Is There Joy Amidst Tragedy?

Today I taught one of the most difficult lessons to my (nganh thieu) kids.  It was about the liturgical seasons, specifically Advent since we are in it, and especially Gaudete Sunday since it is the third week.  Gaudete means joy.  This Sunday, the color of Advent switched from violet to rose signifying that Jesus’ birth was near.  For that reason, it was time to be excited, to be Christmassy, and to rejoice.  But amidst of what took place in Newtown, CT this week, what is there to rejoice in?  Can we be joyful when the unimaginable and heinous act of violence took the lives of 20 children and 8 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School?  The second reading from Paul to the Philippians this Sunday tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always.”  Always?  In the wake of evil, joy would be the last of my reaction.  Anger, bitterness, agony, numbness, confusion, anguish, and sorrowfulness took over.  

At the end of the lesson today, I gathered the kids together.  I prepared a short speech to invite them to be in solidarity with the family and friends of the victims and pray for them.  As I was speaking about the incident, I felt overwhelmed and began to tear up.  I was struggling to speak and completely forgot what I was about to say.  It really didn’t matter.  The whole class was absolutely quiet.  Silence for a whole minute as they watched me scramble to find words.  I have never seen them so quiet like this ever before.  It was very serene, it was a prayer in itself, a prayer of compassion.

 I cannot answer for them why God allows something like this to happen.  There is no satisfactory answer to why such evil exists in this world, but we do know one thing.  That one thing is described beautifully and is the shortest sentence in John’s gospel: “And Jesus wept.”  Jesus wept because he understands what sorrow is and what it is like to lose a loved one.  Jesus was with Mary and Martha during their painful time and he is with the families of Newtown today in their mourning.  Our God is the God of Emmanuel, the God of With-Us, the God that accompanies us through our times of sorrow.  It is God’s desire to join us in our prayers and share our sadness and anger when life turns bitter.  

Rejoice in the Lord always. So how are we supposed to rejoice always in times like these?  Because our God weeps with us and promise us eternal life.  Jesus came to Lazarus’s tomb and removed the sufferings by raising him from the dead.  In the end, death is not the last word, nor is violence.  James Martin, SJ, tells us to distinguish the difference between joy and happiness, “Joy, deeper than happiness, is a virtue that finds its foundation in the knowledge that we are loved by God.”  We celebrate the joyful part of being Christians every time we remember Jesus’ resurrection.  Jesus didn’t leave us with the image of suffering, but his last act before ascending into heaven was lifting up his hands to bless us and sending the Spirit to continue loving us to the end.  We are the people of Easter, the people of joy.  There are times that life becomes unbearable, the true joy that can be found in those situations is trusting that a loving, compassionate God is carrying us through all circumstances.    

  

Thankfully, wherever there is hardship and tragedy, one can find wonderful beauties.  There are many caring people in this world to rejoice about.  There are people helping one another, sacrificing for one another and loving of one another.  One such example is Victoria Soto, the 27-year-old first grade teacher at the elementary school who hid all her students in the closet and became a human shield.  She was gunned down by the shooter after she told him the kids were in the gym.  All 16 of her students are safe and alive, but she herself is dead.  Her selfless act of love in my opinion makes it possible for us to restore hope in the goodness of humanity.  We celebrate Victoria Soto’s life because she is a hero, and that gives us something to be joyful about.   

As we approach the season of Christmas, may our God, who is the God of compassion, the God of joy, embrace and welcome the souls of the innocent children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School into the glory of God’s loving arms.  May God comfort the sorrowful hearts of their families and friends.  Amen.     

   

  

The Will of God Will Never Take You, Where the Grace of God Cannot Keep You

The Will of God

The will of God will never take you,
Where the grace of God cannot keep you,
Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs,
Where the power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the Spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the army of God cannot protect you,
Where the hands of God cannot mold you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you,
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.

Everything happens for a purpose. We may not see the wisdom of it all now, but trust and believe in God that everything is for the best.

~ Author unknown


It takes great faith to surrender all our worries, anxiety and control in life and put all our trust in God. During Advent, we are reminded like Mary to be not afraid. Although we are unsure of what our call will require of us in the next moment, tomorrow or the years to come, we are invited to follow Mary's example and say, "Yes!" to God. May God strengthen our trust so that we can be faithful servant to the world.

“Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38).

Hearts Turning to Christ

Today marks the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, one of the amazing pioneer and missionary that have transformed the European church to a world church. Since the time of Paul, he is said to have converted more people than anyone else with his most significant work in India. Francis traveled on his life journey full of treachery at every turn in a hidden world at the time. He left his family and friends behind to plant seeds for Christ and wanted Christ to be praised from all peoples of the world.

