remain empty in our lives, the private,
silent, void we never fill up, our relationships will be interrupted with conflict. 7

The acceptance of our own vulnerability as human beings is a difficult task. Vulnerability can be seen as a
curse, a drain of our ability to create a good standard of living or to have a reliable life. The paradox of
strength and vulnerability is what makes us truly and beautifully human. It is that paradox that allows our
spirituality to stay genuine and our culture to become one of compassionate solidarity. The more of our
vulnerabilities we can own, the more of our strength we can access. And the more strength we have, the more
we can speak openly of our wounds and limitations.

HUMAN NATURE, FINITUDE AND VULNERABILITY

Vanier’s contribution of vulnerability to modern spirituality is founded on the irreducible dignity of every
human being. I would highlight three key points as a summery of his core principles. First every human
being, regardless of his or her limitations, culture, or religion, is important and valuable and should be
respected. Second, the worst ill is disdain of another person, which can lead to oppression and the
suppression of human life. Finally, that in order to progress towards the fullness of life that is inscribed in his
or her being, every person, at some time or other, needs others. 8

6
Man and Woman, God Made Them, 67
7
Man and Woman, God Made Them, 127
8
Made for Happiness, 180

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 5/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

For Vanier a person is not defined by there capacity to reason but by their capacity for relationship. A person
does not have value because of their relationship to us, but every person has value because they are capable
of giving and receiving love. In the end only human beings are capable of loving relationships. Only a person
can enter into deepest mystery of reality, love.

Vanier believes that we can never discount a person’s value. Every person has the potential to awaken to
relationship. This is not limited by any defect of mind, body or character. At their core every individual has a
sacredness that must be respected; this can not be diminished by the suppression of others or even by their
own negative choices. It is true that this core can be obscured, but its integrity remains intact.

The insight of the vulnerability of humanity is not unique to Vanier; it has always been a central tenet of the
Christian faith. While we are all aware of this part of the fallen human experience it is more often seen as
something to be overcome. What Vanier reminds the world is that only when our lives embrace this and
accept our limits will we be happy, for it is then that we can embrace Jesus. It was through living in L’Arche
that Vanier “discovered a lot about loneliness, belonging, and the inner pain that springs from a sense of
rejection.”9 In Vanier’s experience these components of vulnerability are the starting point of his
spirituality.10 Let us look briefly at these three principles on which Vanier’s theological anthropology is
based: loneliness, belonging, rejection.

Loneliness for Vanier has two types. This first type urges you out of yourself towards the other, while the
second type of loneliness inhibits you from encountering another. The first type of loneliness is inherent in
our human nature because “there is nothing in existence that can completely fulfill the needs of the human
11
heart.” In this form, loneliness is a source for creative energy, motivating both poets and mystics to seek
the absolute. The second form of loneliness, however, springs from rejection and is a source of depression,
isolation and death. It is this later form of loneliness, manifested as apathy and depression that Vanier sees in
those with disabilities and in the elderly. 12

In response to this negative form of loneliness, Vanier believes that need community people in order to
“experience that deep inner healing that comes about mainly when people feel loved, when they have a sense

9
Becoming Human, 6.
10
“L'Arche is not based first on the word. You'll find lot of communities which are based on the word, that is to say they speak of an
ideal together and we are committed to an ideal or to a vision. But L'Arche is based on body and on the broken suffering bodies. And
so they come to us, vulnerable, seen as useless, and so we welcome those who apparently are useless.” Sydeny retreat.
11
Becoming Human, 8. “Loneliness can become a source of creative energy, the energy that drives us. Frequently it is the lonely man
or woman who revolts against injustice and seeks new ways. It is as if a fire is burning within them, a fire fuelled by loneliness.
Loneliness is the fundamental force that urges mystics to a deeper union with God. It pushes them towards the absolute. So loneliness
opens up mystics to a desire to love each and every human being as God loves them.
12
Becoming Human, 132

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 6/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

of belonging.”13 I will examine in more detail below the community as a place where people can love as well
as be loved.

The second formative principle of Vanier’s theological anthropology is the desire to belong. At the root of
this intrinsic human desire to belong is the need to be affirmed, to be welcomed, to be told that “it is good
that you exist.” This affirmation springing from belonging is the method through which someone’s true
beauty is revealed.14 It is necessary that this revelation takes place within a committed relationship in order
for the gifts of time, attention, and tenderness to be given and freely received. Vanier argues that modern
man suppresses his yearning for belonging behind hyper-activity out of fear of being hurt while the
handicapped person cannot hide this yearning to belong, this yearning for relationship, Vanier says that in a
way, the handicapped “are only heart: a wounded, open heart..” 15 We desire to be recognised and accepted,
woven together with others.16 This is why, as Jean Vanier concludes, communities are manifestation of our
need to belong. We feel at home in the world by dwelling with others. We need others to nurture and sustain
us, making it possible to inhabit a safe, predictable, and meaningful world. That human beings are not ready-
made for getting along in this world is a liability rendering us vulnerable and dependent creatures. We
receive our existence from others, and this is at the heat of belonging. 17 By belonging to a home in this sense
we inhabit creation.18

The final experience at the heart of Vanier’s spiritual anthropology is that of rejection. The primary place of
belonging, and thus the “buffer” to the experience of rejection, should be family. Vanier cites the primacy in
society given to the individual to the exclusion of the family and community, for the rejection that is almost
universally felt nowadays, especially the rejection experienced by children who are either all together
abandoned by their parents or whose parents are too busy to fully welcome and affirm them. Vanier argues
that the roots of this rejection are almost always found in one’s childhood. The experience of rejection erects
barriers around our hearts and we become distrustful of others.

RELATIONSHIPS OF LOVE REQUIRE VULNERABILITY.

13
Becoming Human, 11
14
Becoming Human, 22. “To reveal someone’s beauty is to reveal their value by giving them time, attention and tenderness. To love
is not just to do something for them but to reveal to them their own uniqueness, to tell them that they are special and worthy of
attention.”
15
The Challenge of L’Arche, 273
16
Becoming Human, 36
17
Archbishop Desmond Tutu in “No Future Without Forgiveness” describes Ubuntu (in Nguni languages or botho in Sotho
languages) as the central feature of his anthropology, it is the belief that each persons humanity is inextricably bound up in one
another‘s humanity and suggests generosity, hospitality, care and compassion.
Desmond Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness (New York: Doubleday, 1999), 31
18
Becoming Human, 44

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 7/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

We have seen how loneliness in its two forms, the desire to belong, and the experience of rejection make up
the core of Vanier’s anthropology. What is needed, in Jean’s experience, in order to bring about a movement
from anguish to peace within people, is relationships of love, this requires vulnerability. Vanier puts it this
way “You are not just being generous, you are entering into a relationship, which will change your life. You
are no longer in control. You have become vulnerable; you have come to love that person”. 19 Relationships
are only authentic and stable when they are founded on the acceptance of weakness, on forgiveness and on
the hope of growth.20 Relationships of love have a transforming power, first and foremost as a revelation of a
person's essential, fundamental beauty and value.

If nobody reveals to children their innate beauty and value, they will never know the importance and the
meaning of their life. They will hide behind sulking, depression, violence, aggressive attitudes or will try to
prove their brilliance. When they are listened to and loved they begin to discover what it means to be human.
Little by little they become more trusting and want to live more fully. They realize they do not have to
defend or prove themselves or always be at the centre of the stage; they have a place, they belong. 21

As a result of his experience of living with those most vulnerable, whose most developed sense of
communication was through the body, Vanier’s insists that relationships have an intrinsic bodily dimension.
He says that “it's a suffering body which brings us together. And it's attention to the body. You see, when
somebody comes to our community and is quite severely handicapped, what is important is to see that the
body is well. Bathing, helping people dress, to eat. It's to communicate to them through the body. And then,
as the body can become comfortable, then the spirit can rise up. There's a recognition. There's a contact.
22
There's a relationship.” Healing loving relationship require us to be present with our mind body and soul.
Being present, to sit, to listen, is at times difficult and sometimes tedious. To listen to someone means to
become open and vulnerable to the other and to allow them to disturb us, to change our habits and our ways
of thinking and seeing things. To simply be with a person, with an open and free heart, requires a real
conversion, a "metanoia", a transformation.

19
Encountering the Other. 37
20
Community and Growth, 28
21
Becoming Human, 22
“The first aspect of love, the key aspect, is revelation. Just as a mother and father reveal to their children that they have value and
beauty.”
“To reveal someone’s beauty is to reveal their value by giving them time, attention and tenderness. To love is not just to do
something for them but to reveal to them their own uniqueness, to tell them that they are special and worthy of attention.”
22
Vanier, Jean. NPR Radio, ‘On Being’ The Wisdom of Tenderness: Lived Compassion, L'Arche, and Becoming Human. 24/12/2009

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 8/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

Vanier also speaks of presence in the sense that it is a being present to reality. He says the greatest gift of
those he lives with at L’Arche is that they have the ability to live in the present. They have a well developed
capacity to celebrate and live in the moment. 23

In speaking of the society at large Vanier comments about how society is structured so that we never have to
be fully present to anyone.24 “We are always putting things onto someone else, above all when it is a matter
of suffering, of misery that demands our total presence. Our immediate reaction to all sad and impossible
25
situations is to shut out hearts, to create a world of excuses to avoid being inconvenienced”.

Vanier is speaking about a “total presence” and saying that our immediate human reaction when called upon
to be fully present is to flee the situation. Society has structured itself in such a way as to facilitate man’s fear
of presence. The reason for this fear of vulnerability is man’s experience of rejection as we have seen in
Vanier’s spiritual anthropology.

I recall a personal experience some time ago; when I attended a retreat run by L’Arche, after a week of
meetings with accountants and lawyers. The people I needed to advise me were trained to work on principles
of distrust so as to protect the interests of their client. I saw how this world I was in is constructed around
values of knowledge, power, and social esteem. When I visited the l’Arche community I immediately sensed
that there was a direct contrast. None of those things were important here.

While in principle I embraced this ideal, it was still difficult for me to be comfortable with those who don’t
live by this same set of values as me. Not being able to engage in conversation about politics, economics or
philosophy I found myself struggling. Not being able to throw out a prepared social role as my identity, it
was confronting to have to simply be me. You have to ask why is it that we are threatened by such by such
simple beautiful people. Jean Vanier is well aware of these questions.

“The social stigmas around people with intellectual disabilities are strong. There is an implicit
question: If someone cannot live according to the values of knowledge and power, the values of the
greater society, we ask ourselves, can that person be fully human?” 26

Our society is continually confronted by a world in crisis, full of violence, of fear, of abuse. We are not clear
about what it means to be human. We reduce being human to acquiring knowledge, power, and social status.
We disregard the heart and see it only as a symbol of weakness. Our society is geared to growth,
23
Community and Growth, 319
24
Encountering the Other, 17
25
Be Not Afraid, 15
26
Becoming Human, 77

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 9/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

development, progress. Life for most of us is a race to be won. 27 A society that honors only the powerful, the
clever, and the winners necessarily belittles the weak. It is as if to say: to be human is to be powerful.

Vanier teaches the value of a love that empowers, that helps others to stand up; a love that shows itself in
humility and in trust, of a love that can reorient us from our self-centeredness, revealing to us and to others
the basic beauty of humanity, empowering us to grow.28

LESSONS FROM THE MOST VULNERABLE29

One of the constant themes of Vanier’s writing is that all human relationships of love are between equals. 30
While at times it may appear that one is in a greater position, Vanier challenges us to remain aware that we
always have something to learn, something to gain from the other. The most vulnerable, the weak, slow, sick
or disabled all have something to reveal to the world. They are not there just to receive from the strong and
the powerful.

This is an important challenge to all Christians. It is an easy temptation, in our compassion, to see ourselves
as saviors who will liberate the weak. Vanier warns us against building our identity around this. If we fail to
see that the real value of our relationship is that we are all weak and in radical need of God’s sustenance.
Vanier's crucial insight is to turn the ordinary notion of 'charity' on its head: when you do some kind act, your
good feelings don't come from the fact that you have helped some needy person. They come from the insight
you gain about your own humanity, through your relationship with the poor and the rejected. You may have
helped them, but they have evangelised you. Jean Vanier declares that, “The poor evangelize us and call us to
love. In the poor there is a mystery we are all called to live.” 31

Vanier is aware of the danger of excluding the most vulnerable from the life of the Church. He warns against
seeing them “simply as objects of our charity”. 32 The most vulnerable people in our community are rarely
seen as being at the heart off Church, “capable of giving life and awakening love.” 33
27
Becoming Human, 45
28
Becoming Human, 78
29
USE OF LANGUAGE. In this essay I will use the phrase “the most vulnerable” to refer in a general sense to those abandoned and
pushed to the edges of our consumer society; those who are sick, people with disabilities, poor and hungry, migrants ad prisoners,
refugees, unemployed, abandoned children and lonely old people. While all of us are vulnerable this term makes a necessary
distinction, in Vanier’s own writing he uses the term “the poor” for these groups that the gospel calls us to be in solidarity. When
talking specifically about people with disabilities I will use the same language as Vanier. Our Journey Home, XVII
30
Made For Happiness. 186
31
The Church after the Synod, a Quiet Revolution.
32
The Church after the Synod, a Quiet Revolution
33
The Church after the Synod, a Quiet Revolution
“After having lived twenty-three years in a community with people who have a mental handicap, and having been in contact with so
many other people who are weak and fragile, I realize more and more the danger of excluding such people from the life of the
Church or seeing them simply as objects of our charity. People who are poor and fragile are rarely seen as being at the heart off

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 10/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

In 1980 Jean Vanier was invited by Pope John Paul 11 to participate in the Synod as a laymen and part of the
Apostolic Delegate from Canada. Vanier sees the final message of that synod as a prophetic word for the
most vulnerable. “You who are the abandoned and pushed to the edges of our consumer society; you who are
sick, people with disabilities, poor and hungry, migrants ad prisoners, refugees, unemployed, abandoned
children and lonely old people, we say that the Church shares your suffering. She takes it to the Lord who in
turn associates you with his redeeming passion. You are brought to life in the light of his resurrection. We
need you to teach the whole world what love is. We will do everything we can so that you may find your
rightful place in the church and in society.” 34

Many people have discovered that as they enter into relationships of friendship and mutuality with the
vulnerable that they are transformed. Why is this? While the mystery of Jesus is present in every person, His
presence is so clear and simple in and through the poor, whilst it is often dimmed or clouded in those who
are more rich and cultured. It is out of vulnerability that the grace of the Holy Spirit can touch those around
us. In a sense it is out of our cracks and our brokenness that the light of Christ can shine.

The most vulnerable force us to evaluate our life and values. We must ask what do we base our identity on,
how do we measure success? Do these values really make us happy? Are we at peace when we live by rules
of distrust and competition? Are we able to receive love, not because of our achievements, but simply
undeserved gracious love?35

This is a challenge because I believe that all of us would like to be loved for our achievements. The strong
don’t want charity. When we sin we want to earn forgiveness, to earn our righteousness. The gospel message
is that we can never win more of God’s love, it is always abundantly free, but we can only receive it when
we surrender and admit our powerlessness, that we are helpless before God.

It is true that the most vulnerable are in a privileged position to witnesses to humanity that the greatest gift
we can have is to know that we are loved unconditionally. John Paul has said that, “They can teach everyone

Church, capable of giving life and awakening love.

