God made every person in His Image, and there is a unique gem in each of us

In light of Pope Francis’s August intentions for World Youth Day, I want to share with you something beautiful for all young people, many of whom were at this event in Lisbon, Portugal, earlier this month.

They have received many wonderful messages from Pope Francis, our beloved Holy Father. Although I did not attend the WYD, I did follow the significant events through YouTube and listened to the Holy Father sharing his insights with the young people through his sermons and speeches. I found them extremely valuable and believe what he said will become a wonderful guide for us in the near future, especially in our faith journey.

As for me, I have something dear to my heart that I would like to share with you. I remember reading a story once about a man who was exploring some caves by the seashore. He found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls in one of the caves.

It was like someone had rolled up some clay and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn’t look like much, but they intrigued the man so he took the bag out of the cave with him.

As he strolled along the beach to pass the time, he threw the clay balls one at a time out as far as he could into the ocean. He thought little about it until he dropped one of the balls on a rock and it cracked open. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone. Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure.

He found thousands of dollars’ worth of jewels in the 20 or so of the remaining clay balls he had not flung into the sea. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time and had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasures into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have had tens of thousands had he not thrown away those clay balls.

Every person is wonderfully made by God

You know, sometimes it’s like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn’t look like much from the outside. It isn’t always beautiful or sparkling so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well-known or wealthy, instead of taking the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure hidden in every one of us. We are wonderfully made. Not just our physical bodies, but our spiritual selves, which are sometimes hidden from others by the “earthen vessel.”

If we take the time to get to know that person and ask the Holy Spirit to show us that person the way He sees them, then the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship. It is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with friendship.

Too often we don’t take the time to find the hidden treasures inside the people we meet. We are like the man who threw the 50 or 60 balls into the ocean, only to realise later he had thrown away riches he would otherwise treasured. This brings to mind the saying that I love, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Each one of us is truly God’s wonderful creation. He created everyone in His own image and endowed each person with unique abilities. Human dignity is no less than that of the gods as described in Psalm 8:2-10.

2 O LORD, our Lord,

how awesome is your name through all the earth!

I will sing of your majesty above the heavens

3 with the mouths of babes and infants.

You have established a bulwark against your foes,

to silence enemy and avenger.

4 When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and stars that you set in place—

5 What is man that you are mindful of him,

and a son of man that you care for him?

6 Yet you have made him little less than a god,

crowned him with glory and honour.

7 You have given him rule over the works of your hands,

put all things at his feet:

8 All sheep and oxen,

even the beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,

and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

10 O LORD, our Lord,

how awesome is your name through all the earth!

Psalm 8:2-10

In this extract of the Psalm, while marvelling at the limitless grandeur of God (Ps 8:2–3), the psalmist is struck first by the smallness of human beings in creation (Ps 8:4–5), and then by the royal dignity and power that God has graciously bestowed upon them (Ps 8:6–9).

The Beauty and the Beast

It reminds me of the story, The Beauty and the Beast, which was made into a marvellous movie and attracted countless viewers through the ages. The content of that film was inspired by the story with the theme, that only true and selfless love from a soul will have the extraordinary ability to transform a “monster” such as “the beast” into a handsome Prince.

It can be said that the vast majority of us have a hidden “monster” quality in our souls. All of these things need to be transformed into precious jewels and radiate a radiant light in order to reveal the inner beauty from the depths of our souls and for it to become a reality, each of us needs to be touched by true love and unconditional love in order to radically transform who we are. (See below about what is true and unconditional love)

That genuine and unconditional love comes first from God, who has loved mankind from all eternity, even before the creation of the universe, and that love has always been given to us through God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh and dwelt among us.

Through Christ’s self-sacrificing love and through a tragic death on the cross, God’s only begotten Son shed his blood for the redemption of mankind and to atone for our sins.

He did this so that we might be reconciled to God, restored completely our old self and transform it into a new creation, thanks to the sanctifying and transforming power of the Holy Spirit given to us after His resurrection. This One conquered sin and death in order to free man and woman from sin and give us eternal life, living in glory and immortality in favour with God.

Secondly, true and unconditional love need to be received and given from people living in the same family, or in a parish or religious community, in an academic environment, at work place, among others. There is only true and unconditional love that can inspire and transform each of us into people who know how to live for others and are ready to commit themselves to selfless service.

I wish our young people to realize the beauty and nobility in the very heart of others, given by God Himself when He placed us in this universe, and I wish that beauty is like a precious jewel, will be shining every day through our good actions for others and through the authentic life that we live.

May God bless all our efforts and endeavours in the future journey.

What is the Difference Between True Love and Unconditional Love?

True love is a love that is based on mutual respect, trust, and understanding, and it is characterized by selfless devotion to the well-being of the other person, while unconditional love is a pure and selfless form of love that is given freely and without reservation, and it is not influenced by the other person’s flaws or imperfections.

These two types of love are similar as they both involve a deep and enduring affection for another person. However, there is a subtle difference between true love and unconditional love.

What is True Love

True love is a strong, deep, and enduring affection for another person. It is characterized by selfless devotion and a willingness to put the needs and happiness of the other person before one’s own. Moreover, it is a love that is unconditional. It is not based on superficial qualities or circumstances.

In today’s society, love tends to be superficial. Romantic love in modern relationships is usually based on attraction, infatuation, or a desire for companionship. It may be more self-centered and may be more easily influenced by negative feelings or circumstances.

However, true love is a rare and precious thing. It requires a great deal of effort and commitment to maintain. It is not always easy, but it is worth striving for.

