• About The Alternate Path

The Alternate Path

~ Thoughts on Walking the Path of Christian Discipleship

The Alternate Path

Monthly Archives: April 2008

The Twenty-fourth Paragraph

27 Sunday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

…You have one homeland,
the bell rings, grave, deep,
Vietnam prays.
The bell rings still, sharp, charged with emotion,
Vietnam weeps.
The bell rings again, vibrant pathetic,
Vietnam triumphs.
The bell tolls, crystalline
Vietnam hopes.

You have one homeland, Vietnam;
a country so beloved, through the centuries.
It is your pride, your joy.
Love her mountains and her rivers,
her brocade and satin landscapes,
her glorious history,
her hard-working people,
her heroic defenders.

The raging rivers run
as does the blood of her people.
Her mountains are high,
but higher still the bones that are piled there.
The land is narrow, but her ambition vast,
O little country much renowned!

Help your homeland with your whole self,
be faithful to her;
defend her with your body and blood,
build her up with your heart and mind,
share the joy of your brothers and sisters,
and the sadness of your people.

One Vietnam.
One people.
One soul.
One culture.
One tradition.

Catholics of Vietnam,
love a thousand times your homeland!
The Lord teaches you, the Church asks you –
may the love of your country be fully one
with the blood that runs through your veins.

(Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish, poem written during house arrest on December 8, 1975)

Reflection

What is amazing is that these words were written by a man under arrest by the very government of the country he loves. For thirteen years he will be imprisoned and eventually exiled from his beloved homeland. But his heart does not succumb to bitterness; instead it turns to hope.

In speaking of the Twenty-four Paragraphs which we have been meditating upon these past few weeks, Cardinal Van Thuan remarks, “They are very practical points. If we live the twenty-four hours of our day radically for Jesus, we will be saints. They are the twenty-four stars that light up our road of hope … Reread these thoughts once a week. You will find that grace will shine forth, transforming your lives.”

The Twenty-third Paragraph

25 Friday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

You have only one reward: God himself. When God asked Saint Thomas Aquinas: “You have written well of me, Thomas; what reward do you desire?” Saint Thomas replied, “Only you, Lord.” (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Let nothing trouble you.
Let nothing scare you,
all is fleeting,
God alone is unchanging.
Patience
everything obtains.
Who possesses God
nothing wants.
God alone suffices. (St. Theresa of Avila)

The Twenty-second Paragraph

25 Friday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Have one way of becoming holy: the grace of God and your will to live by grace (cf. 1 Cor 15:10). God will never be lacking with his grace; but is your will strong enough? (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Rather than an abandonment of will, trusting in God’s grace is a full act of the will. In fact it is the fullest human act possible.

The Twenty-first Paragraph

23 Wednesday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Have only one important objective: your duty. It is not important if it is large or small, because when you do your duty you are collaborating with the Heavenly Father, who has determined that this is the work that you alone must do to carry out his plan in history (cf. Lk 2:49, Jn 17:4). Many people invent complicated ways of practicing virtue and then they complain how difficult it is, but doing your duty is the most certain and simplest path of virtue you can follow. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Cardinal Van Thuan is submitting for our consideration an awareness of the asceticism of the daily. We do not need to be hermits perched on mountain-tops to develop virtue and encounter God; we just need to be attentive to our daily responsibilities and duties. Here and today God is present; I just need to do what I am supposed to do and I will encounter Him. Found in this asceticism is a basic trust in God’s plan.

The Twentieth Paragraph

22 Tuesday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Have one “magna carta”: the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12). Jesus proclaimed them in the Sermon on the Mount. Live according to them and you will experience a happiness which you will then communicate to all whom you meet. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

The Beatitudes are the charter document of our true citizenship. As we live by the vision of the
Beatitudes we give witness to where our ultimate citizenship resides: the Kingdom of God. In this living of the Beatitudes we become salt and light for others. “And as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same…” (Nelson Mandela)

The Ninteenth Paragraph

21 Monday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

You have only one moment which is the most beautiful: the present moment (cf. Mt 6:34, Jas 4:13-15). Live it completely in the love of God. If your life is built up like a large crystal from millions of such beautiful moments, it will be a wonderfully beautiful life. Do you see how easy it is? (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Our tendency is to either rush into the future or dwell in the past. It is a discipline to appreciate the present moment and this discipline must be cultivated and worked at but with the maturation of this discipline in our lives comes a fuller awareness of and gratitude for reality as it is and also the gifts of hope, joy and wonder at it all.