As I am so sensitive in this area, I find it quite difficult when people speak of the place of lay people only in terms of collaboration,
co-operation, co-responsibility, participation, etc. These terms are quite popular on the political scene and in big business and major
industries where people have learned that greater participation gives greater efficiency and less conflict.
If we insist on this active participation in the Church, then we tend to suppress its specific mystery. St Paul tells us clearly that the
birch is a Body, and that in this Body the members who are the weakest, the most indecent, are necessary, and should be honored
(1Cor. 12). And Jesus identifies himself with the poor. However, those who are poor or weak or fragile most often cannot assume
responsibility or participate in decisions.”
34
Christifideles Laici. (1988), 53
35
Jean Vanier, "The Need of Strangers," in Critical Reflections on Stanley Hauerwas' Theology of Disability, ed. John Swinton (New
York: The Haworth Pastoral Press, 2004).

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 11/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

about the love that saves us; they can become heralds of a new world, no longer dominated by force,
violence and aggression, but by love, solidarity and acceptance...” 36

This is an important message, still we must be sensitive to never idealize the lives of those who suffer, either
asking them to simply be submissive and ‘offer up’ their pain, or to think will always be gracious when we
attempt a relationship. Vanier is well aware of the reality, ‘some have been victims of so much contempt and
violence, which they have stored up inside themselves, that there can be an explosion of violence. Anger and
depression remain with certain people the whole of their lives.” 37 In reality living with the vulnerable is
difficult. They can be rude, ungrateful and selfish. At times their needs will overwhelm us. In spite of these
difficulties if we are open we can receive much. In his last visit to Australia Jean reminded us all that, “If we
go down and meet those who have been impoverished and rejected, they will in some mysterious way
transform us. That's the vision of L’Arche - and it is paradox." 38

OUR INTERNAL VULNERABILITY.

Vanier reminds us that all of us that ‘we are all so broken in love, and in our capacity to relate’,39 that all of
us need relationship and community to move away from brokenness. While the limitations of the poor are
obvious to the world, every person is limited. To some extent the more obvious ones limits are the easier it is
to recognize our need for others. While the rich and the powerful may sadly be under the illusion that their
lives are complete, yet they will remain the poorest of all if they attempt to stay in isolated self-sufficiency. 40

Jean Vanier has discovered and confronted the reality that there are immense forces of darkness and hatred
within all of our hearts, ‘there is a powerful world of darkness and anguish in each person’ 41. At particular
moments of fatigue or stress, forces of hate rise up inside us, “I have touched the vulnerability of my heart
and the troubled waters of emptiness and anguish. I have protected the vulnerability through my own defence
mechanisms and angers”42. Vanier even noticed “the capacity to hurt someone who was weak and was
provoking me!” 43 This discovery will often cause much pain: to discover who I really am, and to realize that
maybe I did not want to know who I really was. It is uncomfortable to admit this is inside me. Jean Vanier

36
International Symposium in Rome, On The Dignity Of People With Disabilities, 2003,
37
Our Journey Home. pxii.
38
Our Broken World: A Path to Healing and Peace. Retreat with Jean Vanier and Eileen Glass. Merroo, Kurrajong, April 2004.
39
Jesus, The Gift Of Love, 67
40
“Isn’t each man handicapped? It is false to distinguish between ‘normal’ and abnormal’. The handicaps of some are more visible;
for others they are hidden: their fear, their egoism, their hardness of heart, their pride, their self satisfaction, their inability to listen.
They have eyes but do not hear the cries for help. They have hearts but they do not love the heart of those who weep.”
Be Not Afraid, 13
41
Jesus, The Gift Of Love, 61
42
Jesus, The Gift Of Love, 10
43
From Brokenness to Community, 19.

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 12/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

teaches that the important thing is to become conscious of those forces in us and to work at being liberated
from them and to discover that the worst enemy is inside our own hearts not outside. Our culture, which
fears vulnerability, conditions us to just continue to pretend that we are okay, to throw our self into
hyperactivity, into consumerism and a spiritual void. 44 Anxiety over vulnerability, as Vanier notes, seeks an
object. In a state of insecurity we hunt for a scapegoat to symbolize our fear, someone or something to turn
into the object of fear, and subsequently contempt. 45

How much of our time and energy do we spend trying to hide, deny, and overcome our weaknesses?
Typically we do not want to admit our weaknesses, either to ourselves or certainly not to others. There are
many good reasons for this, and I will out line below the appropriate place for vulnerability. Our society is
46
built upon a compulsive need to compete and succeed, to prove your superiority to yourself and to others.

It is a culture that breeds self-importance, elitism, aggressive competition, and the fear of failure. So, in a
culture like this that honors the winners and belittles the weak, that defines the ideal human as powerful and
beautiful, the weak are pushed aside. 47 And who wants to be marginalized? One cost of achieving this
standard of success is, of course, intense loneliness.

If this is how God loves us in our weaknesses and sins, then surely we must learn to accept ourselves with all
our many foibles. We can love ourselves with the realization that it is acceptable to be less than perfect, for
to deny our weaknesses is to live an illusion and a lie. Vanier writes “Maturity is precisely the acceptance of
yourself with your own flaws, as well as others with their flaws.” 48 It is to accept that God loves us without
conditions or limits, and to hear His voice that we too, like Jesus, are his “beloved children.”

COMMUNITY AS THE SPACE FOR VULNERABILITY.

