“For me, to follow Jesus is to be with those who have been cast aside, and to meet him in and with them.”* Jean is not a theologian. He follows his calling. His spirituality is rooted in life and flourishes with, in, and through others. In the foreword to one of Jean’s books, Gerard Daucourt, today the Bishop of Nanterre, writes, “Jean Vanier shares with us his experience of living with Jesus who has revealed himself to Jean, and continues to do so each day in the Spirit, through the Word of God and through the poor and the powerless.”**

For Jean, this means searching, experiencing his faith daily where people are shaken up and challenged. This also involves openness and a great amount of humility. In 1999 Jean wrote, “I know that God has chosen the poor to astound the rich and the strong. I know that he loves me as I am, with my handicaps. Does that mean praying?” And he continues, “Today, after thirty-two years in L’Arche, I don’t know if I know how to pray. Prayer is no longer a thing to do more or less well for me. It has become something else: friendship, love. And how would one evaluate friendship? (...) Throughout the years, my prayer has become simpler. I no longer look for an experience of God, not even for an experience of peace. If Jesus does or does not give me his presence, it’s his business. I am there for him.”***

*Jean VANIER, A Door of Hope : The Transformation of Pain, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1996, p. 16

**Gérard DAUCOURT in Jean VANIER, Jesus the gift of love, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1996, p. xi

***Jean VANIER, Prier c'est accueillir l'instant présent, Panorama, Septembre 1999, p.6, [Translation]