Prayer must be a top priority for priests

In a sermon during a visit to priests and seminarians at the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Brindisi, Southern Italy, on 15 June 2008, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the importance of daily prayer that they must not put aside.

With a fatherly love, he offered meaningful and practical advice for the survival of a priestly life. He said:

(For the Vietnamese Language version of this post, read Fr. Tran Duc Anh’s translation)

These words from Pope Benedict XVI really touched me. They pierced my heart, and at the same time they helped me orient and redefine the priorities in my priesthood and consecrated life.

Especially when these words were echoed again during The Year for Priests that he inaugurated exactly a year later on 19 June 2009, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In an Apostolic Letter to his brother priests to mark the start of the year, the Pope reiterated the meaning and benefits of prayer. He invited all priests to follow the example of Saint John Maria Vianey, pastor of the Ars parish in France, in praying diligently and fervently celebrating Mass.

This extremely useful advice of Pope Benedict XVI resonated strongly in my heart last week on the morning of July 20. It motivated me to  have a desire to live a life of contemplative prayer and resolve to practise this every day.

As he said, this is essential and paramount to the survival of the priestly vocation and the consecrated life. Because I always believe: “Without a life of prayer and contemplation, we cannot be faithful to our own vocation.”

Vocation does not only cover the priesthood, but all Catholic life, be it religious and in every aspect of the laity, whether in marriage or as singles.

God has given priests in their consecrated life His gratuitous and unconditional love as a special grace, when He invited and selected these men in the priesthood to commit themselves and serve His holy people.

It must be said that this is a great and noble gift that God has given to humanity. This was confirmed by Saint John Maria Vianey, when he spoke about the priesthood as a great and unfathomable gift that God has entrusted to the human person:  

It can be said that the priesthood is one of the most precious gifts of God’s compassion for believers. 

However, like the apostle Paul (2 Cor 4:7), priests are also aware of their own fragility and weakness, so they do not rely only on their own strength, but completely entrust their entire life into the loving hands of God.

Because priests experience this, although they have been consecrated, they are still humans and are living in the world with many intrigues, traps, and luxurious frivolities. That’s why they need help, first of all from God, who has called them to the priestly mission, to pass on the good news of God’s love to everyone.

Next, they need sympathy and support from the parishioners through concrete actions to help them fulfil their entrusted duties and responsibilities. Most especially, they need fervent PRAYERS from the laity, to help them stay faithful to their priestly vocation and to the mission they have been assigned by the Church. 

I would like to conclude this article on the practice of PRAYER in the life of a committed Christian and especially in the life of a priest by quoting Pope Francis’ words to priests in his opening speech at the international symposium on priesthood in Vatican February 17, 2022. 

I hope as you read this article, please remember and pray for your priests, those who are serving you in the parishes throughout this country and the priests that you come to know. Pray that they will follow the footsteps of Jesus closely and dedicate their lives to serving God’s people everywhere, for the sake of joy and bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth. 

God’s mighty and faithful love

When we put our trust in the Lord, His powerful hand will lift us to overcome all trials

On the morning of last Thursday, August 31, during our annual retreat of priests in the Archdiocese of Perth, Western Australia, I was very fortunate that God gave me a spiritual experience. It was about His love which is so wonderful and profound that I want to share it with you.

The famous words of Victor Hugo, the French writer, come to mind: “The great happiness in a person’s life is knowing that he or she is loved.” Yes, that is true! Who among us doesn’t want to be loved and remembered by others? Especially when we are no longer present in this world. Who among us does not desire to have true love, a love that is strong and committed, and lasts forever?

Once we feel we are freely loved, it will make us extremely happy, confident, and valuable. This will bring us joy and we will be filled with vitality and energy to move boldly forward into the future. I think all of us can see this significant difference in children raised in a warm family atmosphere, loved and cared for by their parents and siblings, compared to those raised in orphanages or childcare centres. Because to develop into a mature and balanced human being, we need to develop synchronously in the following areas: physically and psychologically, especially the ability to love oneself and others. This includes the ability to give and receive, or what we may call reciprocal love.

On that Thursday morning, the sky in Western Australia was clear and sunny. Under the beautiful heavens, I took the time to go for a leisurely walk on the path around the beach. Along the way, I prayed and reflected on my life’s journey over the past five decades, silently recalling what I had gone through and experienced, especially when I began to study at primary school. At the same time, I also reflected on the important events in my life, those that I cannot forget even though they had been very sad or heart-breaking.

But they also had a positive element that taught me many valuable lessons. Because I had to go through these difficulties as I was growing up, it enabled me to try harder to reach my goals. It also helped me learn to be patient and never to become discouraged and give up easily.

God arranges everything to strengthen us

In my later years, when I was more mature, I gradually realise a truth – that everything that had happened in my life, whether they made me happy or sad, whether I failed or succeeded, and even when I fell into a dead-end and hopeless situation, I believe that everything was arranged by God’s hand. He constantly supported and gave me strength and willpower so that I could rise up and overcome everything. Therefore, I always thank God for all that He has given me, particularly when He graciously called me to be His disciple through the priesthood. For me, it is a great grace and I don’t think that I could ever repay this great favour from God.

I still remember very vividly the devastating event of 30 April 1975, when South Vietnam fell into the hands of the Northern Communists. I was 15 at that time and witnessed the bombs destroying houses, forcing people to flee and leave their properties behind in search of safe places to hide.

In God’s powerful hand our path is secure

Countless people were killed and many children were left orphaned as a result. The Communists’ brutal takeover of South Vietnam changed everything for those of us who made our homes there, from the type of government we had to our way of living. Many families fell victim to poverty because there were no longer any jobs in the wake of the horrifying carnage.

Adding to the misery of families who survived, a large number of fathers were marched to concentration camps to be re-educated because they had been soldiers of the Republic of (South) Vietnam army. My family was also caught in this unfortunate situation and three years later in 1978, I had to temporarily put aside my high school studies to stay home and help my parents labour in the fields.

This period was one of great sadness in my life because I had been very passionate about studying since I entered school and wanted to devote my whole life to studying. I dreamt of doing well in my studies and eventually having a successful career so that I could help those in society who are in dire need of support. That beautiful dream was destroyed when the Communist bombs fell in my homeland and forced me to leave school, as my family no longer had the financial means to support my education.

God listens and answers our prayers

With a hoe replacing pens and books in my hand, I entreated God in prayer, “Lord, if one day you let me have the opportunity to go back to school, I will invest all my abilities and intelligence in studying, and I will study until the end. I promised God that I would not be lazy or lax in my academic duties.”

God indeed listened and answered my earnest prayers. At the end of 1981, He led me to successfully escape Vietnam by boat to Malaysia, where I stayed at a refugee camp in Pulau Bidong for eight months. In August 1982, He gave me the chance to settle in Perth, Western Australia, and the golden opportunity to return to school there which had a wonderful education system.

From there, I went on for further studies and earned a Bachelor of Theology at Melbourne College of Divinity on the side of the country in 1992. Five years later I returned to Western Australia for my Master of Moral Theology at Notre Dame University in Fremantle. This academic journey led me to Rome in 2003 when I obtained a doctorate in Moral Theology at the Alphonsian Academy, which is affiliated with the Pontifical University of John Lateran.

Now, when I look back at the events that had taken place in my life, especially the sad moments in Vietnam, there have been times when I felt I never would have the chance to rebuild my life and fulfill my dream. But truly, God’s Word is mighty and has the power to transform, if we know how to put all our trust in Him, as there is nothing that He cannot do (Luke 1:37). I have always been convinced of this, because of the many times God intervened in my life. I have experienced His love for me firsthand because He wants to strengthen my faith and at the same time wants to show me His incomparable power.

As I was thinking about these things while walking by the seashore that morning, I felt from the bottom of my heart a deep appreciation of the immensity of God’s love which He has bestowed on me since I was a young boy. I was deeply moved and my heart fluttered because I was happy. I knew I was loved and the one who loved me was a God who is full of mercy and compassion, slow to anger, and always ready to forgive me whenever I make a mistake or fail to live out my commitments.

So, I remembered the lyrics of the Vietnamese hymn, The immeasurable love of God, composed by musician Giang An (Bao la tình Chúa, sáng tác do nhạc sĩ Giang Ân). I have heard this song many times previously, but perhaps, in those times, it did not have enough impact for me to experience deeply about God’s love. But strangely now, when I listen to this hymn, it gives me a very special feeling and ecstatic happiness. I feel like I am immersed in the sea of ​​God’s love and enjoy the sweetness and softness of that love.

How happy are the souls that God allows to experience and taste the wonder of His immeasurable love. Therefore, Victor Hugo said very wisely, “The great happiness in a person’s life is knowing that he or she is loved.” Especially when that love comes from God, the source of true and unconditional love.


The hidden treasure in every soul

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.

Don’t discount anyone, if we are not to discard the treasure that is in every person created in the Image of God.

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.

A God who does wondrous things

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:

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?” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him; he took six hundred elite chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. 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.
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.
The Lord is a warrior;
    the Lord is his name.

Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
    his elite officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
    they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—
    your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
    you sent out your fury; it consumed them like stubble.
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.
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.

We must put our faith and hope in the Risen Christ

Have confidence that even in our most dire moments He will walk with us to a new life

3rd Sunday of Easter homily

Today, the third Sunday of the Easter, the Church lets us listen to the Gospel passage of Saint Luke through the story of the two disciples on their way back to Emmaus. After having waited for nearly three days, they still have not seen Jesus rise from the dead, just as He had promised, so the two men were filled with disappointment and despair.

They had put all their hope in the Messiah who would free them from the domination of the Roman Empire and give the Israelites a bright future by Jesus Christ Himself. That has now disappeared into smoke and because of that, they feel a crushing defeat and no longer had any hope and set off to return to their home city. Return to the old ways of life and doing things.

The disciples were disappointed and discouraged after witnessing the fact that Jesus was crucified and tragically died on the cross and decided to resume their lives as fishermen (Lk 24:13). But amazingly whenever you want to give up and go back to your previous lifestyle, at that very moment, the risen Christ or the resurrected Jesus would appear and walk side by side with you as He did with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (See Luke 24:13-35).

What can we learn from that example and what lesson does Jesus want to teach us? It is at the very times when we feel like an utter failure and want to give up and no longer have the will and enthusiasm to move forward, to pursue our vocation or to persevere in our commitments, whether it is a commitment to a marriage or to the Priesthood or Religious life. At these critical moments, when we almost lose all our hope and fall into despair, the risen Jesus will come and appear to us. He comes to sustain us, to comfort us and to strengthen us, so that we will not give up.

In the midst of darkness, Christ brings light into our lives

There have been times in my life when I myself have fallen into a dead end, with no way out, no hope, and I did not feel the presence of God in the darkness of life. I was depressed and felt really down. I wanted to give up and didn’t want to continue my priestly vocation journey.

At that time, in the early 1980s when the Vietnamese communists were hunting me down, I only wished that God would come and take me home with Him. That would solve my problem and release me from my sufferings of living without freedom, education and prospect of a future. Indeed, the worst of all is being hunted down by your enemy. In such a situation, life indeed has no meaning at all. In such cases, sometimes death is considered better, and that thought had flashed through my mind.

In that particular moment in my life, I prayed fervently to God every night for a whole month and begged Him to take me home, just as Tobit did in his prayer in the Bible:  

Then sad at heart, I groaned and wept aloud. With sobs I began to pray:You are righteous, Lord, and all your deeds are just; All your ways are mercy and fidelity; you are the judge of the world. And now, Lord, be mindful of me and look with favour upon me. Do not punish me for my sins, or for my inadvertent offenses, or for those of my ancestors. They sinned against you, and disobeyed your commandments. So you handed us over to plunder, captivity, and death, to become an object lesson, a byword, and a reproach in all the nations among whom you scattered us. Yes, your many judgments are right in dealing with me as my sins, and those of my ancestors, deserve. For we have neither kept your commandments, nor walked in fidelity before you. So now, deal with me as you please; command my life breath to be taken from me, that I may depart from the face of the earth and become dust. It is better for me to die than to live.”

Tb 3:  1-6

But fortunately, God listened to my pleas and He came and rescued me from my misery. He gave me a way out and finally opened up a new horizon and a new life for me. Promising a new future, when I successfully escaped by boat from Vietnam to Malaysia at the end of 1981. I was freed from the life of a fugitive and from the fear of living as a hunted person.

When we can’t find a way for ourselves, Jesus will walk with us in our journey to give us hope, as He did for His disciples on the road to Emmaus

Today, the Word of God through the Gospel of Luke is resounding in the hearts of each one of us, to remind and encourage us, especially those who are in a situation of hopelessness and can’t find their way around. If we could not find a way out for ourselves at the moment, we should not be completely disappointed, but need to put our trust and confidence in God. He will then come and accompany us in the darkest moments of our lives when we have no hope at all. It is in such terrifying moments that the risen Christ will appear and accompany us. He comes to us in order to explain and help us understand the mystery of suffering and death that we have to go through in our lives,  before we can enter into glory and triumph. Just as He calmly explained to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus:

Then Jesus said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him  (Lk 24, 25-27).

Luke 24, 25-27

May you always recognize the presence of God in your life, through events that take place in your daily routine or through the moment of sadness or happiness, through miserable and unsuccessful events and especially when you are faced with difficult problems in life. May you never lose hope and trust in the power of the Risen Jesus, who has conquered everything through his death and resurrection.

People ask a great deal of their priests

It’s a hard life, but at the service of Christ they need assurance it is not in vain

In 1998, four years after I was ordained priest, I returned to Vietnam after the Redemptorist Provincial Superior there invited me to teach Moral Theology at the Redemptorist Seminary in Saigon city. There I met my fellow Vietnamese priests of our Order. They are currently missionaries in the highlands of the country, where there are a great number of ethnic Vietnamese. The following article was originally published in the 2009 Winter edition of The Swag, a quarterly magazine of the National Council of Priests of Australia. I’ve updated it for publication in the Asian Fisherman and want to dedicate it to the Redemptorist missionaries in the Vietnamese highlands. I also want to dedicate it to the diocesan priests working in the countryside or in distant regions to express my sympathy for the difficulties and isolation they bravely accept in their missionary work.