Community, Vanier asserts, is to bring people to freedom. What is Freedom? “Freedom is freedom from fear.
Freedom means not being controlled by fear of any kind - compulsion, prejudice, fear of loneliness, of

44
Community and Growth, 14
45
Become human. 47
46
Becoming Human, 45
“Our society is geared to growth, development, progress. Life for most of us is a race to be won. A society that honors only the
powerful, the clever, and the winners necessarily belittles the weak. It is as if to say: to be human is to be powerful.”
47
Becoming Human, 45–46.
48
Becoming Human, 114

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 13/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

failure, of suffering, of feelings of guilt. We become slaves of what others think, and end up controlled by
social pressures. Achieving freedom from fear becomes the capacity to love freely”. 49

One of the greatest joys for me has been the discovery Vanier lead me to that the absolute love of God allows
us to accept the imperfect love of people. Knowing and being embraced by God’s love, I am less controlled
by a fear of rejection and I am able to give, without having to be certain my love will be returned. People
with mental handicaps, who are dependent on signs of love and acceptance, can be so joyous and radiant;
somehow they know that beyond the wounds and needs of others there is an embrace without conditions or
restraint. This teaches me to see the limited expressions of human affection as reflection of God’s unlimited
love.

Keeping this insight at the core of my life has provided so much security when dealing with the trials of
human relationships. Letting go of all expectations and being content with the love of God is necessary if
you are to survive a life in community, which can often be a very confronting place. Community is the place
where our limitations and our egoism are revealed to us. When we begin to live with others we discover our
poverty and our weakness, our emotional blocks, and our affective or sexual disturbances, our seemingly
insatiable desires, our frustrations and our jealousies, our hatred and our wish to destroy. 50 At first when
confronted by this painful understanding, we can be tempted to blame those around us. I have learnt from
experience, however, that these weaknesses were always in me, often suppressed but still present, it was only
that I became aware of them in this new environment.

It is not always so neat of course, Vanier explains “Here in Trosly there are also ups and downs of life, the
disappointments, misunderstandings, disagreements and even conflicts. But that is very human and natural…
we are confronted daily by the impossibility of living out the gospel message day by day without the
presence of Jesus and the wisdom God gives us. My experience is that the God of love and the love of God
are hidden in those who are weak and vulnerable, in our own weakness and vulnerability; God is hidden in
our community”. 51

In community we will meet those we can never get along with. We may never confront them, it may never
get ugly but there presence disturbs us. Vanier says that these people are the “enemies.” “They endanger us,
and, even if we dare not admit it, we hate them. Certainly, this is only a psychological hatred—it isn’t yet a

49
Our Broken World: A Path to Healing and Peace. Retreat with Jean Vanier and Eileen Glass. Merroo, Kurrajong, April 2004.
50
Community and Growth, 1
51
Letters. 501

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 14/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

moral hatred, because it is not deliberate. But even so, we just wish these people didn’t exist! If they
disappeared or died, it would seem like liberation.” 52

I was very happy when I first read these words many years ago. It gave me a freedom to accept my feeling if
someone as holy as Jean Vanier could acknowledge them. I learnt to look beyond my feelings and even in
community I was still called to follow Jesus and Love my enemies. It is these people who do not have an
immediate sympathy for that challenge us the most and give us the opportunity to grow.

Vanier reminds us, and I have learnt this myself, that if we are to grow in community we must attempt enter
into relationship with all the people the Holy Spirit has gathered. While it is comfortable to surround our self
with people who flatter us, if we do this exclusively it will no longer be a community but a collection of
people shut in on them self. Vanier says that for a real community to form the majority must “Consciously
decide to break these barriers and come out of their cocoons to stretch out their hand to their enemies” 53

It is my opinion that it is worth the pain to push past these walls we build, because it is only when we
become aware of our weakness can we be healed. This is why I have called community the space for
vulnerability; it is only in the safety of community, a place where we belong, that this deep vulnerability is
appropriate

It is in this space that God can take off the amour that we have used to protect our self in the world, to take
off our defenses so that Jesus the healer may dress our wounds. Vanier says that community is where we are
reminded that we all are weak, we are all called to death, and the reality of this provokes fear. In community
we can overcome this if we turn to Jesus the healer. 54

“Jesus the healer comes when we are conscious that we need a healer; when we become conscious of
our own egoism, all the anarchy of desire, all the fears, all the cowardice and weakness, all the need
for human security that incites us to possess. It is only when we become conscious of our weakness
and our fears that we can begin to grow in union with the Spirit.” 55

In community we learn to accept our weaknesses and those of others. Vanier says this is the very opposite of
sloppy complacency. It is not a fatalistic and hopeless acceptance. It is essentially a concern for truth so that
we do not live in illusion and can grow from where we are and not where we want to be, or where others
want us to be. He says, “It is only when we are conscious of who we are and who the others are, with all our
52
Community and Growth, 25
53
Community and Growth, 26
54
Be Not Afraid, IV
55
Be Not Afraid, 45

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 15/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

wealth and weakness, and when we are conscious of the call of God and the life He gives us, that we can
build something together. The force for life should spring from the reality of who we are.” 56

The more a community deepens the weaker and the more sensitive its members become. You might think
exactly the opposite that as their trust in each other grows, they in fact grow stronger. Vanier reminds us that
this growing strength doesn't dispel the fragility and sensitivity which are at the root of a new grace and
which means that people are becoming in some way dependent on each other. Love makes us weak and
vulnerable; because it breaks down the barriers and protective amour we have built around ourselves. Love
means letting others reach us and becoming sensitive enough to reach them. The cement of unity is
interdependence. 57