As we draw close to the mystery of the incarnation, let us ask him to strengthen and bathe us under the light of the Advent hope. Fr. James Field says his journey was a journey "towards" and not a journey "from" as he left Europe. As we begin the first week of Advent, let us pray that we always have a door propped open for our Lord's grace and love to enter. With so many things that can easily distract us from this holiday season from finals to bargains, let us refresh ourselves for our journey "towards" Christ. We run so quickly sometimes and we need a little Advent to stop and let our souls catch up with us.


PRAYER

Lord, may Christmas shine with light and meaning, may my re-found soul glow with light and peace, and may the lessons of the manger convince me that God places his greatest trust in ordinary lives, including mine.

Gratitude Is The Smile Of Love!

I just love this quote and thought I would share.  Blessed Thanksgiving to all!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." – Melody Beattie

Counting Grace, Finding Joy, Sharing Love

I remember a story that I heard about five people who froze to death around a campfire on a particularly cold night.  The fire was dying out and each of them had a stick of wood which they can put in to keep the fire going.  However, all of them refused to give what they had.  The woman would not give her stick of wood because there was a man in the circle.  The homeless man did not give his because there was a rich man there.  The rich man did not offer his stick because it would have warmed someone who he thought was lazy and undeserving.  The Christian did not contribute his stick of wood because he saw a Muslim in the group.  And the African American clung onto his piece of wood to get even with the white people present.  The fire eventually died out and all of them froze to death holding onto to their sticks of wood that could have saved them.  “They did not die from the cold outside, but the cold from within” is how the story ended. 

I like to remember Thanksgiving as a reason so that we won’t all freeze to death.  It is the reason to enkindle that fire to warm our frozen hearts and be thankful for our sticks of wood. 

There is always something that we can be thankful for and sometimes it takes a specific holiday or time of the year to remind us that.  It often seems easier to come up with a list of our needs and desires than a list of things which we are grateful for.  Thanksgiving Day helps us express our thanks and blessings that we have received over the past year.  It reminds us that all that we have are not so much of our merits, but a free and generous gift from God who gave us the gift of life itself.  That is why to be truly people of thanksgiving, we have to know how to use our blessings and extend the grace we receive onto others.  Selfishness and ingratitude are not necessarily opposites of thanksgiving, greed is.  The need to have more, the need for self-interest, and the need to satisfy the feeling of never having enough.  When greed takes over, we become people who are too busy looking for more.  We clutch tightly onto our possessions, but in reality, they are holding onto us.  They have possession of us.  We don’t have time to enjoy those gifts let alone share them with others.  So to be a people of thanksgiving, we must be able to count our grace, find joy in them, and share them lovingly with open hands.

May God’s grace find us and our families this Thanksgiving.  And may our world become a joyful, warm and thankful place for all to feel welcome in.  Amen.

Modern-Day Beatitudes

Blessed are the strange, the weird, the people we laugh at, those who do not fit our mold, especially the socially wretched and despised. By their presence in our lives, their mission is to expand our reality — on our part, reluctantly and on theirs, so painfully — by forcing us to look at them in the hope that we see God in them.

Blessed are the depressed and the addicted for they are called upon to demonstrate the healing miracles of God through their own awakening and liberation.

Blessed are the broken, those who fail, those who fall below our expectations for they are asked to show the rest of us that not being perfect is part of the human condition — that accepting our imperfection is the first step in our realization of the divine perfection of all that is, as is.

Blessed are the nameless, the faceless the dispossessed — the refugees, the homeless and the poor, for they point us to the way to compassion. By their sheer numbers, they tell us that, ultimately, the experience of compassion is inescapable.

Blessed are the cruel, the calloused and uncaring, for on some deep unconscious level, they choose to delay their own liberation so that others, strangely enough, may be “enlightened” by their example.

Blessed are those who constantly arouse us to anger, who bring out the worst in us, for they force us out of the denial that we harbor within — that we are hooked on them, that they resonate with something hidden inside us, and to break free, we must let go of our misguided moral superiority.

Blessed are those who cause us to suffer repeatedly by their mistakes, for they are our tutors who spend valuable time so that, in their failures, we may learn our lessons well.

Blessed are those who do not seem to have a life, and especially those who do not have a choice — those who are physically debilitated, paralyzed or in a coma and cannot move, for they bring us a message that is lost in this age of frenzy — that to be worthy of God’s love, we need not strive to do or achieve anything, but simply be.