Michel Quoist is a rather familiar name to most of us. He has become famous for a number of publications, especially his book Prayers of Life (Dublin: Gill and MacMillan). This work has been translated into 24 languages, and more than two million copies have been distributed all over the world. 

Quoist wraps up in this composition almost all of the very precious experiences of a priest’s life. He sincerely and wholeheartedly shares all his sadness, sorrows, happiness, hardships, loneliness and disappointments. 

This masterpiece gave me the understanding and spiritual support of a senior priest who has been through a lot, and stumbled and tasted the sweetness and bitterness of life. I admire Quoist very much even though I have never met him and only know him through his publications. It is the same as having not received the blessing of seeing Jesus Christ as the disciples of His time, but I have met and known Him through His Words, Words that have become flesh and live among us. 

It is thanks to my meeting with Jesus that my life has been transformed. I changed the direction of my life when I was a teenager and eventually became His disciple in my mission as His priest.

Quoist impresses me greatly, especially with his writing, The Priest:  A Prayer on Sunday Night.

People ask a great deal of their priest, and they should. But they should also understand that it is not easy to be a priest. He has given himself in all the ardour of youth, yet he still remains a man, and every day the man in him tries to take back what he has surrendered. It is a continual struggle to remain completely at the service of Christ and of others. A priest needs no praise or embarrassing gifts; what he needs is that those committed to his charge should, by loving their fellows more and more, prove to him that he has not given his life in vain. And as he remains a man, he may need, once in a while, a delicate gesture of disinterested friendship… some Sunday night when he is alone.”

Michel Quoist, The Priest: A Prayer on Sunday Night

Bringing the Good News to those society has forgotten

While reading the above lines, my thoughts were directed to my companions who are currently scattered all over Vietnam and overseas in the course of their missionary work.  They are missionaries from the Redemptorists Province in Vietnam and filled with the spirit and burning fire to bring the Good News to the poor and disadvantaged, those forgotten by society and the Church.  

For this reason, they have not hesitated to travel long distances to reach the small villages in the highlands, and even dwellings on the borders of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.  They live in extremely poor circumstances and yet they still preach God’s Words enthusiastically, Living Words that have the power to give new life and transform their listeners from selfish individuals indifferent to others’ needs to generous people who can give and live completely for others.

In 2004, when I was stationed in Vietnam, I was once allowed to accompany the Provincial of Australia to visit members of the Vietnamese Province at the missionary locations in the highlands of Bao Loc, Pleiku, Kontum and similar places. On reaching those places, I was somewhat shocked and very surprised because I wondered what had motivated the young priests of the Vietnamese Province to sacrifice their life and happily serve there. 

When I was invited into the hut in which they were temporarily residing, I saw that their lodgings were so bare and poor that it was beyond what I had expected. I could not hold back my tears. Their bedroom was furnished with a single mat on the floorboard and old pillows for each of them. Their office was also very modest, some used their suitcases as work desks.  Food for them was meagre and sometimes they did not have rice to cook and instead ate sweet potatoes or corn the villagers gave them. 

As for remuneration, they were paid bunches of bananas, gourds and pumpkins.  In spite of this extreme poverty, great joy emanated from them. They constantly smiled and were always happy. These missionaries seemed to experience something very mysterious, a joy in giving even one’s own life to love and serve the poor, those who were shunned and rejected by society.

Main image and this photo: Redemptorist missionaries travel long distances to reach far-flung villages in the Vietnamese highlands to bring the Good News and Sacraments to forgotten people.

Loneliness is often a constant companion

I also thought about my fellow Vietnamese priests serving in distant country dioceses in Australia. They have shared with me their feelings of loneliness because they lived in isolated environments, too far away for parishioners and friends to visit them. Some priests said they had to drive over 100km to celebrate Mass for only four or five Catholics. Once they were done, they drove a similar distance to celebrate Mass at another location. However, the parishioners’ friendliness, respect and love for them compensated for the long distance. This helped them feel they were truly supported on the spiritual plane.

As for myself, when I was a religious priest then, I lived with the community of my Order.  All daily activities were clearly regulated such as meal, prayer and Mass times. This was a great help for me in my life as a religious priest. I got the support of the community in good and bad times and always had someone to confide in when I needed it. There was always someone by my side. 

From 2005-2007, I had the opportunity to serve in a rather active parish, Saint Martin de Porres in Avondale Heights, Melbourne. In this parish, Catholics attended Mass regularly on Sundays and weekdays. Here, I learnt a lot from the experience of Fr Tony Kerin, the diocesan parish priest, who was very diligent and capable. He was always joyful, welcoming and ready to help his parishioners. God has blessed him with such a helpful attitude that he rarely refused any request.

I worked and lived with him for two years. We were very close, ready to share our daily tasks and burdens.  We respected and reserved the necessary time for each other.  I loved Saturday and Sunday evenings when both of us were home after we celebrated the Eucharist and closed the Church. We cooked, had dinner together and often opened a bottle of red wine to enjoy, because “good wine needs good company”. Sometimes during meals, we discussed parish business or future programmes and plans. Other times, we confided in and shared with each other our feelings about life or our missionary work.

I remembered once he went on vacation for a month and I had to look after the parish alone. When evening arrived, especially on weekends after celebrating Mass on Saturday nights, I helped a few parishioners to close the church, and returned to the empty and quiet Parish house. As I was alone, I just ate anything that happened to be available in order to finish dinner quickly and turn in early so that I could get up the next morning to celebrate another three Sunday masses. Once, I got a cold during the week and had a fever. I was coughing a lot and could not sleep much. The secretary tried to find a replacement priest, but to no avail, as it was too close to the weekend. All the priests within reach were too busy to help me out.

So, I had to soldier on. Though I still felt weak and nearly lost my voice, I had to make a great effort to get out of bed and carry out the timetable of three masses. I tried hard to give a homily, but after doing so, I lost my voice again. 

In times like these, I thought of my fellow priests, particularly the diocesan priests, who were serving in parishes and who could be experiencing the same dilemma as I was.  They had my sympathy because I had been through this test, having to look after myself in sickness while still manning the parish and performing all tasks as scheduled. After spending two years at Saint Martin de Porres, I empathise and understand somewhat the life of diocesan priests. They have heavy responsibilities and can be under very stressful conditions. They work hard to respond to all the needs of parishioners, from baptism and marriage to weddings and funerals. They take on the role of leader, Good Shepherd, counsellor, advocate, mediator, peacemaker, and even the safe target for everyone to shoot at when there are conflicts between various groups. In summary, they are truly the “servant of a hundred masters”.

This role is very hard to execute especially when there are harsh “masters” who delight in dishing out sarcasm, criticism, and disparaging remarks but rarely support, encourage, or give sincere praise.

This is why I find the ideas expressed by Father Michel Quoist very realistic, and to conclude this personal sharing, I would like to quote him again:

People ask a great deal of their priest, and they should. But they should also understand that it is not easy to be a priest. He has given himself in all the ardour of youth, yet he still remains a man, and every day the man in him tries to take back what he has surrendered. It is a continual struggle to remain completely at the service of Christ and of others.

God is not mistaken when He loves and calls us

His love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Rm 5:5)

Over the past few years, I’ve often struggled and questioned myself: How can I love God, who is invisible, with all the power of the love of my heart, and how intense and real that love is, as if I were loving a human being with real body and flesh?

This happened because God himself has poured His love into my heart through His Holy Spirit (Rm 5:5). I believe this is a great gift that God has given to me.

Why have I been able to experience so vividly God’s love for me through the years, so to speak, since I gained wisdom and discovered it in my own simple heart from the time I was a child?

And then in the course of time as I grew up, and especially when I reached adulthood, I discovered God’s call for me to commit myself to follow Him as His disciple. I was 19 then, an age when I dreamt, thought about romance and remember the silhouettes of girls my age. I also secretly wished I had a beautiful and talented girlfriend with many virtues.

Everything is God’s Grace

But then I dismissed those thoughts, after I discovered the Lord’s call rose so strongly in my heart that I couldn’t resist the urge of His invitation. God’s call was increasing in urgency every day and welling up in me. I discovered His will for me – He wanted me to become a priest and dedicate my life to serving the Church through others.

Indeed, the priesthood and consecrated life are very mysterious and an equally mysterious experience for me. I sometimes cannot explain it at all when people wondered and asked me about it from the time I decided to become a seminarian until I was ordained a priest on July 16, 1994. Even to this day.

For example, when I was a seminarian, studying at the Inter-Religious Theological Institute in Melbourne City, Victoria State, Australia, I was often asked: “Why do you want to become a priest?” The question seems very ordinary and simple, but answering it is really not easy. Because a call (vocation) comes from God. It is a gift from Him. We often hear the saying: God calls many but chooses few.

And only those who are called and chosen by God is able to complete their vocation journey and be faithful to the consecrated life until the last moment of life.

Having spent nearly 29 years as a priest, I gradually discovered this and I am convinced of one thing: “Without the grace of God, we who live the consecrated life and will not be able to complete our journey, if God does not bless and sustain us.” And those who live the consecrated life are not only bishops, priests and deacons, but include religious brothers and sisters.

So, for me, Everything is God’s Grace and I’ve always been convinced of this: He has done everything in my life.

There were many times and several nights I prayed to God and said to Him dearly, “Lord, You know how much I love You, even though I am a sinful and weak human being. But You know my heart and the love I have for You. I cannot lie to You, because You know everything, even before I utter a word, You understand my feelings and thoughts. As Psalm 139 itself states:

1. You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.

2. You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3. You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4. Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5. You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain. (See Psalm 139:1-6)

God understands everything, even the maneuverings and plottings of man.

In fact, people can use their lips with beautiful words to praise and flatter each other for their personal benefit. They can also use charming words to flirt and seduce the listener to get what they want! However, for God who is sublime and has boundless wisdom, He understands everything, even the maneuverings and plottings of man.

Approaching God with honesty

Because of that, every time I come to God, I am always aware and understand that He knows everything and there is nothing that I can hide from Him. So, the best way for me is to be honest with a sincere and simple heart whenever I am in the presence of God. I should honestly share with Him my own difficulties, concerns, dreams and ambitions.  I should also talk to Him about what I still lack and ask for His support so that I can overcome these shortcomings and challenges, especially with my wrongdoings or mistakes that I often make. Including what I consider to be the deepest thing in my soul that I can only share honestly with God, because I believe He understands what is going on in my heart and my inner turmoil.

People’s lives and journeys are not always smooth sailing, and the path each of us will go through is not always a smooth one, without stones and obstacles. There are always bumps and bends on the road in our journey. I think about this point all the time because each one of us cannot avoid them and have more or less our respective personal experiences.

For me, the sentiment and lyrics of the song, “God is not mistaken” are apt. It was composed by Fr Kim Long who is also a well-known musician in Vietnam.  I believe this song is his unique experience as a priest. He is one of the elder priests in Vietnam whom I have admired for a long time, although I have never met him. But I have heard a lot about him from my close priest friends. I think what Fr Kim Long is trying to express through the lyrics of his song is also something that almost each of us priests, including those who live a consecrated life, can sympathize and attest to. It is a very real experience for us priests and those in religious life.

In closing, I would like to borrow the lyrics of his song, because I am interested in what Fr Kim Long wrote, which is also my personal experience.

God is not mistaken, when He calls me to follow
Even though life is drifting like duckweed
Because God has known from the time before I was born
Once the breath is not over
It’s a life that hasn’t been overcome with grief
God is not mistaken, when He lifted me up
No matter how low my life is
Because God has known from time immemorial
Sometimes I’m not faithful
It’s because I’m not a god
God is not wrong, when He taught me to love
Although there’s a lot of wrongdoing on the road of love
Because God has known from time immemorial
Every second flutters in my heart
Is every second of hot breath

Chorus:

But God’s heart is so vast
No matter how many times I’m weak
Sincerely beg for repentance
It is He who forgives.

I found the inspiration for writing this article based on the second reading (Roman 5:5) on the Third Sunday of Lent, 12 March 2023.

God’s love in friendships

The ties we build in charity are forged with the Lord’s grace

“Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)

God’s love expressed through friendship is a topic I have been wanting to write and share with readers, especially my dear family and friends. It is based on my ties with many people from around the world whom God has gifted me to meet and know them.

These are very real experiences and it is my conviction for many years it was God’s plan for me. Especially from the time when I was forced to leave my homeland, family and all my loved ones behind in Vietnam in 1981 in search of freedom and to pursue my vocation to the priesthood (Read my story). This, I personally felt then, when I had just entered my twenties.

I eventually settled in Perth in Western Australia in 1982, which has been my second home in the last 40 years. During that time, I’ve also lived in many other cities in my adopted country: in Sydney when I joined the Redemptorist Order and then in Melbourne, where I was ordained priest in July 1994. I then returned to Perth to continue my studies in Psychology, while also working in ministry at the Redemptorist Monastery in the north of the city.

In the places and cities I have lived in, I was fortunate to always meet good friends who wholeheartedly supported me spiritually and materially. Among them, some have become my benefactors who have been generous and love me with sincere hearts. I cannot name every single person, but I cherish and engrave deeply in my heart each of them with sincere thanks and deep gratitude for what they have given me. I always remember these wonderful friends and benefactors in my prayers and in the Masses I celebrate. This is my way of expressing gratitude to them.

I have met many of them over the years in places and cities I have visited or studied, particularly when I studied Moral Theology at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome City, Italy (1999-2003). But distances and different time zones have prevented me from doing so since then.

There are times when I think of them and wish for another chance of meeting all of them again. It is for this reason I am writing this article so that if you read it, you will understand how much I want to express my deep gratitude to you. You are always in my heart, and I will keep each one of you in my prayers.

I am no longer in touch with many of these friends and I don’t know where are they now, what they are doing and what their life is like. But even so, in my heart and in mind they are still very much alive, and I will never forget them and all the things they have done for me. I always pray to God and ask Him to act on my behalf to bless and repay them abundantly.

