Our hearts will be filled with joy, even when we must go through raging storms
I’d like to share with you two major incidents in my life as a priest. The first took place in Vietnam at the Redemptorist Monastery, where I was teaching at the Redemptorist Studentate Seminary between 1998 and1999. The second while I was studying in Rome for my doctorate at the Alphonsian Academy from 1999 to 2003. These two events reinforced something that I have always been convinced of: God is always present in my life.
The following is an extract that I wrote in my dairy:
Redemptorist Monastery, Monday, 28 September, 1998.
“Behold, I come to do your will”(Hebrews 10:7)
The Lord sent me this phrase while I was lecturing on moral theology at the Redemptorist Studentate. After nearly a year of my stint there, I came up against some unexpected difficulties, brought on by external circumstances. It reached a point where I wanted to leave my Order’s assignment for me in Vietnam. I wanted to return to Australia, so that I could be free and able to breathe in some fresh air!
“Human beings are only truly happy when they fulfill and walk the way that God has outlined for them. The most important thing in our lives is how to discover God’s Will and what He wants us to do in life. Sometimes God’s Will can go against what we have planned or envisioned for ourselves. His Will can also invite us to accept a reality that we find difficult or insurmountable. But if God has invited us to commit and serve Him in such a situation, then, of course, He must have a contingency plan. The important thing is whether we have the courage to trust in God.”
Discovering God’s Will for us
Once we obey and walk in God’s ways, or in other words, we live His Will in our lives, we will be at peace, no matter what the external circumstances seem. What matters is not where we live, but where we are and where God wants us to be. That’s why Saint Francis de Sales very rightly said, “Where God planted me, there I blossomed.”
Lord, let me walk in Your ways and that You continue to guide me. May Your Will be done in me.
The second episode occurred when I was sent to study for a doctorate at Rome’s Institute of Moral Theology at the Alphonsian Academy, where the professors were Redemptorists. There, God again revealed to me the importance and benefits of spiritual life when I commit to living and following His Will, especially in entrusting my life to Him as the Captain of my ship.
The event in question happened one Friday morning in 2001 when I was researching and starting to write my doctoral thesis on the topic of Euthanasia and Assisted suicide. When writing the thesis, I usually stayed up late to work and sometimes I did not go to bed until 2.00am or 3.00 am. It meant I often woke up a bit later and could not join the Community for morning prayers.
On such occasions, I usually went to the chapel and said morning prayer by myself. This chapel was named after Saint Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorist Order in the 17th century. He was canonised in 1839, proclaimed Doctor of the Catholic Church in 1871 and is the patron of moral theologians.
Saint Alphonsus was a prominent moral theologian and had great influence in renewing moral theology after the 17th century until before the Second Vatican Council. This chapel is quite artistic and beautiful. It helps us to easily lift up our minds and hearts to God in prayer.
That Friday morning, I went to the chapel and said my morning prayer. When I came to the intercessions, I slowly responded in Italian, “Nella tua volontà, è la nostra pace, o Signore.” In English this means, “In your Will is our peace, Lord”, which is the Intercession response for Friday morning, week II of the psalter.
Image: Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)
A peace the world cannot give
For some reason, when I finished reading the intercessions, I felt as if the response had been seared into my mind a long time before that Friday morning. It is clear, even today.
I was in awe and prayed silently, asking God to enlighten and guide me, so that I could understand what He wanted to reveal to me at that moment. A while later, I realised He wanted to remind me that as long as I live and obey God’s Will, I will have inner peace. This is a priceless gift for those who are committed to following the Lord and want to become His true disciples. As Jesus said:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”
John 14:27
That is, this peace only comes from Jesus and He is the only One who can give this to us. The world cannot give it.
I was delighted when I discovered this and thanked God for revealing it to me that Friday morning. It was truly a mystery of God’s revelation because He knows I really needed His gift of peace. For me, perhaps inner peace is one of the most important blessings in life. Because if we have this in our hearts, we will have joy and happiness, even though, we may encounter dark clouds or terrible storms in our lives.
And I was facing quite a few dark clouds in my journey as I have shared with you in my previous postings in The Asian Fishermen. The biggest storm was my journey by boat from Vietnam to Malaysia on the open sea, where 50 others and I nearly perished.
I pray that each of us will be able to discover the Will of God in our lives and have the courage to follow it, as I am convinced that if we do so, we will be able to experience genuine peace, joy and happiness in our daily living.
Then this past Sunday morning on 3 July, I had the opportunity to re-read the spiritual journal I wrote during my study in Rome. I was astonished by what I penned about 20 years ago in 2002, especially the following passage:
In the past few days, I have felt a special peace of mind, especially the sentiments of a life of complete abandonment to God, which I often experienced in my life. I have surrendered myself to God’s mysterious plan. After doing this, I felt very calm in my heart and a joy arose in my soul, I thought: ‘If I could always abandon myself to God and surrender my life to Him. I would be very happy and will experience the inner peace. How much happy we would be if we could abandon ourselves to God’s providence.’
The difficulty is that we still have very little faith in God. I have not yet fully surrendered and obeyed God’s will. Maybe I’m still afraid, because I worry about what will happen in the future, or maybe what God wants me to do is not the things that I want to do, or perhaps, I still cling to my own thoughts and what I desire to follow. So, once again, I ask God to strengthen my faith in Him and to let me know how I can live a total self-surrendering to Him, since Saint Jerome Nazianzeno said: ‘Your will is my peace.’
I am sharing this personal experience, especially with the young people and our beloved readers, as a living testimony. I hope this conviction will inspire other young Catholics and faithful to learn how to follow the Will of God in their lives. If we do so with a firm belief that if we surrender ourselves to Him and do His will, then our lives will be blessed with joy, happiness and an inner peace.
As Pope St John XXIII in his writing in the Journal of the Soul (Il Giornale dell’Anima – Milano: San Paolo, 1989) extols Saint Jerome Nazianzeno prayer, “Your will is my peace.”
Vietnamese version: Thánh Ý Chúa Là Sự Bình An Của Con
