A parish priest reflects on the lessons in living he drew from the life and presence of the founder of L’Arche, who died in Paris last week.

Jean Vanier offered a vision of the life of Jesus, and of how we, who seek to follow him, could or even should live our lives. When I heard him talk about these things, like many others, I experienced that Emmaus hearts-burning-within-us experience. Like Jesus in the gospels, people hung on his words because he taught with authority.

As a parish priest, I have been inspired by Vanier’s vision of the tenderness of Jesus, of the preciousness of each person, of the invitation and challenge to take the downward path, of how we are all wounded and broken, and of how those who are most fragile have a particularly important part to play in the life of a community. It gives a wonderful ideal to try to encourage people to aspire to.

Jean has said that he was a type six on the Enneagram, instinctively law-abiding and respectful of authority. And yet, because of his openness to people and to the Word of God, his thinking continued to change and develop. For over thirty years I have listened to him giving retreats and one-off talks – often speaking for more than an hour at a time without notes. Almost always, while there was much that was familiar, there was also something new and stimulating.