Garden of the Gods

God forges new friendships

I have been in the United States since August to attend the Fall 2022 Sabbatical programme at Mercy Center in Colorado Springs. While here, I have been able to interact with some Vietnamese people I have never met before. It was thanks to my family members and dear friends who have resettled in the United States that I was able to get acquainted with them. But I know it was God who brought us together.

I meet them only on weekends as I have to attend classes from Monday to Friday. These new friends took me and another Vietnamese priest, a close friend from Australia, to visit some of the more well-known attractions in Denver and the State of Colorado.

During my travels, whether far or near, I am always fortunate that God’s grace has always allowed me to have special meals with new friends for us to learn and get to know each other. Thanks to such occasions we develop a deep understanding of one another and eventually become close friends.

In my current visit to the United States, I am extremely grateful to those I’ve met for the first time for what they have done for me, sacrificing their precious time to take me and my friend out to many interesting places in Colorado Springs for an unforgettable experience. The sights were amazing and made me think about God’s wonderful creation in His love for mankind as members of the human family.

God certainly loves each one of us in a uniquely special way. But He created a universe so mysterious and wonderful for everyone to enjoy that I don’t think there are words to adequately describe all the splendour of nature. In the past two months, I have visited and witnessed its beauty from the waterfalls at Seven Falls to mountains and hills covered with tall pines. We also visited “Garden of the Gods” and “Pikes Peak” which rises 4,340m above sea level, and the Rocky Mountain National Park, a famous landmark of not only Colorado but the entire United States.

I also had the chance to see the white snow that was recently formed in the soaring mountains, the “Sprague lake” where water had begun to freeze, and the hot pools of the Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs. All these scenes were so magnificent and vivid that they took my breath away and I could not but raise my voice in praise of God.

From top: Sprague Lake and Pikes Peak 

God’s marvelous creation and love for mankind

The trip to these places was approximately a four-hour drive from Denver and my companions and I were so ecstatic by what we saw that it compelled us to contemplate God’s great work in creating the universe. All of us must sing praises to Him for He made a beautiful universe for all of us to marvel at.

I thank God for His great love for us and also thank each one of you, my dear friends, for permitting me to experience His providence and love through your special friendship, love and affection. I am truly blessed. I am truly grateful and may God unite us as brothers and sisters in His great family so that we may become witnesses of His love in our world today.

May God continue to bless our friendship and the affection that we have for each other. And may God help you, whether priests, religious or lay people, to become God’s witnesses of love and mercy by the way we live, and by the love that we have for each other. Finally, may we do everything for others out of love (1 Cor 16:14). Amen.

Written for my dear friends, past and present. Loving all of you.

Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs.


Main Image: Thoma Boehi, Pexels
Other Images, Fr Peter and friends, and Mercy Center staff

I am a special child of God

“We are exactly what He wants us to be”

(Note: In the headline I’ve written for this reflection, replace “I am” with your name)

We are into Week 8 of our Sabbatical program at Mercy Center in Colorado Springs and our presenter requested that we reflect on the four ways of contemplative prayer, as St Teresa of Avila narrated in her book, The Interior Castle.

Two days ago, on the morning of 26 October, we were asked to concentrate on the
Prayer of Focus that normally will take place during the fourth dwelling place, or the fourth mansion, according to St. Teresa.

The extract from our class notes reads: The fourth dwelling place begins a moment of natural rhythm and a deepening relationship in partnership with God. This deeper level of friendship has become more intense and leads us to a profound sense of otherness. The fourth dwelling place becomes a sanctuary for silence, solitude and contemplation. This comes from “In His Image: A Journey with St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila” which was given to us.

Please allow me to extract a paragraph from our class notes that talks about the Prayer of Focus.

Within this stage, a person can discipline the senses and faculties. The person is able to create empty space within their thoughts and feelings and welcome God’s personal visits. Here a person focuses on the object of prayer. By focusing on something particular, e.g., a candle, a crucifix, or the Blessed Sacrament, a person is able to achieve great peace and stillness and welcome inspiration and enlightenment. Prayer of Focus includes: Here and now – keep eyes open “Let all creatures speak of their Maker” and how does this focus speak of its Maker (God)?

As a result, I was asked to focus on an object, such as an icon, a religious painting, a statue of our Lady or Jesus, or even a sculpture. So, I went into our living room where a lot of these items are beautifully displayed. I looked around in search of the object I wanted to focus on for my prayer time. I finally decided on a sculpture that has an image of a father who allows his child to lay on his bosom and the child sleeps in peace without any fear or anxiety.

I would like to invite you to have a look at the photo that I took from the living room, before sharing with you my reflection as it occurred to me.

Image: Fr Peter Hung

I took time to look at the object and I was focusing all my attention on the image, after a while, the sculpture began to speak to me and revealed its meaning as I could understand. It seemed that God was speaking to me and helping me understand the significant meanings of this sculpture. So here was what I received:

  • The child was the focus of this sculpture. He was sleeping peacefully, and it seemed that he/she has no fear or anxiety
  • At a closer look, the child is like a baby lying in the womb before it is born. This suggests that God is not only a father figure, but he is also a mother, who is able to carry each one of us in God’s womb
  • The father gazes lovingly at the child which has his utmost attention and concern. Perhaps his whole focus is on the child as he looks at him. It seems to me that the father’s only concerns are about the child and nothing else
  • His two hands are supporting him and the child. He does not hold the child but let him to be free, that could mean God wants him to be himself. As I was gazing on this sculpture, I felt that God has been my refuge and my shield. He will protect me, since I am his child, and will care for me. God’s only concerns are about my well-being and safety. I also believe this applies to all of us.

I was extremely happy and felt deeply grateful to God who has revealed this amazing insight to me, so I can be closer to Him, who is my Creator and loves me unconditionally as his loving child.

I find it difficult to put into words what I experienced this morning as I was gazing on the beautiful sculpture. I just wanted to treasure it in my heart and will continue to reflect and meditate on it.

Written at Mercy Center, Colorado Springs

The power of the Hail Mary

Armed with the Rosary, the mission to save souls from the Devil

(Editor: The Month of October is dedicated to Mary and the Rosary. Today, 13 Oct, commemorates the day Mary declared she is the Lady of the Rosary at Fatima in 1917 before a huge crowd witnessed her Miracle of the Sun)

A few years ago on 2 October 2015, I was invited by a friend, Father Nguyen Huu Quang of the Don Bosco Order, to preach at a three-day retreat for the Brunswick parish, in Melbourne, Australia.  This was in conjunction with the Catholic Church dedicating the month of October each year to the Most Holy Rosary.

This is linked to the annual liturgical feast Our Lady of the Rosary on 7 October that Pope St Saint Pius V established in 1573 in honour of the Blessed Virgin aiding a Catholic naval force in defeating an invading Turkish armada.

During the retreat in Melbourne, I shared with Vietnamese parishioners the meaning and origin of the Rosary, woven with the Hail Mary. When we meditate on the essential mysteries in Jesus’ life, from his conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary to his birth, then into adulthood when he goes forth and preaches the Good News of salvation so that all those who hear and believe may receive salvation, we are contemplating the mysteries of the Rosary.  Here is my reflection on the Holy Rosary and the power of the Hail Mary.

Jesus’ public preaching and life of ministry tragically and lamentably ended on the cross which is reflected in the Sorrowful Mysteries. At Calvary, where He was crucified, Christ was suspended between two thieves. The Most Holy One, the only begotten Son of God, was in essence counted among the thieves, reviled and mocked, despised and ridiculed.

Those who passed by derided Him saying, “If you were truly the Son of God, come down from the Cross. He saved others; raising the dead; causing the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, the blind to see… so save yourself” (Matt 27:39-44). Faced with arrogant and obscene words, utterly challenging his power, Jesus kept silent. He did not get angry and punish the blasphemer who dared to profane God. That is also a valuable lesson for us. Jesus once said, “Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” (Matt 11:28-30)

God’s fountain of grace flows from the Rosary mysteries

Then, in the Rosary, we too are invited to meditate on the Glorious Mysteries. This is our hope because Jesus has conquered death. Death and sin from then on will forever have no power over Him, for Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. Death has been abolished by God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The powers of the Devil will not be able to do anything to us if we know how to unite ourselves with the resurrected Jesus Christ if we know how to give up our old self to put on a new self and live according to the spirit of Jesus Christ.

Since Christ is the head of the body, the Church, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. He is the principle of our resurrection and later raises our bodies (Col 1:18).”

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you (Rom 8:11).”

Therefore, the Rosary helps us to meditate deeply on the main mysteries the Catholic faith teaches – the Incarnation (Joyful Mysteries), the Passion (Sorrowful mysteries) and finally the Resurrection (Glorious Mysteries). It is through this sincere meditation that we draw from God’s fountain of grace, reviving our religious life, and making it active and holy. I would like to quote the affirmation of the late Pope St John Paul II who said:

The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it, I have entrusted any number of concerns; in it I have always found comfort. Twenty-four years ago, on 29 October 1978, scarcely two weeks after my election to the See of Peter, I frankly admitted: the Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth … The simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life.”

Pope St John Paul II’s apostolic letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae

As a child, I did not have the privilege of having knowledgeable Catholics, especially those older than me, teach me about the meaning of the graces of praying the Rosary. I remember vividly when I was about 9 years old, I accidentally picked up an old black plastic Rosary. A third of its crucifix was broken, but even though this rosary looked a little ugly and not very attractive, I liked to wear it around my neck.

I was so young then and I did not know how to pray the Rosary and meditate on the mysteries of Jesus’ life. I only knew how to say the Hail Mary. When it came to meditating on the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries, I did not learn them by heart and so did know how to recite them. But I was convinced the Rosary had some invisible power and believed the Devil fears it and will not dare to disturb me if I wore it around my neck.

As I got older, especially after I entered the seminary in Vietnam to become a priest, and when I joined the Redemptorist Congregation in Australia in 1983, I gradually developed a devotion to Mother Mary. In time I discovered my love for her and understood why she sent me a Rosary when I was nine. Although it was battered and a bit ugly, it was Our Lady’s way of expressing and making known her love for me at such a tender age to prepare me for my priestly vocation.

Subsequently, over time, I also discovered God’s love for me. Mother Mary has given many signs to tell me of my future mission and journey: That I will be a priest, even though there were times when I felt this was something unimaginable that will never happen.

The Rosary is a powerful weapon against demons

Read also:
Mary: The Mother God gives the world
The Rosary: A powerful weapon against evil
Hail, Full of Grace

The Hail Mary protects us from the Devil

Later, when I was ordained to the priesthood on 16 July 1994 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church at Maidstone in Melbourne, I thought of this prophecy and silently thanked God and Our Lady from the depths of my grateful heart. After many years of hardship and suffering in my vocation journey, God finally allowed me to become His priest and the beloved son of Mother Mary, since I had consecrated myself to her on 15 September 1979 at my Vietnamese parish church in Duc My.

From what I have learnt, every time we say the Hail Mary, we share the joy of Mary’s heart. The greetings are the formation of so many spiritual roses offered to the Virgin Mary as if adorning her with a magnificent tiara, a garland on her head. In return, our Mother will place on the heads of her children an invincible crown of roses, of divine grace. This is the meaning and purpose of reciting the Hail Mary.

For me, the Hail Mary is my most favourite prayer. It is always on my lips and in my very breath. A good habit of mine is to always say the Hail Mary before I start doing something, especially important things: whenever I drive, particularly on long trips, and when I travel by air.

I do this because I desire Mary’s protection and I want to thank her for keeping me safe on my journeys. There is one thing that perhaps up until now, I have not been able to fully understand: that is whenever I am in danger or under attack by the Devil.

These situations usually happen in dreams, but sometimes, I felt as if I was fully conscious and aware of what was going on. There were times when I was so frightened that I screamed for help, hoping my friend in the next room or anyone at all, would hear my cry and quickly come to my rescue. At such times I was unable to speak and only murmured some sounds.

Too frightened, all I could do was to reach over my headboard and pick up the Rosary, usually hung at the top of my bed. With Rosary in hand, I was filled with courage and prayed the Hail Mary. Sometimes I said it out loud, sometimes just silently in my head, but in either mode, the Devil gradually left, and I was saved.

I now like to share with you a dream that is quite mysterious but very special to me, which I have recorded in my diary. Honestly, I still don’t fully understand its meaning, only some of it.

One evening a long time ago, I dreamt of many demons flying in the air, trying to catch the souls of many who were also flying. Whenever a demon touched any of them, that soul belonged to the Devil. I was troubled when I saw this and told Mother Mary that I wanted to snatch back the souls from the demons and save them for God.

I suddenly found that I had a Rosary in my hand and flying easily in the air, like “Batman”. I was amazed that I could fly and did my best to fly faster than the demons so that I could touch the souls first. Those I managed to touch were saved and the demons stopped chasing them. In my quest to save many souls for God I had to fight with those demons. Then, I woke up suddenly drenched in sweat, maybe because I was too scared or tried too hard to fly!

During the course of the day, I wrote in my diary all the details and feelings I still remembered, because I knew this was no ordinary dream. This could have been a vision the Lord had revealed to me, to let me know this was my priestly mission. I need to save souls and bring many back to God. The way, therefore, I can save these souls is through the Rosary as if it were a powerful weapon to fight against the Devil and bring victory to the Lord.

The Devil fears the names of Jesus and Mary

The mission to save souls with the Rosary

If I ever could have a better understanding of the meaning of the dream, I will be somewhat satisfied. What I have yet to understand, I believe God will slowly reveal this to me in His own time when I am ready to receive what He wants to tell me.

Coming back to the dream after waking up, I regained peace when I raised my voice to pray the Hail Mary and it seemed to me that Mother Mary also gave me strength. It can be said this prayer is quite powerful and the sharpest of weapons.

In saying this, I am fully aware and agree that the celebration of the Eucharist and the Church’s official prayers are preferable. Since the Eucharist is the source of grace and the summit of a Christian’s life.

But the Devil is very afraid of the Hail Mary. Every time we mention the name of our Mother – Holy Mary, Mother of God, and the super important name of Jesus Christ – blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus, demons are terrified and flee in disarray.