Blessed are all of us, for whatever condition we find ourselves in, we can choose to remember our true nature, our original blessing, our timeless grace — anytime, any place, and always — and be happy in our Oneness.


By Jim Paredes

God is ELIKYA

Elikya means hope.
 

Whether last night was a cause for disappointment or celebration, it was indeed a cause for an historical witness of our country. More and more young people are tuned into politics and voicing their beliefs and opinions. The rhetoric however, turned ugly fast when the election came to an end. It was truly troubling from the reactions of both sides. Hate and anger were on the lips or fingers of many, believers and non-believers alike. Whether you are for or against President Obama, one thing should be clear, there is neither room for despair nor much for celebration because there is still much to do. It is not the time to draw more lines between one another. Rather, we must learn to work together to move the country forward. As Obama says, it doesn’t and it shouldn’t matter if “you’re black or white, or Hispanic or Asian, or Native American, or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight,” you can make it if you’re willing to try. As the U.S. continues to fall further down on the global ranking in education and economics, let us hope this is a wake-up call for the change that is much needed.

Last night also showed some interesting numbers between the “Catholic vote.” Fox News’ exit poll (I watch Fox News for entertainment purposes but sometimes they are useful) shows that 42% of Catholics who attended weekly mass voted for Obama compared to 56% who do not attend weekly. 57% and 42% are the numbers for Romney voters. There is certainly a shift among younger Catholics who do not have the same sense of attachment on the key issues as their elders did. I am no expert, but speaking from being one myself, it is irresponsible to perceive of our civic duties in narrow terms such as abortion rights and same sex marriage. The rising generation is becoming more tolerant and welcoming to diversity. It is being shaped by the longest economic recession since the Great Depression and a war lasting for more than a decade. Unfortunately, it is also drifting away from organized religion and becoming more secular. The “Nones” now make up the second largest religious grouping after the 22% Catholics in the population. These numbers are appalling and it is time to ask, how can the Church respond?

I think one thing for sure is that there is a struggle of how to balance one’s conscience. The Church teaches that abortion and gay marriage are intrinsically evil and must be opposed. But what about cutting taxes for the rich and slashing social spending which hurts the poor? These are also intrinsically evil and must be opposed. How does one weigh these two issues on the scale of truth? One less appreciated aspect of the Church is its social teachings. It is something that the Church cannot afford to ignore in the midst of the growing and rising younger generation.

I began with God is Elikya and I will end with that sense of hope. This year is the 50^th anniversary of Vatican II and I continue to hold the belief that the Church is the bearer of the message for universal salvation for all. We are called to open the windows to see the signs of the time and respond to it. As the Jesuit’s motto suggests, we need to find God in all things and at all times. There is no doubt at times I struggle with the Church. But there is no doubt, I love my Church. The Church over the course of time has shown again that it is not a museum where saints are displayed. It is rather a hospital for sinners, but more importantly beloved sinners. Among the sinners are home to extraordinary people like Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope John XXIII, Padre Pio, Dorothy Day, and the many good people and charities that aid the poor, needy, orphans, sick and widows today. Looking at Peter in the gospels gives me some comfort in knowing that I do not need to be the best disciple to do great work. Despite his shortcomings, he could still be useful to God and in which Jesus entrusts his sheep.

God definitely is Elikya. This hope calls us to not forget as Cardinal Dolan calls, the ‘uns’: “the un-employed, un-insured, un-wanted, un-wed mother and her innocent, fragile un-born baby in her womb, the un-documented, the un-housed, the un-fed, and the under-educated.” We cannot run away from our mission and the mission of Jesus.

May we remember that there is still much to do. And may the God of Elikya be always with us as we continue to humble ourselves, bend over, and wash the feet of our sisters and brothers.

 

 

Post-Election Reflection

Congratulations to President Barack Obama on winning his second term. As Stephen Colbert says, “America has elected its first black president for an historic first second time.” Although there may be issues we don’t agree upon, I think all of us have a similar goal of making America a better place for all. Like many other faithful Catholics, I followed the election with deep concerns ranging from life issues to poverty to wars. No candidates to my knowledge fully reflected the social teachings of the Church. In the document, “Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility,” the U.S. Catholic bishops highlighted our moral priorities of protecting human life, promoting family life, pursuing social justice and practicing global solidarity. Unfortunately, ideology rather than principle is the reality of the political world, and special interests and big contributors govern the presidential ambitions.