JESUS OUR VULNERABLE LOVER.58

It has been many years now that I have been walking a journey with Jean Vanier, and I am constantly
challenged that reality of my life is so far from these ideas of vulnerability and love that I have just written
about. In the novel ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, I think that Dostoevsky articulates this human struggle well.
Part way through a lengthy examination of human suffer, Ivan, makes a confession to his brother Alyosha:

“I must make you one confession,” Ivan began.“ I could never understand how one can love
one's neighbors. It's just one's neighbours, to my mind, that one can't love, though one might
love those at a distance. I once read some where of John the Merciful, a saint, that when a
hungry, frozen beggar came to him, he took him in to his bed, held him in his arms, and began
breathing into his mouth, which was put rid and loathsome from some awful disease. I am
convinced that he did that from ‘self laceration’, from the self-laceration of falsity, for the sake
of the charity imposed by duty, as a penance aid on him. For anyone to love a man, he must be
hidden, for as soon as he shows his face, love is gone.” “Father Zossima has talked of that more
than once,” observed Alyosha; “he, too, said that the face of a man often hinders many people
not practiced in love, from loving him. But yet there's a great deal of love in mankind, and
almost Christ-like love. I know that myself, Ivan.” “Well, I know nothing of it so far, and can't
understand it, and the in numerable mass of mankind are with me there. The question is,
whether that's due to men's bad qualities or whether it's inherent in their nature. To my thinking,
Christ-like love for men is a miracle impossible on earth. He was God. But we are not gods.” 59

56
Community and Growth, 38
57
Community and Growth, 36
58
Jesus, The Gift Of Love, 64, 37
59
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (New York: Vintage, 1991), 237

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 16/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

Ivan's assessment of humanity may seem cynical, but after years of reflection, I have come to recognise that
there is a hard truth to Ivan's viewpoint. I believe that compassionate regard and self-giving care much easier
and more attractive as general ideals, but when faced with actual experiences of pain, we flee. We know we
are ultimately impotent in face of pain. What can we say in the face of human suffering? Many times I have
felt the pain for those we can only stand in mute sorrow with nothing to say to me, or those they love, when
we’re in great pain. For, once we encounter other human beings and acknowledge their genuine difference
from us, recognizing the peculiar ways they call us to respond to and affirm their uniqueness apart from our
own agendas or expectations, it is difficult to love. At close range, face-to-face, the little details get in the
way. But it is only at close range that love becomes active and real.

It is confronting to realize that our love is not big enough to surmount suffering. Therefore we are
desperately compelled to fight off suffering as long as we can. This is why Ivan is correct, ‘Christ-like love
for men is a miracle impossible on earth’. To experience true love in the face of suffering is a miracle, the
only miracle I think worth speaking of. This love is only possible if we remember that Jesus was God, we are
not gods, we are weak, and vulnerable. Without being pious, it is only by sacramentally entering into utter
abandonment of the Cross, are we able to exist in a place of suffering without being anxious that love will
lead to our own annihilation. If we can, through the mystery of the Eucharist, enter into the Passion of Jesus,
and the abject forsakenness of Jesus on the cross, we can overcome our powerlessness, and human love is
transformed into a divine power. My experience is that while we are suffering, God will not intervene to alter
the circumstances, but Jesus will enter into our suffering with us.60 It is in the cross that God’s ultimate
solidarity with human vulnerability is manifest, and when great suffering most often brings exclusion, this
solidarity unleashes healing and grace.

As I recounted at the beginning of this essay, Jesus will literally be with us in all the shit of life. The only
way to experience the miracle of love, in the face of pain, is to allow Jesus, our vulnerable lover, to come to
us and cover up our nakedness, and hold us in our vulnerability. There is no other way we can find the
strength to love, except while being held in the arms of our Jesus.

60
Jürgan Moltmann notes Jesus… “heals not by casting aside and getting rid of the sicknesses, but by taking them on himself. People
are not healed by Jesus by supernatural powers, but rather by his wounds”. “Liberate yourself by accepting one another”. In Human
Disability and the Service of God, 115.

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 17/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

Here we touch the ultimate meaning

of the Word made flesh
and of all human flesh.
It is the very weakness
and vulnerability
of our flesh
that calls forth love.

The Word became flesh,

became weak,
so that his very weakness,
his broken flesh
would give love and life,
eternal life,
nourishment for all.
Jesus came to transform weakness
from something to be shunned
into a gift,
a call for communion,
awakening and drawing out compassion,
opening hearts,
revealing light.
He came to transform weakness and flesh
into sacrament,
the place where God resides. 61

Appendix: HISTORY AND INFLUENCES OF VANIER’S SPIRITUALITY

Jean Vanier’s contribution to spirituality is the witness of his whole life. It is Vanier's presence that brings
you in touch with the truth; it is the same whether you meeting him or read his books. All his writing
contains a mix of philosophy and theology with simple stories and anecdotes. Many of these are repeated in
different books so that we become familiar with his friends and are included in his life. It is important that
we know who Jean Vanier is, because what he gives us is the fruit of living experience.
61
Jesus, The Gift Of Love, 186.