What is Unconditional Love

Unconditional love is a type of love that is not dependent on any particular conditions or qualities in the loved one. It is a love that a person gives freely to another and without reservation and is not contingent on the loved one meeting certain expectations or standards. We generally associate unconditional love with a deep, abiding affection and a sense of caring and compassion for the loved one. It also involves acceptance, support, and a willingness to forgive. It is a love that is given without expectation of anything in return and is not influenced by the actions or behaviours of the loved one. Some people believe that unconditional love is the highest form of love, as it is.

Everpresent in our everyday lives, the Almighty never ceases to watch over us

I’d like to share something that happened to me a few months ago on 30 March. This incident has left me with so much joy and deep gratitude to God, who has done so many great things in my life.

On that particular morning, I went to my office at St. Thomas More College, which is opposite the University of Western Australia at Mounts Bay Road in Crawley, Perth. Later at about 10.30 am, I made my way to the College’s Chapel to get everything ready for Mass that I was celebrating at Noon for the students. The first thing I did was to prepare the bread and wine, and then go through the readings for the day. I skimmed through the first reading, taken from the book of Genesis (17:3-9), about God making a covenant with Abraham, because God wanted to make him the father of many nations.

3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” 9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

Then I read through the response, from Psalm 104, verses 4-9, and my eyes were fixed on the words: “Remember the wondrous things the Lord has done.” It was these words that moved me so intensely as though they wanted me to take time to reflect on the wonders and marvellous things that God has done in my life. The most important, of course, was when I had to leave my homeland to search for freedom and for the continued pursuit of my own priestly vocation that I felt when I was a teenager.

(Both stories are documented in The Search for Freedom: Memoir of a Vietnamese Refugee in Australia, available at Amazon, and The Tempestuous Road to the Altar, published by Shalom Tidings Magazine)

After I finished going through the Genesis and Psalm readings, I slowly walked to the first front pew in the chapel and sat there, as I wanted to let my soul really settle down. Alone in the silence of the Chapel that morning, I began to reminisce on the wonders and great things that God has been doing in my life, from the time I was growing up to the present moment. Then, my life began to unfold before my eyes, as I watched the significant events that have taken place over the past 40 years. It was like a slow-motion movie complete with its twists and turns and thrilling moments, especially when I had to hide and run away from the Military Police and local authorities, as I was a fugitive at the time.

I could not contain my emotions when I recalled the moments when my life was hanging like a thread in the wind. All that was needed to break the fragile thread was a gust of wind to end it all, which was my life. This took place when I had to escape from Vietnam in a rickety boat through stormy seas in 1981. The journey was treacherous and fortunately, after five days we somehow landed safely on Pulau Bidong Island, Malaysia. It was a place where other Vietnamese refugees were held temporarily, as they wait for third countries to relocate them.

He works miracles every day in our lives

How our boat got to that island is puzzling because we were just drifting aimlessly in the open sea without a compass or map to guide us. It can only be the work of God’s hand to save me and the other 50 other people on that wooden boat. God did snatch us from the jaws of death. For me, it was a momentous event, a great miracle that God performed right before the eyes of all of us who were on the boat. So, whenever I have the opportunity to reread passages in Scripture, such as The Book of Exodus, I like to quote passages from Ex 14:5-31 and 15:1-19 to remind me of our God who does wondrous things not only during biblical times but now every day in our lives:

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” ⁶ So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him; ⁷ he took six hundred elite chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. ⁸ The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. ⁹ The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” ¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today, for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. ¹⁶ But you lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.”

¹⁹ The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. ²⁰ It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. ²² The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. ²⁴ At the morning watch the Lord, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army and threw the Egyptian army into a panic. ²⁵ He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

The Pursuers Drowned

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. ²⁹ But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

³⁰ Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. (See Exodus 14: 5-31).

Exodus 14:5-31

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
    horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
² The Lord is my strength and my might,
    and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him;
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
³ The Lord is a warrior;
    the Lord is his name.

⁴ Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
    his elite officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
⁵ The floods covered them;
    they went down into the depths like a stone.
⁶ Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—
    your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
⁷ In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
    you sent out your fury; it consumed them like stubble.
⁸ At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
    the floods stood up in a heap;
    the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue; I will overtake;
    I will divide the spoil; my desire shall have its fill of them.
    I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
¹⁰ You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
    they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹ Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
    awesome in splendour, doing wonders?
¹² You stretched out your right hand;
    the earth swallowed them.

¹³ In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;
    you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
¹⁴ The peoples heard; they trembled;
    pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;
    trembling seized the leaders of Moab;
    all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.
¹⁶ Terror and dread fell upon them;
    by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone
until your people, O Lord, passed by,
    until the people whom you acquired passed by.
¹⁷ You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession,
    the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,
    the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
¹⁸ The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

¹⁹ When the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his chariot drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.     

Exodus 15:1-19

Whenever I reread such passages of Scripture, I am always overwhelmed with a feeling of joy and excitement. That day in the chapel, my heart was filled with joy, for I was convinced that it was the mighty and powerful arm of God that saved me. He brought me from the valley of death to the land of the living and gave me a chance to survive and rebuild my life.

That is why, today when I have the opportunity to reflect and review the wondrous things that the Lord has done for me, my heart cannot help but swell and sob. I want to give God a deep feeling of thanks from the bottom of my heart to express my gratitude for all that He has done in my life up till now. God has given me a chance to continue living and pursuing my priestly vocation. This has always been the big dream of my life.

Oh Lord, my God, what a mighty and merciful God, You are. Your love extends from generation to generation and throughout the ages. You have always remained faithful to the covenant that You made with us and for that we revere and love you. We want to praise you forever.

Watch the Shalom Media video where Fr Peter tells the story of his dramatic escape from Vietnam.