In this 2012 election, I have seen some voters emphasize abortion and traditional marriage as their reasons for supporting Romney. However, the exclusion of other moral considerations does not exhaust one’s responsibility toward the common good. Life is a complex issue and it cannot rely solely on the focus of the birth of a child. Rather, our moral responsibilities include life at the moment of conception to the moment of a person’s last breath. Human life today is attacked not only by abortion, but by poverty, hunger, violence, wars, the death penalty and a lack of knowledge in the Gospels. As Catholics, we are called and obliged to make a stand on the common good no matter who is president. As the Church, we are responsible to respect the immigrants, the migrant workers, the working class, and the most vulnerable and marginalized in society.  It is our duty to alleviate not just poverty in the United States but global poverty. We are called to care for all creation so that the generations after us can enjoy. “No matter who is president, Jesus is king.” No matter who is president, the fight for human life continues.

Down Syndrome, A Punishment from God?

I am just baffled sometimes knowing that there are people who still hold this idea.  To them, Down Syndrome (DS) is a punishment for the manifestation of sins in the world.  They would use words like “disabled,” “retarded,” and “abnormal” to imply a special brand of imperfection.  Yet I am unable to imagine what kind of God do they profess in believing.  It is certainly not the one you hear the evangelist John proclaims as so loving whom He sent his only Son to be among us.  It is possible that they might not even know who God is because they have yet to experience the love of someone with DS (1 John 4:8).      

A child with DS is not defective or a mistake.  Like any child, they are first and foremost, a special gift, a precious human being, a child with much to offer.  For me, there are three things that I have learned from people with DS.  First, they are loving and affectionate people.  How would the world be like if they were to govern it?  It may not be as structured and organized as it can be, but at least there would be endless joys of hugs and the genuine care for others.  What you see in front of you is really what you get.  Simple, straightforward and unpretentious people whose lives are so pure.

Secondly, patience, and lots of patience.  It takes time to develop the relationship of understanding.  People with DS can be a little difficult to understand since their speech may not be clear.  I find that ambiguity can cause us to be frustrated, but we need to have the patience, flexibility, and peace in knowing that the vagueness is okay.  Charitable love eventually will take over and I have learned that it will fill up the gaps for us for it has no strings to tie us down. 

Lastly, I am grateful for the lesson of humility.  The humility to know who I am, and that is weak, limited, and broken.  I am not any better or know any better than I think I am.  Whether we have an extra chromosome or not, we are all playing together on a grass field sprouted in God’s grace.  We all have the same goal and we are all on the same team.  People with DS helped me to celebrate diversity and stretched that word beyond my definition.  Diversity is bigger than just race, gender and ethnicity.  It is about accepting the uniqueness of others and knowing that despite our differences, we are all the same in God’s eyes.  All the people with DS whom I have encountered have been an ongoing inspiration for me as I get to know them.  This is why I am not able to understand how someone can say that the evidence of sin and punishment lies in the extra chromosome.  I once read from someone that said the only evidence of sin is how the world reacts to those with DS.  I am no more human, no more born in less sin, and no more blessed in God’s grace than anyone else.           

Today is the last day of October.  It is the last day of the month we celebrate awareness of people with Down Syndrome.  One of the stories that I saw that touched my heart earlier this year was a story of an identical twin who has DS and diagnosed with leukemia together.  You can see their story of hope below and let us keep them and all those with DS, their families and caretakers in our prayers.

 

 

The two words that can change the world: BE KIND!

It is so astounding how just two simple words have the potential to change the world, yet it is so hard to do.  Be kind.  One of my favorite quotes by an unknown person speaks that: “To be kind is more important than to be right.  Many times, what people need is NOT a brilliant mind that speaks but a SPECIAL HEART that listens.”  Kindness is not what we give, how much we give, or who we give it to, but it is who we are.  Many of us, myself included, believe that we have no power or are too insignificant to make a difference in this world.  But we don’t need to eradicate world hunger or cure cancer to be a difference.  When we detach ourselves of the results of our actions and focus on our giving nature, we will be freer to form relationships and explore new ways of loving that we have never imagined.       

Many people associate kindness with actions, but kindness is rather an attitude that manifests itself in deeds.  Kindness grows root and sprout in mysterious ways.  It is a magnet that attracts.  It makes people want to come in and see what’s going on.  Kindness leads to conversion more than anything else.  I like to picture kindness as a tiny snowball on top of the hill.  As it rolls down, it grows larger and larger, faster and faster, until it becomes unstoppable.  Let us strive to be the tiny snowball on top of that hill, and be reminded again that: 

“To be kind is more important than to be right.  Many times, what people need is NOT a brilliant mind that speaks but a SPECIAL HEART that listens.”