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 18/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

To understand Jean Vanier I would like to examine some of the key people who influenced him. Of course
the most fundamental influence in any person’s life is that of their parents. Vanier was born in Geneva
Switzerland in 1928, one of five children to Pauline and Georges Vanier. Georges Vanier, the nineteenth
Governor-General of Canada, was decorated soldier and an eloquent statesman, but when Vanier wrote a
short book on his life it was his spirituality that was the focus. Georges Vanier early faith was marked by a
Jansenism emphasis on fear, until he was taken by Pauline to hear a sermon by Jesuit Robert Stuarts, and he
realized the importance of God’s love. After this experience of recognizing in Jesus Christ the God of love,
he saw his whole life and all of reality in a new light. It was this personal relationship with Jesus Christ that
was the foundation of his faith. So consuming was this relationship that "he felt no need to be clouded with
unspiritual considerations or fine points of doctrine or dogma." He felt a strong attraction to children,
especially toward the end of his life, and when with children, he himself became like a child. From then on
his faith flourished, so did the spiritual life of his family.
Reading books on Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Therese of Lisieux, Pauline and Georges Vanier
introduced Carmelite spirituality to the family. Influenced by Charles de Foucauld, Georges Vanier
encouraged his family toward “Simplicity and humility, love and respect for all men flowing from his
personal love and experiences of Jesus Christ” All this greatly influenced Vanier’s future relationship with
God, and will be themes I will examine in more detail.

As a result of a war injury Georges Vanier had his leg amputated, causing him significant pain and continual
discomfort throughout his life. It is hard to say how much his father’s own physical handicap influenced
Vanier future work, but it is certain that Georges helped him to be aware of the reality of God’s presence in
midst of suffering was always. Suffering was in not an obstacle in his spiritual life, but its very foundation.
His frailty only enhanced his faith. In a letter dated 26 August I960, he wrote: "I feel that only in weakness
can I glorify God." In his inaugural speech as Govern-nor-General on 15 September 1959, Georges Vanier
stated publicly: "In exchange for His strength, I offer my weakness." Clearly this awareness of the link
between human weakness and the strength and mercy of God was one of the foundation stones for Jean
Vanier’s spiritual life. Jean Vanier writes of how his father influenced his appreciation of providence, He had
a deep sense of God's abiding presence in human life in the ordinary events of daily life. He believed that the
will of God would be made known in such ordinary events if one simply knew how to wait for it.

He was educated in by the Jesuits in Canada. When Vanier in 1942, when he was only thirteen, he entered a
British naval school. It was during the war and he wanted to serve in the armed forces against the grave
threat of Nazi power. He served as a naval officer in both England and Canada until 1950. After questioning
if this was really what he want to do with his life, Vanier left the Royal Canadian navy. His departure from
the navy led him to seek the meaning of life within the Christian faith, within Jesus' message of peace and
Jesus’ vision of humanity.
Pere Thomas Philippe, a Dominican priest became Vanier’s spiritual companion when he left the navy.
Vanier himself claims that in the domain of spirituality no one has influenced him more than Thomas
Philippe. Although less well-known than Vanier, and describing himself as only ‘poor country priest’, within
the community of l’Arche Pere Thomas Philippe is considered their cofounder. Many suggest that l’Arche
cannot be understood without knowing contribution. Much could be said about Thomas Philippe's teaching
and spirituality; in this space I can concentrate only on the themes that appear to be most important in the
spirituality of Jean Vanier and 1'Arche.
Among these themes, Thomas Philippe gives great attention to is the role of Mary. He highlights the value of
the hidden, discreet, and unassuming life of Mary. Mary who tended humbly to Jesus’ ordinary needs; Mary
watched Jesus growth to maturity thru ordinary tasks of a worker, Mary who stood at the cross when
everyone else abandoned him. She did so quietly, silently, compassionately.
Thomas Philippe highlights the role of agony or suffering. He revealed to Vanier how our communion with
God necessarily implies suffering and agony. It is only through an acceptance and sharing in the suffering

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 19/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

