In August of 1982, over several nights, I attended a retreat at my parish with several hundred other people, including my wife and two young daughters, given by Fr. Brennan Manning. The theme of this retreat was, “God loves you as you are, not as you should be, because no one is as they should be”. This quote is from Fr. Manning himself. This sentence and the retreat had a profound effect on me.
This essay is not intended to be in praise of Fr. Brennan Manning. I learned years later that he had left the priesthood in 1982 to get married. He divorced in 2000 because of his alcoholism, which was a lifelong struggle for him from his teen years on up, and died in 2013.
I like to think the way Teresa of Avila thought: “God writes straight with crooked lines.”
For me this was the first time I had really understood God’s love was freely given and was not earned.
The other thing he shared was a story which “is wonderfully illustrated by a Zen story about a monk being pursued by a ferocious tiger” in one of his books.
The monk raced to the edge of a cliff, glanced back, and saw the growling tiger about to spring. The monk spotted a rope dangling over the edge of the cliff. He grabbed it and began shinnying down the side of the cliff out of the clutches of the tiger. Whew! Narrow escape. The monk then looked down and saw a quarry of jagged rocks five hundred feet below. He looked up and saw the tiger poised atop the cliff with bared claws. Just then, two mice began to nibble at the rope. What to do?
The monk saw a strawberry within arm’s reach, growing out of the face of the cliff. He plucked it, ate it, and exclaimed, “Yum! That’s the best strawberry I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”
If he had been preoccupied with the rock below (the future) or the tiger above (the past), he would have missed the strawberry God was giving him in the present moment.
His point was, we need to live in the present moment as that is the only time we can encounter God. We can’t encounter Him in the past. The past is gone. We can’t encounter Him in the future. We aren’t there yet. We have to look for Him and encounter Him in the here and now.
It is hard to explain why this had such a profound effect on me. The church was packed and the evenings were very warm. There were many young children in the church and the retreat went well past normal bedtime over several nights. Despite this the children were quiet and the adults were attentive. All ages were present. My impression was God’s Spirit was present with us.
I understand how Manning’s presentations could mislead people. His quote, “God loves you as you are, not as you should be, because no one is as they should be”, could be taken as we have no obligation to respond to that love. I’m not here to praise Brennan Manning nor to condemn him. I am simply saying that this experience kindled in me a desire to know more about my faith and to share the joy I felt with others.
At the time my wife and I were involved in a Marriage Encounter Circle with several other Catholic married couples. I couldn’t wait to share this news with them.
I have written previously about how I was driven to learn more about me faith by an encounter with a man who challenged my faith while I was at a weekend Friendfest with my wife’s college classmates and their families [1]. I have also written about how I blurted out “evangelization” when asked by my spiritual director what I wanted to do with the spiritual direction I received [2].
I continue to share this good news. I recently directed a parish Advent retreat on a Saturday. The title was, By Grace You Have Been Saved. I spoke about how our salvation, as was Mary’s, was a gift from God. We did nothing to earn it.
I teach in my parish’s OCIA program. I am constantly emphasizing God’s freely given love to all. His grace is extended to all, even those who have not been baptized.
I believe the seed I needed to pursue these actions was planted at that retreat with Brennan Manning.
I believe that God put Brennan Manning in my life at a time that I needed to hear what he had to say. I wish he would place others in my life to kindle more of the fire that burned in my heart over forty years ago. The fact that fire is still burning now tells me it is a good flame.
I pray for Brennan Manning. I am thankful for the message he shared during his retreat. I pray for him as I pray for all souls.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Greg Gillen
© 2025 Greg Gillen
December 10, 2025
The Ragamuffin Gospel/Brennan Manning
[1] www.queenofpeacemedia.com/being-freed-from-that-which-divides-us/
[2] www.queenofpeacemedia.com/on-catholic-evangelization-twenty-years-later/
Image Credit/Christ and Sinner/Henryk Siemiradzki (1843–1902)/The subject of the painting is related to the story of Christ and the woman taken in adultery described in the Gospel of John.
One Response
Boy…. I needed to hear that message more than I can ever express here. Please know how much your time given in writing this msg has helped me today.. now. 🕊️