The holy patriarchs and saints of the Middle Ages confirm this, as well as the saints and past and present Popes who have had and have a special devotion and love for Mary.

Throughout the journey of my vocation, all the hardships I have endured, from childhood and adulthood to my time in the seminary, ordination and up till now, the one thing I cannot deny is this: if not for the love and protection of Mother Mary, I would not be where I am today. Her protection and support have helped me to overcome countless difficulties.

There were challenges that sometimes I thought I would never be able to conquer. I became dispirited and fell into despair many times. In such moments, I had wanted to give up and quit. I wanted to run away and leave it all to the flow of life, but Mother Mary never abandoned me. She didn’t leave me in despair, came to my rescue and helped me solve every problem so that I could continue my journey up to this day. Because of this, I made a vow to never forget the blessings she has bestowed on me. I will be forever grateful to her and God, who is a kind and loving Father.

As I wrote previously there are two women I cherish the most in my life. The first one is Mother Mary, my spiritual and holy Mother, who with her graces shaped me in the likeness of her Son, Jesus. The second one is my biological mother, who conceived and gave birth to me, raised me and taught me to love God and my neighbours as myself.

My life is truly happy because I always have Mother Mary. She will forever be the spring of my consecrated life to God. Mother Mary is everything to me and I, therefore, invite all of you to kindly repeat the short consecration prayer Pope St John Paul II composed. Please repeat each of the following sentences after me:

O my Mother, I am all yours
And all I have is yours,
Please guide me in everything

Pope Saint John Paul II The Great’s Prayer to The Virgin Mary, Totus Tuus

I wish that you will consecrate yourselves to Mother Mary by repeating this short consecration prayer. In doing so, we will become Marian soldiers, bearing crosses and Rosaries to fight for the success of her plans, and preparing for Christ to return in glory. Amen.

Main Image: Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation

POPES ON THE ROSARY

Pope Francis: The Rosary “is the weapon against the Great Accuser who ‘goes around the world seeking to accuse.’ Only prayer can defeat him.”

Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013): The Rosary is “the prayer of the Christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, in the following of Jesus, preceded by Mary … it is a means given by the Virgin for contemplating Jesus and, meditating on his life, for loving and following him always more faithfully.”

Pope John Paul II (1978-2005): “The Rosary is my favourite prayer … I would therefore ask those who devote themselves to the pastoral care of families to recommend heartily the recitation of the Rosary.”

Pope John Paul I (August 26–September 28, 1978) in Homily in 7 Oct 1973 before he was elected Pope five years later: “The Rosary, a simple and easy prayer, helps me to be a child again, and I am not ashamed of it at all.”

Pope Paul VI (1963-1978): “If evils increase, the devotion of the People of God should also increase … Pray ardently to our most merciful mother Mary by saying the Rosary during the month of October. This prayer is well-suited to the devotion of the People of God, most pleasing to the Mother of God and most effective in gaining heaven’s blessings.”

Pope John XXIII (1958-1963): “The Rosary is a magnificent and universal prayer for the needs of the Church, the nations and the entire world.”

Pope Pius XII (1939-1958): “We do not hesitate to affirm publicly that We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils of our times.”

Pope Pius XI (1922-1939): “A powerful weapon to put the demons to flight” … “Kings and princes, however burdened with most urgent occupations and affairs, made it their duty to recite the Rosary.”

Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922): “The prayer of the Rosary is perfect, because of the praises it offers, the lessons it teaches, the graces it obtains, and the victories it achieves.”

St. Pius X (1903-1914): “The Rosary is the most beautiful and the richest of all prayers to the Mediatrix of all grace; It is the prayer that touches most the heart of the Mother of God. Say it each day!”

Pope Leo XIII (1878- 1903): “The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.”

Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846): “The Rosary is a miraculous means, the most capable one amongst other means, to destroy sin and regain divine grace.”

Pope Innocent XIII (1721-1724): “The Rosary had been instituted by St. Dominic to appease the anger of God and to implore the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

Pope Paul V (1605-1621): “The rosary is a treasure of graces”

Pope Gregory XII (1406-1415): “The Rosary is a wonderful instrument for the destruction of sin, the recovery of GOD’s grace, and the advancement of His glory”

Pope Julius III (1550-1555): The Rosary is “the Glory of the Church.”

Pope Adrian VI (1522-1523): “The rosary is the scourge of the devil.”

Pope Leo X (1513-1521): The Rosary “was instituted to oppose pernicious heresiarchs and heresies.”

Pope Sixtus XI (1471-1484): This method of prayer, the Rosary, “redounded to the honour of God and the Blessed Virgin, and was well suited to obviate impending dangers”

Pope Gregory XI (1370- 1378): “The Rosary is this wonderful means to destroy sin and recover grace.”

Pope Benedict XII (1334-1342): “The Rosary is a sovereign remedy to errors and vices.”

Pope Urban IV (1261-1264): “Every day the Rosary obtains fresh boom for Christianity … There is a pious rite which, to be protected against the dangers threatening the world, consists in reciting … the Ave Maria, as many times as the Psalms of David, while saying before each decade the dominical prayer… With our Apostolic authority, we approve this psalter of the Virgin.”

Mary: The Mother God gives the world (Pt 1)

Christ entrusts us to the Blessed Virgin to teach, guide us to become His disciples

(Editor: The Month of October is dedicated to Mary and the Rosary)

For a long time, I have wanted to write and share with my family and dear friends about the love between me and Mother Mary, whom I have always loved. It can be said that my love for the Virgin Mary is passionate and sincere and it has been growing over time in my heart.

When I was a child, I often prayed to Mother Mary because I felt a closeness with her. Whenever I was misunderstood or bullied and could not explain or vindicate myself, I would go to our Blessed Mother and silently confide in her. I told her my sorrows because I knew she could understand what was in my heart, as she could see everything that had happened to me.

Because of this, I put my trust in Mother Mary and often went to her, especially when I needed help. Over time, I felt the Mother of God’s favour and love, especially the maternal love she had for me.

In my teenage years, I became a catechist and consecrated myself to the Blessed Virgin Mary at my Duc My parish church, where my family had lived since 1963. A few of them still live there.

Consecration to Mary and God’s plan

I subsequently joined the consecrated group of Mary with the purpose of asking Our Lady to guide me in my spiritual life, so that I could become the “beloved disciple of Jesus” and lead many lost souls back to the Lord, her Son.

Honestly, at the time, especially during the years from 1975-1979, I had no clue that it was God’s plan to train and prepare me for a future journey. In His own time, when it was ripe, He would call and invite me to commit myself to follow Him and be His disciple as a priest.

Before joining the Lam Bich Seminary – then an underground Catholic institution in the Diocese of Nha Trang in 1979 – I was both a catechist and choir member in my parish. In addition, I was also the leader of the altar servers. Thanks to this job, I was close to the Lord’s altar every day and, perhaps, through this proximity my heart was continuously kindled by the Lord’s sweet fire of love for His Eucharistic table, that is, the Mass.

Two years after I started my studies at the seminary to become a priest I had to escape Vietnam by boat in 1981 because the communist military was hunting me as I refused to join their military training to fight a war (read my story)

I was forced to continue my vocation elsewhere but faced an uncertain future for months in a refugee camp at Pulau Bidong island in Malaysia. Fortunately, in 1982, the Australian government allowed me to resettle in their country. There, I was able to continue to pursue my vocation.

During these trials, I became more aware of God’s will and what He had already planned for me. I was convinced that since I was a child, He had prepared my journey to the priesthood, and with time this fact had increasingly become evident, as He plainly revealed His will to me.

Unworthy of God’s call

At first, when I discovered God’s will for me to become His priest, I was scared and felt unworthy. I was afraid I would not have the ability and intelligence to pursue Seminary studies as I knew it was not easy. Furthermore, I did not think I had the qualifications and piety to be a disciple of the Lord and had countless times rejected His call.

But with God there is nothing that He cannot do, and no one can run away from His hand, if He has chosen a person to make a commitment to follow Him. Those who have experienced God’s will to be priests or religious men and women will testify to this conviction on my behalf.

Whenever I had the opportunity to meet with my brother priests and religious men and women, we exchange notes on our vocation journey. All of us had similar stories: we discovered the will of God and were ultimately convinced of our respective vocations. A common theme among my brother priests is that they initially also tried to refuse the Lord’s invitation, as the vast majority felt unworthy of the great mission God wants to entrust them with.

One among their number remarked, “Running in the sky can’t escape the sun!” We all affirm that no one can escape the hand of the Lord or run away from his sight if God has chosen a person.

Mary conceived us in the spiritual life and gave birth to me as a child of God.

Psalm 139:1-14 confirms this:
1 You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Now, on looking back after being a priest for 28 years, I am evermore convinced that entering a religious life requires a vocation and God’s grace. If He calls and chooses us, then we can faithfully follow Him. Otherwise, even with our own human strength, it will be impossible to remain steadfast in our vocation, be it as a priest or a member of religious life. No matter how strong our will is, or whether it is because our parents or family members wish for us to become a priest or nun, it will not come to pass if God does not call a person. And if it is not His will, no one can go forward and be faithful to the very end. I am convinced of this through personal experience. I don’t think that I would have become priest if God did not call me.

The priesthood is such a great and wonderful gift from God and He has given it to me. This is not something I will ever be able to thank Him enough.

Read also:
The Rosary: A powerful weapon against evil

Hail, Full of Grace
The power of the Hail Mary

Christ entrusts us to Mary

I now want to return and share more deeply the love that Mary has shown me over the past 60 years. I have confided several times to my dear friends that there are two women whom I love the most. One is my beloved biological mother who conceived and gave birth to me. She worked so hard to raise and teach me to respect and love God. She passed on to me her great faith. The other is the Virgin Mary, my spiritual Mother. Mary conceived me in the spiritual life and gave birth to me as a child of God.

Hanging on the Cross, Christ gave us His Mother.

Indeed, if we take the time and learn about Mary’s role in God’s work of salvation, it was Jesus who entrusted His beloved Mother to us, when He was hung on the cross (See John 19:25-27).

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

John 25-27

When Jesus knew that he was about to leave this life to return to the Father, His love for His disciples to the end was evident. He entrusted each of us to His beloved Mother Mary, so that she can continue to teach and guide us on His behalf on how to become “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

What is unique and very profound about the author of the Fourth Gospel, understood to be Saint John, is that he does not specify the name of “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. So, any of us can become that disciple, provided we have no fear and do not forsake Him in the Passion, but courageously follow the Lord and to dare stand at the foot of the cross. Only, then, can we be worthy of being “the disciple whom Jesus loves.

He wants us, like St John, to take Mary into our home. Which is to welcome her into our hearts, into our family, so that she will become a spiritual mother, the Mother of all Christians and the Disciples who Jesus chose.

Continue to Part 2

Mary: The Mother God gives the world (Pt 2)

(Editor: The Month of October is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and the Rosary)

Continued from Part 1

Mary was the first teacher in Jesus’ life from the moment He was born till He began His public ministry. Today, she continues that role for us, who are her children. The Blessed Virgin will use the graces that God has given her to surround us, and at the same time, use the privileges that God has given her to consecrate us, making us excellent children of God.

Let’s recall the story of how Rebecca covered Jacob’s hands with wool. It is the story of Jacob receiving the blessing of his father Isaac through the care and skill of his mother.

Mary and the Story of Jacob

Years after the elder son, Esau, sold his birthright to Jacob, their mother, Rebecca, who loved her second child deeply, obtained this blessing for him by her own skill.

Seeing that he was old, Isaac wanted to bless his children before he died. He called and told Esau, his beloved son, to hunt and bring him something to eat, before he would bless him. On learning this, Rebecca immediately told Jacob what was going on and sent Jacob to fetch two young goats from the family’s herd. When Jacob gave them to his mother, she cooked them the way Isaac liked and served him the dish. She then dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes and covered his hands and neck with goat skin. Isaac, who was blind and despite hearing Jacob, thought it was Esau when he touched the skin of his hand.

But he was surprised on hearing a voice he thought was Jacob’s and summoned him to come nearer. Isaac felt the hairs that covered Jacob’s hands and said although the voice was indeed Jacob’s the hand was Esau’s. After he finished eating and drinking, Isaac kissed Jacob, thinking it was Esau and smell the scent of Jacob’s clothes. He blessed the younger son and asked him to pour down upon him the dew of heaven and the fruit of the earth. He made Jacob the master of all his brothers and ended with these words: ‘Woe to those who curse me and blessed to those who bless me’.

This story (Gen 25:19-34) helps us to understand the importance of the intervention of Rebecca, Isaac’s wife, in blessing their second son. With her guidance and support, Jacob was blessed by his father. This also helps us to understand the meaning and role of Mother Mary in interceding with God to ask Him to bless us as her children.

Mary will know how to adorn us with the privileges she has, and it is through this splendid adornment that we will go forth courageously and proudly before the presence of God. He will then pour out countless blessings on our lives. It is, for this reason, Saint Louis de Montfort encouraged and suggested that we consecrate ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He explained clearly and convincingly how to practise devotion to her in his work, True Devotion to Mary. This devotion has been openly endorsed by many Popes (see below) in the Catholic Church.

Before I officially consecrated myself to Mary, I had the opportunity to read Saint Louis’ work in the Vietnamese language and that book had a great influence on me. He helped me see the importance of the act of consecration to Mary because through it she will lead us directly to Jesus, her beloved Son. At the same time, Mary will also give us, her children, the privileges she has received from God in order to sanctify us and to make us most perfectly like Jesus. This is the safest and most secure path to holiness that Saint Louis wants to teach us.

Our Mother in Heaven has God’s ears

Before I decided to escape from Vietnam in November 1981 in the hope of continuing my vocation, I prayed to Mother Mary. I asked her to grant me three special petitions:

1. Please allow me to escape from Vietnam successfully

2. Please let me become a priest

3. Please let my brother-in-law, Tran Dinh Viet, who was at the Vinh Phu’s concentration Camp in the North, be released and reunited with his family.