At this point an excerpt from the reflection by St. Gregory of Nyssa in today’s Office of Readings (Monday, Fifth Week of Easter) is insightful. The saint is reflecting on living in the awareness of the resurrection of Christ.

‘This is the day the Lord has made’ – a day far different from those made when the world was first created and which are measured by the passage of time. This is the beginning of a new creation. On this day, as the prophet says, God makes a new heaven and a new earth. What is the this new heaven? you may ask. It is the firmament of our faith in Christ. What is this new earth? A good heart, a heart like the earth, which drinks up the rain that falls on it and yields a rich harvest.

The Eighteenth Paragraph

18 Friday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Your only food: “The Father’s will (Jn 4:34); that is, you live and grow by the will of God. Your actions proceed from the will of God. The will of God is like food which makes you live strongly and happily; if you live apart from the will of God, you will die. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

To seek the will of God in ones life is fundamentally to seek the face of Christ. Christ is the icon of the Father’s will and to gaze on Christ is to encounter and learn the contours, the shading and the edge of God’s will. “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father … Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…” (Jn 14:9-12).

The Seventeenth Paragraph

17 Thursday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

There is only one truly important thing: “Mary chose the better part” when she sat at the Lord’s feet (Lk 10:41-42). If you are not living an interior life, if Jesus is not the very life and soul of your activities then…. You fully understand the consequences of such living and so there is no need for me to repeat them here. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Joy is the surest indicator of the presence of God. And where there is joy there is found hope. Conduct a fearless moral inventory: When has joy been present in your life and why? When has joy been absent in your life and why?

The Sixteenth Paragraph

16 Wednesday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

For your apostolate use the one most effective means: personal contact. With this you enter into the lives of others, you understand them and love them. Personal relationships are more effective than preaching and writing books. Contact between people and “heart to heart” exchanges will be the secret of your perseverance and your success. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

An Italian friend of mine once remarked, “You Americans seriously underestimate the power and importance of friendship.” We so focus on our projects, programs, calendars and meetings in order “to make a difference and do something meaningful” that we run right past the abundant opportunities present everyday in personal contact. Because of this life easily becomes frayed and narrowed.

Life is enriched and hope is found in the gift of personal contact with another. It is, after all, how Jesus and the apostles carried out their ministry and proclamation of the Kingdom.

The Fifteenth Paragraph

15 Tuesday Apr 2008

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

There is only one thing lacking: “Go home and sell all that belongs to you; give it to the poor, and so the treasure you have shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me” (Mk 10:21). You have to make up your mind once and for all. Our Lord wants volunteers free from other attachments. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Before we start carting all of our possessions out front for a yard sale it might be good to reflect on a more immediate interpretation of this passage from Mark’s gospel.

“Go home,” – go within; into the most fundamental part of who you are, the Imago Dei, and here encounter the presence of God speaking to your soul.

“…sell all that belongs to you,” – let go of all your illusions, hurts, prides and prejudices – all the things we cling to because we believe we have to, all the things that block us from the truth of who we are.

“…give it to the poor,” – take all the time, all the energy, all the attention wrapped up in these private illusions and give it away, give it to the poor. Don’t just let it go, do something positive with it – give it away.

“…so the treasure you have shall be in heaven,” – begin to live not by the illusions of the world but by the truth of God’s Kingdom.

“…then come back and follow me,” – Christ wants followers free from all other attachments and the setting free must begin in our very selves.
← Older posts
Follow The Alternate Path on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Previous Posts

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • April 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007

Popular Posts

  • mcummins2172.files.wordpr…

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Alternate Path
    • Join 145 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Alternate Path
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar