By Henri Nouwen. Doubleday, 224 pp., $18.95.

The ornate chalice Henri Nouwen was given for his ordination in Holland almost 40 years ago serves as a metaphor in Can You Drink the Cup? for the traditional nature of his early priesthood. During Nouwen's funeral mass this past September, held in an unfinished cathedral outside Toronto, the chalice was used for the Eucharist alongside glass chalices, which represented his new understanding of ministry.

Can You Drink the Cup? ...