All three of my petitions were answered by Mother Mary. She granted my first petition because I successfully escaped Vietnam to Malaysia on a small wooden boat. Despite the big waves and strong winds, and fierce storms, the boat finally landed safely at Pulau Bidong, Malaysia, after 5 days at sea. For us, those who were present on the rickety boat, this was a great miracle from God to manifest His mighty power to rescue us from all our troubles and give us a chance to survive and rebuild our lives.

The Mother of God also granted my second petition as I was ordained a priest in July 1994, almost 12 years since arriving in Australia.

The final petition the Blessed Virgin granted came in 1984. After the communist government put my brother-in-law in a concentration camp in Vinh Phu province for nearly 10 years, they finally released him to be reunited with his family. This was a great joy for our family, especially for my eldest sister, his wife.

Read also:
The Rosary: A powerful weapon against evil

Hail, Full of Grace
The power of the Hail Mary

Mary’s immense love for all of us

For me, these were clear signs of Mother Mary’s kindness and immense love for me, because she granted me everything I had asked of her. Needless to say, I was extremely happy and will always be eternally grateful to Mary and God.

Whatever she has given me, I consider them gifts from her generosity, because I do not dare to ask her for more favours. Only in recent years, I have secretly thought and wanted to tell her the one last thing I have been dreaming of and this is to please come and take me to heaven when I close my eyes to leave this world.

This is probably my deepest and last dream. I hope that Mother Mary will answer my petition.

My prayer to Our Blessed Mother

O Mary, my beloved Mother. You know how much I love you. My life is happy because you are always with me. You saved me from death on my journey across the ocean. You also helped me overcome many hardships and difficulties when so many times I wanted to give up, as I felt these things were beyond my capacity. Your love has supported me throughout my life, and you have given me the grace to be able to do the things that I want to do. Everything I have is yours and I acknowledge that You have done everything in my life. May I always belong to you, and love you till the end of my life.

I would also like to thank God with all my heart for He has loved me immensely, despite my sinfulness. May I always be faithful to you, my dearest Mother Mary till the end of my life.  

Your beloved son,
Fr Peter Hung Tran

THE POPES ON TRUE DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Pope Saint Pius X (1903–14): “I heartily recommend True Devotion to The Blessed Virgin, so admirably written by [Saint] De Montfort, and to all who read it grant the Apostolic Benediction … There is no surer or easier way than Mary in uniting all men with Christ.”

Pope Benedict XV (1914–22): “A book of high authority and unction.”

Pope Pius XI (1922–39): “I have practiced this devotion ever since my youth.”

Pope Pius XII (1939–58): “God Alone was everything to him. Remain faithful to the precious heritage, which this great saint left you. It is a glorious inheritance, worthy, that you continue to sacrifice your strength and your life, as you have done until today.”

Pope St Paul VI (1963–78): “We are convinced without any doubt that devotion to Our Lady is essentially joined with devotion to Christ, that it assures a firmness of conviction to faith in Him and in His Church, a vital adherence to Him and to His Church which, without devotion to Mary, would be impoverished and compromised.”

Pope St John Paul II (1978–2005): “The reading of this book was a decisive turning point in my life. I say ‘turning-point,’ but in fact it was a long inner journey . . . This ‘perfect devotion’ is indispensable to anyone who means to give himself without reserve to Christ and to the work of redemption.” . . .” It is from Montfort that I have taken my motto: ‘Totus tuus’ (‘I am all yours’). Someday I’ll have to tell you Montfortians how I discovered De Montfort’s Treatise on True Devotion to Mary, and how often I had to reread it to understand it.”

SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL ON MARY (1962-1965)

‘The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. All her saving influence on men originates not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it.’ . . . ‘The practices and exercises of devotion to her recommended by the Church in the course of the centuries [are to] be treasured.’ (Lumen Gentium: 60, 67).

Encountering God in the solitude of nature

As the Desert Fathers discovered, the Lord meets us in the stillness of isolation

On Tuesday, a fortnight ago, I had an opportunity to visit Helen Hutt Falls in North Cheyenne Cañon Park. Three days later I went to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Both are in Colorado Springs, and on those occasions, in my solitude, I had an encounter with God that opened the way to find Him in me.

Solitude is a state of being completely cut off from all human contact, and sometimes stresses a loneliness such as that of a hermit.

Today, I like to share with you these two spiritual experiences that touched me very deeply and helped me to be aware that God is present in our inner being – that we could find Him within ourselves. This experience echoes the prayer of St Augustine of Hippo (354-430) “Late Have I Loved You” which he wrote in his book, Confessions,

Late have I loved you, O beauty, ever ancient, ever new!
Late have I loved you.
And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you there,
and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely, created things which you made.
You were with me, and I was not with you.
The lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their existence in you,

they had no existence at all.
You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness.
You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness.
You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you.
I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you.
You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours.

Finding God in stillness and solitude

As I was reading this magnificent prayer of St Augustine by the bank of the stream, my eyes focused on the still water that ran so calmly and smoothly. The shallow water was so clear and still that I could see right through to the bottom of its bed.

As I was sitting there silently, I entered into a stillness and solitude, listening to the water flow gently. It created a beautiful sound that calmed me, and, in that tranquillity, I was able to see myself clearly as who I am. I discovered a great insight: If I want to see me as I am, I need to enter solitude and be still. In absolute stillness and solitude, I can find me and if I can do this, then, I will be able to find God’s presence within me.

I was so happy at this great discovery because it helped me to understand that this way, all of us can find God within ourselves. But it is important we must first have to be still and enter into solitude. Without these conditions, it will be difficult to encounter the Lord. In saying this, I am not denying the possibility some of us could still find God in the marketplace.

The majesty of the forests reveals the presence of God in His marvelous creations.

My second spiritual experience was on Friday, 23 September at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The purpose of this exercise was to find God in the forest, to experience Him in nature and see how He manifests Himself through His creation.

So, I set out alone and walked slowly on the trail that led me through the meadows and forests of so many beautiful pine trees. During my stroll, I could hear clearly the sound of winds which gently blew on my face. It refreshed me and I felt so energetic and eager to walk for a longer distance.

The breathtaking majesty and beauty of the entire landscape motivated me to embark on this quiet journey. They revealed the presence of God in His marvellous creations. I was so overwhelmed with joy that as a result experienced a deep inner peace, as though I was one with nature. It was totally relaxing, and I felt as if my body was afloat.

The secret of the Desert Fathers

I contemplated the beauty of nature that was enveloping me and, at that moment, an inspired thought appeared in my mind: If I have the courage to enter solitude and not be afraid of the silence or loneliness or anything else, I can experience God’s presence and find Him in me. This insight was like a treasure that I just discovered after so many years of searching for it. I thanked God from the bottom of my heart for revealing it to me during my walk in the forest.

Perhaps, this is a spiritual secret of the Fathers who lived in the desert many centuries ago. They had found God in their solitude and in the silence of the desert.

Through this personal experience, I also discovered why Jesus was taken into the desert and for 40 days. I believe that in such a place we can encounter God and be united with Him.

As we witness from the Gospels, Jesus often goes into a lonely place or up a mountain to be alone in solitude to pray. Up there or in the desert is a special location where we can easily experience God within ourselves.

Next time, if you want to encounter God, you should do a silent retreat, visit a forest or national park or sit by the riverbank by yourself, in quietness and solitude. I am certain you will be able to find God in your own heart.

Do not be afraid to journey alone into the desert or forest. Only by doing this courageously, you will be able to find Him who is always longing to meet you. He will reveal to you as He really is, the God of love and mercy, slow to anger and ready to forgive us for all our sins.

Alone in the wilderness, we can easily find God within us. Photo Fr Peter Hung Tran

Excerpt from the handout for the Sabbatical Program (Fall 2022) at Mercy Center in Colorado Springs:

In being alone I became one with all creation. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a famous Russian novelist, says, “Being alone from time to time is more necessary for a common human being than eating and drinking.”

Now if the Angel of Solitude leads you into this experience of your humanity, then you lose all fear of loneliness and of being left alone. I wish the Angel of Solitude for you. I hope it will lead you into a fruitful solitude, where you can get to know yourself as you really are, where there’s no point in making yourself interesting to others.

Solitude is an essential part of everyone’s Spiritual Journey. Jesus endured solitude when he fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.

Now I suggest that you take 15 minutes to find a quiet place to endure solitude, come back and share with others what you discovered about yourself.

Main photo: Fr Peter Hung Tran

In adversity, God’s Graces strengthen our roots

In the face of greater challenges, the more we must cling to His Sacred Heart

For two days earlier this week on 19 and 20 September, my group from the Sabbatical programme at the Mercy Center in Colorado Springs visited the picturesque Colorado natural landscape. Soaring waterfalls and a majestic mountain range that was wooded with tall pine trees offered us stunning scenes that were akin to the romantic hills I am familiar with in Vietnam’s Da Lat city.

On the morning of the third day, I had an opportunity to walk alone in this place on a path under the pines along the cliffs. In my solitude, these cliffs looked as though they were reaching up to touch the passing clouds in the blue sky. It was mesmerising. I was in awe of nature’s beauty in the midst of this enchanting scenery of great mountains and trees.

Somehow, I became fascinated with the tall sturdy pine trees and wondered how their roots were able to penetrate the ravines and solid rocks to find their way as deep as possible into the ground. The roots beneath the surface keep a pine tree anchored firmly in place and from breaking during heavy thunderstorms and strong winds.

Nutrients allow pine trees weather storms

I was so intrigued with what I witnessed with my own eyes that I whipped out my mobile phone to take photos of this phenomenon. I wanted concrete proof of this truth so that no one would doubt me if I told them this incredible story.

I spent some time admiring nature’s work with the pines because they grew and thrived in a very difficult, harsh environment. They must strive to find soil to take root, unlike the pines we often see along roadsides of luxury boulevards, or in national parks that get them with ease. Those were planted by people.

In the wild of these mountains, the pine trees had instinctively found a way to survive. And this they did with their roots winding their way through ravines and the crevices of rocks in the canyons or gorges until they find fertile soil, where there are nutrients to feed the tree trunk and allow it to grow into tall, large pines.

The roots of the pine tree navigate the tough terrain to reach nutritious soil.

I gazed with fascination at the pine trees that stood before my eyes, as they stretched their shoulders up to the sky.

Alone in my thoughts, I pondered on the miraculous growth of these pines. Then, a light flashed in my mind to help me understand the meaning and value of the spiritual life, as well as the ordinary. These are issues that each of us often encounters in our daily lives. The more trials and tribulations we encounter, the more we must hold on to God. Only in this way, can we draw intense vitality from God, the source of life and of all graces. He is like the nutrient-rich soil wild pine trees feed on.

I was rejoicing and happy because God opened my heart and mind so that I can understand the wonderful truths about life. Even for me, there were times when faced with adversities or difficulties, I did not make an effort to let my roots grow – which is my relationship with God. I failed to let them be deeply entrenched in His Sacred Heart and feed on His graces and love. It would have allowed me to grow more in strength and faith in His abiding love for me.

I was deeply moved when I discovered that for a pine tree to grow big and stand tall its roots must go deep into the ground. But sometimes when it’s full of rocks they must find their way in between crevices of rocks, so that the roots can grow. Then, with time, these taproots (or main roots) will be able to penetrate deep into the nutritious ground to help the trunk become strong and stay upright, instead of wobbling or falling. Only, then, can it stretch its shoulders up into the sky.

The majestic Colorado mountains longing to touch the passing clouds, just as we must long for God’s Graces.

God’s Nutrients (Graces) allow us to weather storms

I was extremely happy in the Colorado outdoors because I discovered a wonderful explanation for my own problems and when I faced trials and tribulations. Recently, for example, I was lying in bed for 10 days, as I was not able to move my legs or body. I could not get out of bed without any help from others.

Then, there were times when I was confined to bed with back pains and could not walk for days. In such times, I fell into depression and did not want to do anything anymore. But I did turn to God in prayer and asked for Our Mother Mary’s intercession to heal me from my illness. I pleaded for strength to overcome the unbearable pain in my body, especially the lower back.

When I was finally able to get out of bed on my own without any pain, I was overjoyed and thank God and Mother Mary with all my heart for restoring my health. At such times, I become conscious of what my grandparents used to say: Only health is more precious than anything else. Health is like gold.

If you have good health, then you can have everything. If we are sickly and confined to bed, even if we are wealthy, the sense of helplessness and unworthiness envelops us. It robs us of any desire for anything. Those who have experienced illness will sympathise and agree with what I am sharing here.

Sickness, terminal illness, failure, abandonment, loneliness and all such unfortunate circumstances are all challenges that each of us needs to face and try to overcome. It is like a pine tree growing on cliffs in the Colorado mountains where its roots must find a way through ravines and rocky crevices to find nutritious soil to stay alive.

For us, too, every adversity and trial are opportunities that God sends to us to put our roots along the ravines and to go deep to hold on to Him. Therefore, the more trials and tribulations we face, the more we must cling to Him and let the roots of our love to be deeply anchored in the heart of the Triune God.

I gazed with fascination at the pine trees that stood before my eyes.

I would like to ponder the words of Psalm 39 to conclude my sharing.

  1. For the leader, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
  2. I said, “I will watch my ways, lest I sin with my tongue;
    I will keep a muzzle on my mouth.”
  3. Mute and silent before the wicked, I refrain from good things.
    But my sorrow increases;
  4. My heart smoulders within me.
    In my sighing a fire blazes up,
    and I break into speech:
  5. LORD, let me know my end, the number of my days,
    that I may learn how frail I am.
  6. To be sure, you establish the expanse of my days;
    indeed, my life is as nothing before you.
    Every man is but a breath.
  7. Man goes about as a mere phantom;
    they hurry about, although in vain;
    he heaps up stores without knowing for whom.
  8. And now, LORD, for what do I wait?
    You are my only hope.
  9. From all my sins deliver me;
    let me not be the taunt of fools.
  10. I am silent and do not open my mouth
    because you are the one who did this.
  11. Take your plague away from me;
    I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
  12. You chastise man with rebukes for sin;
    like a moth you consume his treasures.
    Every man is but a breath.
  13. Listen to my prayer, LORD, hear my cry;
    do not be deaf to my weeping!
    For I am with you like a foreigner,
    a refugee, like my ancestors.
  14. Turn your gaze from me, that I may smile
    before I depart to be no more.