And, yes, about this I am quite sure that I am right!

You don’t have to take my word for it, just ask Sophia.

Why I'm Going Purple For Spirit Day

Just to be clear and upright, this post is not one on Catholic moral teachings.  It is an invitation to stand against bullying and violence targeting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) youths in American schools.  This Friday, October 19, is a day known as “Spirit Day” (http://www.glaad.org/spiritday) that started in 2010 in response to the young people who had taken their lives. 

According to the Trevor Project, LGBT youths are four times more likely to attempt suicide than straight peers (therefore, it is a life issue).  They are eight times as likely when their families reject them compared to families with no or low levels of rejection.  As Catholics, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that LGBT should be treated with “respect, compassion and sensitivity.”  This is an opportunity for all of us to show our support and love for our neighbors who suffer from discrimination and bullying.  Let’s show our support for our LGBT brothers and sisters by praying for one another, speaking out against bullying and wearing PURPLE this Friday on Spirit Day. Purple is a color of compassion and remorse, the compassion and remorse over any hate speech.

For UW alumni and students, it should be easier to wear purple this Friday.  I will be showing some Huskies pride along with my support for Spirit Day.  P.S. Go Dawgs!     

 

 

Spiritual Significance of Eating

As Catholics, eating and drinking with our sisters and brothers are central acts to remember what Jesus has done for us. When we receive the Eucharist in mass, that sense in remembrance is heightened as we behold the flesh and blood of Christ himself. John E. Burkhart says that we cannot be worthy enough to gather in the table of the Lord if it wasn’t for the grace of God that bestowed on us. Jesus lays out a feast for us because of the desire to be with us. The meal that God wants us to gather to or in communion with, is one where we can share our humanity with one another and bridge that together with the divine bond. A meal is more than just fulfilling the satisfaction of physical hunger, it is about giving oneself to others and realizing our brokenness.

With our busy lives today, we see meals as the part of the day to do some socializing as well as filling our bellies with quick food. We sometimes don’t have the time to sit down and talk or laugh about the things that is happening around us. It seems routine sometimes to finish eating and get back to the things that we think are more important. But if we think that meals are just merely earthly activity, we are missing the important part, the spiritual significance of it. The purpose of eating is not simply about foods but sharing our lives with each other through the context of a spiritual relationship. We share our blessings, our worries, our anger and fellowships with one another so that we may become more intimate with others, and ultimately with Christ.

A particular meal in the Old Testament, the Passover Feast, represents a covenant meal of bringing God’s chosen people out of Egypt. At the Last Supper, Jesus became the sacrificial lamb for his disciples to eat in order to give us a new and everlasting covenant. We are reminded every time at the altar that Christ has become the bread and wine for us to be nourished. God is the giver of every meal and the host at every table. Every meal is an opportunity to worship and praise God and celebrate the resurrected Christ. Though we may come in many different ways, we are all of one body that shares the living bread and cup of salvation.

DEUS CARITAS EST (God is Love)

A friend of mine once asked me, where do you begin when someone is curious about Catholicism and wants to know more?  For someone who knows little about the faith, I suggested the best place to begin is painting with them the image of God is love.  This is one of the first images that I learned of God: God is love all the time!  The very nature of God is love.  That means it is not something God shows, as in God is loving, but something that characterizes who God is, love.  For this reason, God loves us because of who God is, not because who we are or what we do.  The fact that God loves us will never change.  God sets his love upon us because God freely chooses to be in accord with God’s nature.  We are made in the image of God and we are able to love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).

We forget this sometimes because we feel that we are not good enough or holy enough.  As the song (“You Are More”) by Tenth Avenue North suggests: we are more than the choices that we’ve made, we are more than the sum of our past mistakes and we are more than the problems we create.  We are indeed more than our faults and failures simply because we can imagine a God that thinks of us and smiles (Anthony de Mello).  This is because we don’t need to do great things in order to impress God.  We are not called to duplicate Mother Teresa or anyone else on this earth.  What we are called to is to realize our authentic selves.  To be a saint, Thomas Merton wrote, is to be yourself. 

Today marks the 50^th Anniversary of the Vatican II Council.  One of my favorite documents that were produced from the council is Gaudium Et Spes (Joy and Hope).  What a wonderful reminder as we kick off the Year of Faith.  Every morning as we wake up this year, let us be reminded of the message of hope in the incarnation on Christmas day and the joy in the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.