and agony of the cross that our final destiny is reached. From this vantage point, he sees in a positive light
those undeniable and unavoidable realities of anguish and suffering that are part and parcel of the human
condition.
Another element of Thomas Philippe spiritual influence is the centrality of the Beatitudes. They are the heart
of the gospel message; the evangelical values of poverty, simplicity, lowliness, and meekness permeate much
of his preaching and writing.
One additional keystone in Thomas Philippe's teaching that has certainly influenced 1'Arche is that God
reserves for God alone the wisdom of the heart. That is to say that God can and does communicate directly
with the human heart. It is the heart that is the dwelling place of God and the place where God is met.
Their relationship began when Vanier joined a community founded by a Pere Thomas, Vanier has said that it
was really a group of men who sought answers from philosophers and theology; he did not feel like a real
member of a community. While Pere Thomas is not strictly a philosopher or theologian, his wisdom and
spiritual insight shaped by philosophy and theology strongly influenced Vanier search.
In this search Vanier became familiar the writings of wise men and women who were convinced of the
beauty and value of human beings, among them the works of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Other influences
in this formation came from and the writings of Thomas Aquinas the philosopher Jacque Maritain. In 1962
Vanier defended a doctoral thesis at the Catholic Institute in Paris on "Happiness as Principle and End of
Aristotelian Ethics” His thesis explored the connections between ethics, psychology, and spirituality. He says
“Psychology helps to understand human behavior and grasp the fears and blockages that are in us, in order to
help us free ourselves of them. Spirituality is like a breath of inspiration that strengthens our motivation.
Ethics help us to clarify what is a truly human act, what justice is and what the best activities are — those
that render us more human and happiest They help us better understand to what our freedom is calling us.”
After this doctorate, he began teaching philosophy in St Michael's College at the University of Toronto,
Canada. It was at this time that circumstances brought him into contact with men and women with
intellectual disabilities. Vanier began to discern how divided and fragmented our societies are. He realized
that peace could not prevail without an attempt being made to span the gulf separating different cultures,
different religions, and different individuals. Vanier felt a longing to follow Jesus, who “continues to walk
between these two worlds, calling the rich and powerful to share and calling the powerless to hope and
community”
In 1963 the journey of 1'Arche began when Pere Thomas invited Vanier to visit Trosly-Breuil, a little village
near Compiegne, (about one hundred kilometers north of Paris). Pere Thomas wanted Jean Vanier to meet
some new friends of his, people with mental handicaps who were living in a home where he was chaplain.
Vanier accepted this invitation, but says “I was very anxious. How was I going to communicate with people
who could not talk? If they could talk, what would we talk about? I was fearful of not being able to cope
with the situation or of not knowing what to do and of being inadequate.” Vanier met these men who in so
many ways were weak and powerless. Accidents or sickness had caused them pain and suffering, but they
had been wounded even more deeply by the contempt and rejection they had known.
In spite of his initial apprehension, and with the encouragement and support of Thomas Philippe, he began
the work of 1'Arche. Two men with mental handicaps, Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux, who had been shut
away in an institution, became Vanier’s companions and they began to live together in a small house in
Trosly-Breuil, France. Raphael had had meningitis when he was young, and this had left him almost unable
to talk, and unable to move freely. Philippe could talk, but encephalitis had left one of his legs and one of his
arms paralyzed. After the death of their parents, without anyone asking them what they felt about it, both
men had been placed in this asylum. Vanier admits now that it was with some naivety he began by buying a
small and rather dilapidated house in Trosly and invited Raphael and Philippe to come and live with me.
My friendship with Raphael and Philippe deepened. We were happy together. There were times of sharing,
real celebrations. The rhythm of our lives was simple. We had our work in the house and garden (and later on

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 20/21

 If God Is Love, It Means That God Is Terribly Vulnerable.

in (he workshops), and our meals together were often full of joy. We shared times of fun and relaxation and
also of prayer. As far as I was concerned, Raphael and Philippe were not so much men with mental
handicaps as friends. It did me good to be with them, and I think it did them good to be with me. Others
came to join us. We were able to welcome more people with mental handicaps. L'Arche began to grow.
In August 1964, 1'Arche was born. Vanier has said that is was not his intention to found a community or
movement. His only intention was to create an environment that he could welcome two friends, Raphael
Simi and Philippe Seux.
“We lived together. We did everything together: cooking, housework, gardening, going for walks. I gradually
became aware of how deeply these men had suffered, particularly of the pain they had endured through
having always been regarded by their parents and by everyone around them as a disappointment, and through
never having been appreciated or seen as having value as human beings. I began to understand that what they
longed for was to have friends and to live, as far as possible, like other people.
My friendship with Raphael and Philippe deepened. We were happy together. There were times of sharing,
real celebrations. The rhythm of our lives was simple. We had our work in the house and garden (and later on
in (he workshops), and our meals together were often full of joy. We shared times of fun and relaxation and
also of prayer. As far as I was concerned, Raphael and Philippe were not so much men with mental
handicaps as friends. It did me good to be with them, and I think it did them good to be with me. Others
came to join us. We were able to welcome more people with mental handicaps. L'Arche began to grow.”
His simple desire was to live the Gospel and follow Jesus more closely. This is important to understanding
Vanier’s whole philosophy, the focus is never on building an organization, it is never on external results, and
Vanier insists that the focus always remains on relationships, on the person.
The community that grew from that household came to be called L’Arche or “The Ark. after Noah's ark,
which saved humanity from the flood. The community of 1'Arche wants to provide a refuge for people with
mental handicaps, who can so quickly be drowned in the waters of our competitive society. Since that time
over a hundred such communities, devoted to recognizing and nurturing the dignity of the disabled, have
sprung up in twenty-four countries worldwide.
L'Arche communities seek to create for people with mental disabilities a family-like environment in which
they gain a deeper sense of their own worth through the bond of friendship. In addition to L'Arche, the Faith
and Light associations which regularly bring together people with a handicap, their families and friends in
prayer and celebration, and the Faith and Sharing retreat movement, both testify mightily to Jean Vanier's
understanding that the most precious human gifts are rooted in weakness, and that in welcoming the poorest
and most vulnerable among us, it is we will be spiritually nourished by them. Vanier Vanier's has written, "If
we choose to come to L'Arche it is in order to enter into a relationship with people who have a mental
handicap, and through their relationship of friendship help them to discover the light and the hidden beauty
which lies in their weakness”.
The communities of L'Arche are grounded on welcome of the poor and on religious faith. They are anchored
in a spiritual discipline focused on the life of prayer. The identity of the L'Arche movement is founded on
love for people with mental disabilities. “If we keep our eyes fixed on them, if we are faithful to them, we
will always find our path. We are constantly called to draw this love from the heart of God, and from God's
mysterious presence at the heart of poor people.

James Cross 2014-C.I.S-Spirituality Essay, Matthew Del Nevo 21/21