All images: Fr Peter Hung

The writer is on Sabbatical leave in the United States

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The Cross: Culmination of God’s love for humanity

It is the identity and badge that true disciples of Christ always carry with them

“O Christ, we adore you; We bless you, for you have redeemed the world by Your Cross.”

On Wednesday, (14 Sept ) the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, for it is through the Cross of Jesus that mankind has been saved. I would like to invite you to reflect on the mystery of the Cross, especially through the readings in our liturgy for the Mass for the Feast (Numbers 21:4-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17).

In the first reading, we are told that the Israelites cried out against God and Moses for taking them out of Egypt and allowing them to die in the desert. They complain that there is no bread to eat, no water to drink, and are tired of this boring food of the Mana.

Therefore, God sent fiery snakes out that bit many people to death. They then ran to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you.  Please pray that the Lord take the serpents from us.” So, the Lord said to Moses, “Make a bronze serpent and hang it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, they will live.”

In the second reading, the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians tells us,

Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Phil 2: 6-11

Then in the Gospel of John, the Evangelist affirms, “Just as Moses hung the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may not perish forever.”

We can clearly see a very special connection between the three readings in today’s celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross. They revolve around one theme: Through the cross and death of Jesus Christ, all mankind and the universe received the gift of salvation and reconciliation with God, after mankind had sinned and deserved eternal punishment.

Dimensions of God’s love on the Cross

Saint Paul reflects on the mystery of the Cross and repeatedly states eloquently that the Cross is the culmination of God’s love for humanity.

Every time we look up at the Cross, we can discover every dimension of love that God wants to show to us: From the height to the breadth and depth He reveals in the death of Jesus Christ. In short, if we want to know how much God loves us, we just have to look up at the Cross and there we can contemplate all the dimensions of the great love which God wants to manifest to humanity.

A true disciple of Jesus Christ is the one who always carries on his body the Cross of Christ. Image: Museo del Prado

As Saint John writes,

Truly, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that everyone who believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life, for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Jn 3:13-17

And Jesus confirms this statement as well, “I have come to give you the fullness of life and I give my life as a ransom for many.” He also affirms, “Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).

Through this, we discover that there is no love that can be higher or comparable or equal to the “self-sacrificing love” – that is, the love that freely gives, even at the cost of our own life in order to bring happiness and true liberation to the ones we love. Jesus did this for us through His shameful death on the Cross, and through that tragic death all humanity was renewed and redeemed, by His resurrection.

Because Jesus Himself willingly obeyed the will of God the Father, until His last breath God, therefore, glorified and gave Him a name that is above every name, so that anyone who hears the name of Jesus, every creature in heaven, on earth and in hell will bow down, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:8-11).

The mystery of the Cross of Jesus Christ is also the reality for each of us who are Christians. For this reason, Jesus himself says,

If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me every day, or Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. (Mt 10:38). The Cross, therefore, is always associated with the disciples and with those who want to follow Jesus Christ.

Mt 16:24, Mt 10:38

True disciples identify with Christ’s Cross

The Cross, therefore, is always associated with the disciples and with those who want to follow Jesus Christ. It is the identity of the disciples and their badge/emblem. Anyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ but does not want to carry His Cross as Jesus Himself declares, “He/she is not worthy to be His disciple”. Therefore, we can boldly profess that “A true disciple of Jesus Christ is the one who always carries on his body the Cross of Christ, which is the symbol or embodiment of the love we show to our beloved Master”.

May each one of us, no matter what is our position in the Church or in society, or in whatever state of life that we find ourselves in, if we have identified ourselves as Christians or as disciples of Jesus, may we always love the Cross that has been given to us in our lives. For it is through it that we are united to the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and become His true disciples.

May we understand and believe deeply the mystery of the Cross, which is also the mystery of redemptive love. This will give us strength whenever we have to face our own sufferings, from the body to the spirit, the failures in our lives, the crises and disappointments that make us frustrated and want to give up.

At these critical moments, we need to ask for the strength from Jesus who was hanging on the Cross to help us to overcome these obstacles, since He has conquered the world and all its evil power. Christ will give strength to those who want to commit themselves and follow Him in His footsteps.

Written on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Wednesday 14 September 2022, in Colorado Springs.

Fr Peter Hung Tran is on Sabbatical leave in the United States

God’s love remains constant for 28 years

A priest’s journey began as a mountain too high to climb, but not for Christ

Editor’s Note: Fr Peter celebrated his 28th Sacerdotal Anniversary Mass earlier this evening on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He shares with us the homily he preached.

Dear Readers,

Twenty-eight years ago, I was ordained as a Redemptorist priest in Melbourne by Bishop Peter Connor. It was a wonderful celebration and a joyous occasion, which I will never forget.

My journey to the priesthood, which began in Vietnam, was the biggest challenge in my life (read my story here: For God, every dark cloud has a silver lining ). It was like climbing up the highest mountain that has lots of twists and unexpected turns.

Sometimes it was like I had arrived at a dead end and there was no way out. But God rescued me from all those dangerous events and allowed me to settle in Australia. In a foreign land, I was able to start a new life and pursue my vocation. In reflecting on my journey, I am ever more convinced that with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).

On this 28th Anniversary of my ordination, I like to share with you an experience that took place during my Novitiate at the Redemptorist Monastery in Mayfield, Newcastle City in 1987. Since without this spiritual experience, I would not have been ordained as priest.

In fact, I would not be here today to celebrate Mass, in thanksgiving to God, on this most blessed occasion with special friends and parishioners at St. Thomas More College Chapel.

Every Friday during my Novitiate, I had to see my Novice Master for about an hour to discuss how things had been going with me, especially in terms of my spiritual life and vocation. I was asked to reflect on the vows that I must take by the end of my 12-month Novitiate. These included the vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. I told him the hardest for me would be Chastity, since I felt I was not able to live up to its expectation. My Novice Master advised me to pray over this and see what God would say to me.

In the Chapel, Novice Peter Hung heard God’s calling to “Come as you are”.

After leaving his office, I went immediately to the Chapel and was there alone. I poured out my heart to God and I told Him how I felt, especially regarding my future commitment as a member of the Redemptorist Congregation. I felt that I could not keep these vows completely.

I was anxious and wanted to give up on the idea of becoming a priest, since it was too difficult. I was in a state of despair and did not know what I had to do. While I was in that state, I heard the words of the Hymn: COME AS YOU ARE, composed by Sr. Deirdre Brown. It resounded in my mind, especially these verses:

Come as you are, that’s how I want you

Come as you are, feel quite at home

Close to my heart, loved and forgiven

Come as you are, why stand alone?

I came to call sinners, not just the virtuous

I came to bring peace, not to condemn

Each time you fail to live by my promise,

Why do you think I’d love you the less?

Watch and listen to the hymn, Come as you are

I could not believe what I was hearing, it was too good to be true. How could God love me that much, and even if each time I fail to live by His promise, God still loves me as I am.

Listening to the hymn, with those verses appearing vividly in my mind, I cried my heart out and was inconsolable for quite a while. I knew then that God was speaking to me directly with those words. It was very clear He wanted me to know nothing will ever change His love for me, even when I fail to keep my promises. I was so happy, felt strengthened by the experienced and, finally, told my Novice Master I would take my vows, with the knowledge I could fail from time to time.

Today, as I celebrate the anniversary of my ordination, I can honestly tell you that God has done everything in my life. Whatever I have achieved until now, it has been by the grace of God who has empowered and given me the ability to do so. All my being and everything I possess are totally from God, and I still feel I am not worthy of His service.

Fr Peter was blessed his mother, youngest sister (on his left) from Vietnam and two nieces
(on his right) from the United States were in Melbourne for his ordination on 16 July 1994.

I would like to conclude my homily this evening by sharing with you a story that is very meaningful to me. It is in fact just like my own story (The old violin nobody wanted was first published here on 12 July 2022).

There was an auction and buyers competed fiercely to outbid each other for everything that was on offer. Before long, they eagerly snapped up all the items. Except for one: an old violin.

Keen to find a buyer for it, the auctioneer held the string instrument in his hands and offered what he thought was an attractive price, saying “if anyone is interested, I would sell it for $100.”

A deathly silence filled the room.

After a while, it became apparent to the auctioneer that even at that price, it was not enough to convince anyone to buy the old violin. So he reduced its price to $80, but even this did not move anyone to take it off his hands. The auctioneer then lowered the asking price even further to $50, insisting it was the best price he could offer. Still, nobody raised their hands to buy it. Finally, in desperation, he dropped the price to only $20.

Then, after another short period of silence, an old gentleman who sat at the back, raised his hand and asked: “May I have a look at the violin, please?”

“Yes, surely, you may,” the auctioneer replied, relieved that finally, someone showed an interest in the old violin. The measly price did not bother him. At least, the stringed instrument faced the prospect of finding a new owner and home.

The old man rose from his seat at the back and slowly walked to the front and carefully examined the old violin. He took out his handkerchief and dusted the surface of the wooden music instrument. He then gently tuned each string until, one by one, they were in the right tones.

Finally, and only then, did he place the old violin between his chin and left shoulder, lifted the bow with his right hand, and started playing a piece of music. Each musical note he produced from the old violin penetrated the silence in the room and danced delightfully in the air. It stunned everyone and they listened attentively to what was coming out of the instrument in the hands of what was obvious to all: a maestro.

He played a familiar classical hymn. The melody was so beautiful that it quickly enchanted everyone at the auction, and they were awestruck. They had never heard of or even witnessed anyone playing music so beautifully, let alone on an old violin. And they never thought for one moment, it would catch their fancy later on when the auction resumed.

When the old man had finished playing, he calmly returned the violin to the auctioneer, so that he could try and sell it again. But before the auctioneer could even ask everyone in the room, if they would still like to buy it, there was a rush in the raising of hands. Everyone suddenly wanted it after the impromptu masterly performance.

From an unwanted item a short while earlier, the old violin was suddenly the focus, of the most intense bidding competition of the auction. From the starting bid of $20, the price immediately shot up to $500.

The old violin was ultimately sold for $10,000, which was 500 times more than its lowest asking price.

It took only 15 minutes for the old violin to transform from something nobody wanted into the star of the auction. And it had to take a maestro musician to tune up its strings, and play a wonderful melody. He showed that what looked unattractive on the outside, was actually a beautiful and priceless soul, inside the instrument.

Perhaps, like the old violin, our lives normally do not seem to have much worth at first. But, if we hand them over to Jesus, who is the maestro above all maestros, then He will be able to play beautiful songs through us, and their melodies will stun listeners even much more. Our lives, then, will catch the world’s attention, and everyone wants to listen to the music, that He produces out of our lives.

So tonight, I would like to pray for all of us:

“Lord, may our lives become your musical instrument, like that old violin, so that we may be able to produce beautiful music that people can enjoy to listen and bring happiness to their hearts. May we always give You thanks and praise to Your wonderful love that You have bestowed upon us.” Amen.

The old violin nobody wanted

Often, it takes a maestro to help an instrument play beautiful melodies

A friend narrated this beautiful story about 20 years ago and it struck a chord and stayed with me ever since. I am sure many people can identify with it as well.

There was an auction and buyers competed fiercely to outbid each other for everything that was on offer. Before long, they eagerly snapped up all the items. Except for one: an old violin.

Keen to also find a buyer for it, the auctioneer held the string instrument in his hands and offered what he thought was an attractive price, saying “if anyone is interested, I would sell it for $100.”

A deathly hush filled the room.

After a while, it became apparent to the auctioneer that even at that price, it was not enough to convince anyone to buy the old violin. So, he reduced its price to $80, but even this did not move anyone to take it off his hands. The auctioneer then lowered the asking price even further to $50, insisting it was the best price he could offer. Still, nobody raised their hands to buy it. Finally, in desperation, he dropped the price to only $20.

Then, after another bout of silence, an old gentleman who sat at the back, raised his hand and asked: “May I have a look at the violin, please?”

“Yes, surely, you may,” the auctioneer replied, relieved that, finally, someone showed an interest in the old violin. The measly price did not bother him. At least, the stringed instrument faced the prospect of finding a new owner and home.

So, the old man rose from his seat at the back and slowly walked to the front and carefully examined the old violin. He took out his handkerchief and dusted the surface of the wooden music instrument. He then gently tuned each string until, one by one, they were in the right tones.

Finally, and only then, did he place the old violin between his chin and left shoulder, lifted the bow with his right hand, and started playing a piece of music. Each musical note he produced from the old violin penetrated the silence in the room and danced delightfully in the air. It stunned everyone and they listened attentively to what was coming out of the instrument in the hands of what was obvious to all: a maestro.

In the hands of a maestro, the violin played like a charm.
Image: Unsplashed, Victor Chartin

He played a familiar classical hymn. The melody was so beautiful that it quickly enchanted everyone at the auction and they were awestruck. They had never heard of or even witnessed anyone playing music so beautifully, let alone on an old violin. And they never thought for one moment it would catch their fancy later on when the auction resumed.

When the old man had finished playing, he calmly returned the violin to the auctioneer, so that he could try and sell it again. But before the auctioneer could even ask everyone in the room if they would still like to buy it, there was a rush in the raising of hands. Everyone suddenly wanted it after the impromptu masterly performance.

From an unwanted item a short while earlier, the old violin was suddenly the focus of the most intense bidding competition of the auction. From the starting bid of $20, the price immediately shot up to $500.

The old violin was ultimately sold for $10,000, which was 500 times more than its lowest asking price.

It took only 15 minutes for the old violin to transform from something nobody wanted into the star of the auction. And it had to take a maestro musician to tune up its strings and play a wonderful melody. He showed that what looked unattractive on the outside was actually a beautiful and priceless soul inside the instrument.

Perhaps, like the old violin, our lives normally do not seem to have much worth at first. But if we hand them over to Jesus, who is the maestro above all maestros, then He will be able to play beautiful songs through us and their melodies will stun listeners even much more. Our lives, then, will catch the world’s attention and everyone wants to listen to the music that He produces out of our lives.

Lord, may our lives become your musical instrument, like that old violin, so that we may be able to produce beautiful music people can sing to with You forever to give thanks and praise to Your wonderful love You have bestowed upon us.

Written at Puffendorf, Germany, on 16 July 2002, the Feast of Our Lady of Carmel and the eighth anniversary of my ordination.

Postscript: After studying in Rome (Italy), I went to Puffendorf in 2002 before returning home to Melbourne, Australia. Four years later, on the 12th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, I spotted the above painting in a Melbourne shop and bought it. I framed and hung it on the wall and ever since have taken it with me whenever I move to a new place. It has become my treasure because it reminds me of the story of the old violin.

Peace envelops us when we live God’s Will

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. 

Jesus is the only One who can give us a joyful peace that overcomes all adversities.
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.’

In this book, Pope St John XXIII extols Saint Jerome Nazianzeno’s prayer, “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

God’s unfathomable love for humanity

He never abandons us, and is always ready to forgive our sins and heal all

One of my greatest desires in life is to yearn for God’s love and to love Him in return. This has been one of the reasons why I’ve always wanted to be a priest since I was a teenager in Vietnam.

I’d like to share a personal experience that happened to me last year.

On that day, 21 May, around 2.00pm, I left my office and went over to the chapel of St Thomas More College to get the Monstrance (The golden sacred vessel that is used to display the Blessed Sacrament during Eucharistic Adorations). 

After locating it in the sacristy, I opened the Lectionary and read a passage from the Gospel of John 17: 20-26 to prepare my homily for Mass the next day at the University of Western Australia. I’ll quote the full text of that verse:

I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one,I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me.I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

I then sat in the chapel and reflected on this Gospel passage. After some time in prayer, I felt deeply – at my very core – the unconditional love that God has enfolded me in the past 60 years of my life: from the moment I was born, my childhood and adolescent years, to my entry into religious formation in the Redemptorist Congregation, ordination and my life as a priest.

The six decades of my existence have been marked countless times with the seal of God’s love, through all important milestones and challenges in my journey as His disciple.  His love follows and remains with me unceasingly, even in my human weaknesses: when my love for Him runs dry and lukewarm, or in moments when I haven’t been my best self or lived up to what is expected of me.

Meditating John 17:20-26 before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel, I came to a deeper understanding of God’s love for humanity.

God doesn’t abandon me, but continues to love me still and ever ready to forgive my flaws, heal my wounds, and embrace me back into a loving relationship with Him. To be honest, it is impossible for me to count each of God’s blessings in my life, for they are innumerable. I simply recall and engrave them in my heart, so that I will never forget what He has done for me.

In reading John’s Gospel that afternoon in the chapel, I was again touched by his immense love, especially this line,

I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

John 17:23

I came to a deeper understanding that God’s love for humanity, which includes you and I, is manifested in the love that He has shown for His only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. As I meditated on this, I felt so blessed and fortunate that God the Father loves me with the very same love that He has for His only Son. Upon realising this, I immediately felt a force enfolding my entire body, as if it wants to protect and shield me. It actualised within me a deep sense of joy and serene peace.

As the French writer, Victor Hugo once said, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves, or rather loved in spite of ourselves.”

Everyone desires happiness and to be loved, for no one is able to truly live without (or lacking) love. A person who doesn’t love (or be loved) may be physically alive, but spiritually dead.

This is why I truly felt so blessed, for I have at least more than once in my life, experienced God’s immense and everlasting love. It is from this same love that motivated me to respond to His invitation to be His disciple by sharing in the gift of His priesthood, which I have received 27 years ago in 1994.

I continued to silently sit there in the Chapel before the Blessed Sacrament and savoured the sweetness of His unconditional love for me in spite of my unworthiness.

It is also this same love that compels me to give of myself each day in the proclamation of the Gospel – the Good News that God loves humanity and desires to save us all.

Christ desires for us to be with him in His heavenly kingdom, imploring His Heavenly Father,

Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

John 17:24

I am always convinced that after our earthly journey, we will all be reunited with Christ, our most venerable and compassionate Master/Teacher, in our heavenly kingdom, where we will be able to see the Glory of God, to gaze at Him face to face and share in His everlasting joy and eternal happiness.

I’d like to share with you this special spiritual experience in order to give thanks to God for His great love for me and the many blessings He has continuously been giving me in my life. I will never forget His unfathomable love for me. All I want to do is to give my entire life to Him and to love God and His people with all my heart.

Main Image: Heinrich Hofmann

God – The Supreme Embroiderer Part 1

He turns bad into good and takes our adversities to weave a beautiful picture

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was sitting, which was the underside. I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand.

She would smile at me, look down and gently say, “My son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side.”

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the light ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother’s voice say, “Son, come and sit on my knee.”

This I did, only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, “My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

Many times, through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, “Father, what are You doing?” He has answered, “I am embroidering your life.” I say, “But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can’t they all be bright?” The Father seems to tell me, “My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side.”

The above anecdote is taken from Embroidery (Author unknown). It is short and simple, but contains a wonderful message that helps to explain the questions and problems in life, especially spiritual ones, we often encounter.

For example, why does God allow me to suffer so much and bad things happen to me every now and then, even though I am not the agent or cause of these incidents? I am sure all of us have experienced such unfortunate situations at several points in our lives.

From accidents and natural disasters (storms, floods, forest fires, etc.) to those that man inflicts on others such as wars and criminal acts that cause us to lose those we love, our homes and personal property.

I, too, have been through several traumatic events and sufferings while growing up. I was born and raised during the Vietnam civil war, between people in the North and the South, due to differences in government and political ideologies. By the time the war ended in April 1975, I was 15 years old, but had witnessed many tragic scenes: bombs killing innocent people – especially women, children and the elderly – and destroying villages and cities.

I have seen mothers mourn their children, wives their husbands and the plight of orphans who no longer had parents. At least two million civilians and 1.3 million combatants died during the war that started in 1954.

In 1981, I had to flee my hometown and country. I had no choice but to leave behind everyone and everything dear to me, especially my parents, family and friends, to be free to answer God’s call for me to enter the priesthood.

The Communist authorities, who won the war and had taken over governing Vietnam, tried to stop me after discovering that a Catholic seminary had secretly accepted my application to study for the priesthood.

They forced me to enlist in their military in 1980 to fight against the Khmer Rouge, their rival communists in Cambodia, and it was highly unlikely I would have survived this war. So, I deserted the Vietnamese communist army and became a fugitive who was hunted like an animal.

There were times, while I was on the run from my pursuers that I silently lashed out at God, because He had called me to follow Him as a disciple of Jesus and I felt He had abandoned me. I asked why He chose and called me, only to leave me running for my life.

“God, could you see what you have done to me?” I complained to God. “I must endure persecutions because of my faith and because I did answer your call. I had to leave my home and family and must search for a way out of my own terrible situation, and it seems to me that there is no way out.”

The only way to survive this persecution, I concluded, was to escape from Vietnam. It can be said that from 1980 till the end of 1981 was the darkest time of my life. I lived completely in despair and in that great misery I pleaded many times with God to take my life, just as Tobias prayed to God in the Old Testament (Tb 3:1-6):

3:1. Then Tobias sighed, and began to pray with tears,
3:2. Saying, Thou art just, O Lord, and all thy judgments are just, and all thy ways mercy, and truth, and judgment:
3:3. And now, O Lord, think of me, and take not revenge of my sins, neither remember my offences, nor those of my parents.
3:4. For we have not obeyed thy commandments, therefore are we delivered to spoil and to captivity, and death, and are made a fable, and a reproach to all nations, amongst which thou hast scattered us.
3:5. And now, O Lord, great are thy judgments, because we have not done according to thy precepts, and have not walked sincerely before thee.
3:6. And now, O Lord, do with me according to thy will, and command my spirit to be received in peace: for it is better for me to die, than to live.

It is like the embroidered story at the start of this article. Seen from my side, I felt that everything was in chaos, deadlock and despair. I could not see a way out and became depressed and pessimistic during this dark time that had engulfed me. Life became meaningless and I did not want to live anymore.

I wanted to die peacefully so that I could be united with God in heaven. It was my sincere wish and great desire at that time because this would solve all my problems. Every night, with tears in my eyes, I prayed earnestly to God to take me away to Him.

I prayed this way for more than one month, only to get up each morning very much alive. God had remained silent and did not grant my wish.

For about 10 months I lived in such a terrible condition, hiding as a fugitive and constantly afraid the military police or local law officers would eventually catch up with me. My state of mind was dreadful that my family finally ordered me to flee Vietnam, as the situation had become quite dangerous for both me and them.

God weaves a beautiful picture of our lives but we can only see its beauty when He is finished His work.

I didn’t want them to suffer the consequences of my actions, so I searched and eventually found someone who was gathering other people who were in a similar dire situation. They had a small boat for 51 of us, including children, to escape Vietnam.

At the first opportunity in darkness one night, these agents goaded us like cattle to a meeting point at the coast and onto the boat so small there was hardly space for anyone to lie down and rest.

We had no choice but to endure what was no guarantee that we would survive our desperate flight from Communist oppression.

The weather was no friend either because fierce rainstorms conspired to accompany us at sea. For five days high waves tossed our boat vigorously and when the sea was calm, the blazing sun burnt our skins.

It came to the point that although no one fell off the boat in trying conditions, we were losing hope of surviving because no land had come into view, and we were running out of food and water.

Everyone, Christian or not, had quietly made their peace with God before what must surely come: death. Then, just as suddenly as our hope was almost gone, as twilight took over from day, we spotted lights in the distance.

As we squinted our eyes, we could make out people. It was land and we guessed it was probably a village of people going about their evening activities.

To our amazement when we reached the “village” it was a camp for other Vietnamese refugees like us at Pulau Bidong in the eastern coast of Malaysia.

The joy of everyone on our little boat that we had reached such a place was indescribable and one of unbelief. We had escaped from the jaws of death at sea. For us, it was a great miracle. Whether one believes or not, we were all convince that surely it was the Hand of God that had been with us all along at every step of our ordeal, in Vietnam and especially in our journey to freedom in the treacherous sea.

Through our jubilation, I could imagine God admonishing us: “O men of little faith?” (Mt 8:26)

Continue to Part 2

God – The Supreme Embroiderer Part 2

He weaves beauty in our lives, but we won’t see the masterpiece until it is ready

Continued from Part 1

In transit at Pulau Bidong, the feeling was that of someone without any relatives or friends living in countries that accepted refugees. Odds were I was unlikely to be resettled and would eventually be sent back to Vietnam.

But after more than six months living there in poor conditions, I was fortunate that an Australian humanitarian delegation had requested to interview me. They eventually decided I ticked all the right boxes as a refugee and allowed me to resettle in Australia. This was my greatest joy yet, for it opened a new path for me to answer God’s call to the priesthood.

I arrived in Perth, Western Australia on August 10, 1982. It is nearly 40 years since that day, and I have worked to devote all my time and energy to be a worthy student of God.

My first task was to learn English, which I could not speak or write, with the view that one day I could go back to the Seminary to continue my vocation to the priesthood. I was very fortunate to have first entered Saint Charles Seminary in Guildford, in the Archdiocese of Perth in 1982.

Later at the end of the following year, I moved to Sydney to join the Redemptorist Order.

In February 1984, I officially started my formation program with them and after 10 years, my Provincial Superior approved and recommended that I be ordained as a Redemptorist priest. This happy occasion came to pass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Maidstone Parish in Melbourne on 16 July 1994.

After my ordination, the Provincial Superior allowed me to pursue the second-year program of my Psychology studies at the University of Western Australia. I then went on to study for a Master of Moral Theology at the University of Notre Dame in early 1996.

After I gained Australian citizenship, by God’s grace I was invited to Vietnam to teach Moral Theology at the Redemptorist Seminary in Saigon (also known as Ho Chi Minh City). After a year of teaching there, I was sent to Rome to pursue a Doctorate in this subject at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome.

The Redemptorists founded the academy in 1949 and since 1960 began specialising in moral theology as a part of the Pontifical Lateran University’s Faculty of Theology.

On April 8, 2003, after three years in Italy, I completed my doctorate and returned to Australia to continue the mission God and the Redemptorist Congregation entrusted to me.

I can now reflect with clarity on the important events that have taken place in my life: From accepting God’s call to beginning my journey towards the priesthood in a very difficult situation and entering the “underground seminary” to having to decide to leave my homeland via the sea voyage.

Living in the Pulau Bidong Refugee camp, my days were filled with hardship, suffering and despair because I did not know what my future would be like and where it would go.

When I arrived in Australia, I was faced with new challenges. First, I found myself in a completely foreign culture and language. I was like a lost sheep and helpless as I was alone in a foreign land without any friends or relatives. Except One. God was the only friend I had, and He was my companion. I had faith in Him, who was full of love and mercy, and hoped He would never abandon me in my misery!

But Australia has given me a golden opportunity to continue my priestly vocation journey. It also provided me with a good and favorable environment to indulge in my studies, so that I can continue to follow my dreams. With so many ups and downs, and many important events that have since happened, I reflected that I had a view exactly like the boy in the story.

I saw underneath the tapestry God was weaving in my life and was confused, bewildered and felt hopeless. I thought I will never be able to continue my vocation journey, even after I escaped from Vietnam because when arrived in Australia, I found it difficult to learn English.

Enunciating English words drove me crazy, as it does not have a consistent rule to guide me how to pronounce them correctly. Then, I did not dare think that I would qualify to study philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary, even if I were accepted. There were times when I felt completely exhausted and was convinced I would fail in my vocational endeavours.

Australia presented new challenges in my journey to the priesthood.

But mysteriously, God had His own plan and would carry it out to lead me through the twists and turns of my journey. I experienced the kind of melancholy mood of the two disciples on the way back to Emmaus, who were sad, depressed and desperate, because three days had passed and they still have not seen their Master risen from the dead, as he promised.

Like them, I wanted to retreat and give up, and to accept a return to my previous life. In that critical moment, Jesus himself appeared before me, just as He did to the two Emmaus disciples. He encouraged and gave me more energy, patience, and will-power so that I would be able to overcome the difficulties I was facing.

After 28 years since I was ordained as priest (1994-2022), I am amazed and realize it was God who weaved everything in my life. It was His hand that guided and led me to where I am today.

Indeed, He is a mighty God and a talented and brilliant embroiderer.
Only He can perform great things: from nothingness to existence, from the trivial to the great, from something ordinary to the extraordinary, from an unknown person to an evangelizer filled with a burning love of God’s good news and of His unconditional love for humanity.

Dear God, I thank You with all my heart and would like to express my deep gratitude to you. Thank you for illuminating and revealing to me Your wonderful message through the story “God’s Embroidery”. It gives me an insight into Your marvelous plan, although it can sometimes be too mysterious for me and others to comprehend it fully.

I am so deeply grateful for whatever you have done in my life. You truly know what is best for me and how to form me according to your Son’s image. May you continue to transform and help me to realize that I need to be more patient with myself, and with the work you are doing at present.

I need to wait until Your embroidery is completed. Only then can I fully understand and see the masterpiece of Your embroidery, and that is also the finished article that You want to show me of my life through the ups and downs that You have allowed me to experience.

May I always trust you wholeheartedly in your divine providence and in a plan that you have for me, since you are my God, a merciful and loving Father.

For without me you can do nothing

Like the smartphone that needs a battery to be useful, we need Christ for power

Last week, I had the opportunity to celebrate Mass at the chapel of the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, Western Australia, and the Gospel reading was from St. John’s Gospel 15:1-17, which I quote as follows:

Jesus the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 

If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 

10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command you, to love one another.

John 15:1-17

This is one passage among the four Gospels I love to read and meditate on. It contains a lot of Jesus Christ’s deep feelings that He wants to share and convey to his beloved disciples. Of course, this includes those of us who have been baptised as Christians.

The entire passage can be viewed as a “love letter” or “will” that Jesus desired to give His disciples before He entered his Passion, which ended with His disgraceful crucifixion and death on the cross.

Anticipating this was going to happen and knowing that time was running out, Jesus seemed anxious on giving his last thoughts and admonishing his disciples with these golden words:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:4-5

What does Jesus have to do with smartphones?

During my homily at the Mass on Wednesday afternoon, I invited students and lay people to learn about a rather practical truth in our spiritual life, which Jesus himself made clear to all of us as He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I abide in him, he bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.”

I ask the students: Do you use smartphones, such as Samsung or iPhone? They replied: “Yes, Father.” So, I invited one of them to show me her iPhone 13 series, which is the latest model, and asked: “Can you tell me and your friends here, what your iPhone 13 can do for you? And what advanced features it has?

She stood up and happily shared with us the latest apps on her smartphone and said:

“This Iphone 13 is very smart and useful. You can use it to make phone calls and talk to people all over the world. You can use apps like Viber, Zalo, WhatsApp or Facetime to communicate and even can make video calls for free (that is, when you call and talk to your loved ones, you can see them and their surroundings).

“You can also use your iPhone to transfer money to relatives or friends or to pay bills, and especially to take pictures, record videos, scan documents and then email them to your family and friends. What’s more, this mobile phone can guide and direct you on what route to take when you are driving, especially to places where you have never been to. The Google Maps’ GPS system is convenient and accurate. I don’t have to look at a map and worry about getting lost.”

I listened to her sharing about the wonderful applications of smartphones, which most people around the world use today to the point that we cannot live and work efficiently without them. We all rely heavily on our mobile phones and we have them with us 24 hours a day. If you leave home without one, we can even say it is dangerous, because you won’t be able to contact anyone or send messages in an emergency.

After she finished telling us about what the wonderful apps of her new iPhone 13 could do, I gently asked her: but can you use that “amazing iPhone”, if it runs out of battery and you forget to recharge it? She looked at me, then smiled sadly and replied, “No, Father.” If my phone runs out of battery power, I cannot use it. My smartphone is dependent on the battery to work. Without power, it becomes useless, since it is not able to do anything.

Through the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, God imparts Grace to us to lead useful and fruitful lives in Communion with Him

Christ the Vine powers us to bear good fruits

I smiled, thanked her and said: “You are right, when the battery runs out, the mobile phone, no matter how advanced it is, becomes useless and impossible to use for anything it is designed to do.”

This is precisely at the heart of the matter that Jesus wants to convey to us, through the passage in John 15:1-17, because the Lord Himself affirms, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5).

Without a battery, the mobile phone couldn’t do what it is made for. Even the newest and most expensive ones become useless. The life of each of us Christians is the same. Without a close union with Jesus Christ, we too become useless and can do nothing, just like the branch must be united into the vine to survive. We need to draw life-giving energy from Christ the vine and then bear fruit.

This is the essential truth in the spiritual life of each one of us because without God we can’t do anything. So we need to abide in Him, like a branch needs to be united with the vine. Separated from the Vine, who is Christ, we the branches will wither, and eventually have to be thrown into the furnace to burn.

Jesus used this very real image to describe and help his disciples understand the mysterious truth in their spiritual lives. Jesus’ use of the image of a vine and a branch made it possible for his disciples and listeners in Palestine to understand and comprehend this sublime truth because in Israel everyone is familiar with it. So, it was easier for everyone to grasp and gladly receive this message from Jesus.

However, in our present time and the world that we live in, I use the image of a mobile phone to explain Jesus’ message in John 15 to my young University students, for them to understand this profound truth that Jesus reveals. This essential truth is that we need to be intimately united with God in our spiritual lives.

Read: Pope to Combonians: Without Jesus, we can do nothing

We are united to God in the Sacraments

Each one of us will be useless if we are not united with God through a life of prayer and diligent participation in the sacraments, the most important of which is still the Holy Eucharist we celebrate at Mass.

And through the Mass, God gives us an abundant source of grace so that each person can live their own “vocation” He has called them to be. The Catholic Church has always declared: “The Mass is the source of all graces and the summit of the Christian life.” (See Catechism of the Catholic Church’s “The Sacrament of the Eucharist”, Nos 1322-1418, Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and Pope John Paul II’s The Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church, Ecclesia de Eucharistia)

The new and modern mobile phone will not bring any benefit to the user if it runs out of battery. Likewise, for us, too, our lives will become futile and meaningless, if we are not truly in close union with God.

Since God is the source of all graces and our great treasure that we always want in our lives, then when we find it, we will be filled with authentic joy and experience inner peace. Happiness, then, will fill our hearts.

I invite you to ponder Jesus’ “love letter and will” He has given us John’s Gospel. Read it slowly and meditate on it (Jn 15:1-17), so that you may be able to draw out the wonderful insights for yourselves.

May God bless you all.

For God, every dark cloud has a silver lining

Meditating on His mysterious Providence as a loving Father for our lives

(Editor’s note: Fr Peter had to flee the clutches of the Vietnamese communist army to answer God’s called to the Priesthood. Watch the documentary on his dramatic escape in the video link provided in this story)

Recently, I felt very fortunate to have received two wonderful messages from God. The first message is this: God is weaving my life and each one of us, so we need to wait patiently until the embroidery is completed. Hopefully by then and only then will we be able to look closely and see in its entirety the splendor of this wonderful embroidered painting of which God is the author. Regarding this experience, I had written an article: God the talented embroiderer in order to share with the readers my own personal insight.

And this weekend, I received another message through the story: “Is Your Hut Burning?” by an unknown author. The heart of this story is that “every cloud has a silver lining”. People often call it “a blessing in disguise”.

I’d like to take the liberty of quoting the full text of the above story for your convenience.

“The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him.prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Though exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements and to store his few possessions.

Then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened: everything was lost.

He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to me!” he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.

‘How did you know I was here?’ asked the weary man of his rescuers. ‘We saw your smoke signal,’ they replied.”

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going badly. But we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is always at work in our lives—even in the midst of pain and suffering.

The next time “your little hut is burning to the ground” – remember, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

From Is Your Hut Burning? by an unknown author

When I read and reflect on this story, I think of some events that happened in my life in the past, but at that time, I could not understand or explain why. But these things happened to me, just like our shipwrecked friend who was washed up on a deserted island. Unfortunately, his hut eventually caught fire. It’s really cruel that things like that can happen to anyone.

Like this guy, my first reaction was to blame God for allowing bad things to happen to me, “God, how could you do this to me!” The year was 1980, the Communists were in control of Vietnam for five years and I was a fugitive from their military.

The military police was hunting for me because I had deserted from the army, six months after I was forced to enlist. I was on the run and had to keep travelling from place to place, just to evade them.

I was depressed and frustrated, and screamed to express my anger and resentment towards God. After all, I had given my life to serve Him and a seminary had quietly accepted my application to study for the priesthood. I tried to make sense of things in the hope of finding an answer, or at least something to comfort and help me accept the unfortunate realities that had engulfed my life.

After many days of scratching my head in an attempt to understand what was happening against my will, I still could not find a reasonable explanation on why God had allowed this to happen to me. In the end, I just had to surrender and accept things despite my desperate situation.

There were times when I fell into a state of complete despair, with no desire for anything or to continue with life because it had become meaningless. In light of such circumstances, could it be said that death is a better thing? I had such a thought, even though I knew life is the most precious gift God gives us and we, in every way, must sustain and protect it.

For almost a year, I wandered around under the weight of extreme depression and disappointment because I couldn’t see my future and find a way out of my desperate situation. In fact, it seemed to me there was no way out. Everything had become meaningless to me. Pessimism overwhelmed me and the will to live was slipping away.

Fr Peter at home in Perth besides a portrait of his late mother.

But indeed “in misfortune, there is luck”. Or in Vietnamese we say, Thành ngữ tiếng Việt: Trong cái rủi có cái may, which in English means “A blessing in disguise”. If I had not fled the training at a secret military camp, I would never have thought about escaping by boat from Vietnam. And I would not have been forced to leave my family and seek freedom, so that I could pursue my priestly vocation.

VIDEO: Watch Fr Peter’s journey from refugee to the priesthood: Heeding the Divine Call

But thanks to the chance I got to squeeze into boat, filled with my fellow refugees, and was able to flee from Vietnam that I was finally able to see a ray of hope for my future. Despite the difficult journey traversing the rough sea, the small wooden boat of about 11 meters in length and 3 meters wide held steady amid huge waves and strong winds.

After five days adrift we finally arrived safely at a small island, called Pulau Bidong in Malaysia. It turned out to be providential because it happened to be refugee camp for escapees, who were also from Vietnam. This was a great miracle for us. Everyone in our boat was happy because we had cheated death. We rejoiced and from the bottom of our hearts, we silently thanked “God” for giving us a chance to rebuild our lives.

As I was looking back, I believed that God’s wonderful divine hand led us to the camp. He has a way of acting that I sometimes cannot understand, for who can fathom God’s ways and His thinking.

Thanks to the experience I had during the most tragic and dark time in my life, I was later able to somewhat understand and sympathize with those who were in a similar situation as I was in.

Bishop Peter Connor ordained Fr Peter at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church
in Maidstone Parish, City of Melbourne on 16 July 1994.

So, every time I have the opportunity to meet and confide in these people, I share with them my hardships and tribulations in order to encourage and comfort them. I believe that all sufferings and difficulties in human life will eventually pass, as our grandparents used to say, “The river has a bend, man has a time.” Again, there is also the same Vietnamese saying that goes like this, “Con Sông có khúc, con người có lúc”.

When we think about that advice, it is very wise, as none of us have to live forever in extreme suffering. Moreover, if we are Christian, one who has faith in God as a bountiful and merciful Father, then He himself will never abandon us.

So, when I read these words, which are recorded in the Bible, they are the positive answer to our negative thoughts. I feel extremely delighted, because it turned out to be true with what I’ve been through.

These words from God correspond with my own experience when I say it is impossible but God instead replies, “Yes, it was possible because nothing is impossible with Me (Luke 18:27)”. I say I am not smart enough and may not be able to study in the Seminary. God again replies and say, “I give you wisdom” and “You can do all things” (Philippians 4:13). And the list of things I used to argue with God could go on as in this story I am telling you.

So, today, I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to re-read these golden words and I realise that the Word of God is really a light, guiding my way and it has given me the power to overcome all adversities.

His Word encouraged and uplifted me, especially when I was feeling down and wanted to give up everything. In short, the Word of God is the living Word, with incomparable power and the ability to transform us. It is like a light shining in the dark, helping us to see things and dispel fear.

For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for each of them.

You say: “It’s impossible.”
God says: “All things are possible.” (Luke 18:27)

You say: “I’m too tired.”
God says: “I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: “Nobody really loves me.
God says: “I love you.” (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say: “I can’t go on.”
God says: “My grace is sufficient.” (2 Corinthians 12:9/Psalm 91:15)

You say: “I can’t figure things out.”
God says: “I will direct your steps.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: “I can’t do it.”
God says: “You can do all things.” (Philippians 4:13)

You say: “I’m not able.”
God says: “I am able.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

You say: “It’s not worth it.”
God says: “It will be worth it.” (Roman 8:28)

You say: “I can’t forgive myself.”
God says: “I FORGIVE YOU!” (1 John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: “I can’t manage.”
God says: “I will supply all your needs.” (Philippians 4:19)

You say: “I’m afraid.”
God says: “I have not given you a spirit of fear.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

You say: “I’m always worried and frustrated.”
God says: “Cast all your cares on ME.” (I Peter 5:7)

You say: “I don’t have enough faith.”
God says: “I have given all a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)

You say: “I’m not smart enough.”
God says: “I give you wisdom.” (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: “I feel all alone.”
God says: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Every cloud has a silver lining. God’s wonderful providence for our lives is so marvelous, which He has planned for us, but it’s unfortunate we are unable to see this clearly.

May God mercifully give us the strength and help us, so that we can always keep our faith and fully trust in Him, even when we feel hopeless and face dangers, sufferings and fall into difficult situations. Even at times like these, Lord, may we never lose our trust in you as a merciful and loving father who loves us deeply. Amen.

(A fuller version of Fr Peter’s story will be published here next week)