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The Seventeenth Paragraph

17 Thursday Apr 2008

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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

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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

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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.

The Fourteenth Paragraph

10 Thursday Apr 2008

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Cherish one desire: “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10), so that throughout the earth all nations will know God as he is known in heaven; so that on this earth everyone will begin to love one another as in heaven; so that also on this earth there will be the beatitude that there is in heaven. Make the effort to spread this desire. Begin now to bring the happiness of heaven to everyone in this world. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

As Cardinal Van Thuan reminds us; the desire to both know and live by God’s will begins now, not tomorrow, in the encounters and opportunities which I have today. As we strive to live our own lives according to God’s will then the sincerity and honest integrity of this striving will help to ignite desire to know God’s will in the hearts of others. As we tend our own fires of seeking to know God’s will; we help pass on the spark of light to others.

The Thirteenth Paragraph

09 Wednesday Apr 2008

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There is only one thing you must fear: sin. When the court of the Greek emperor held a meeting to discuss the question of how to take revenge on Saint John Chrysostom for his forthright denunciation of the empress, the following plans were suggested:

a) Cast him into prison. “But there he will have the opportunity to pray and suffer for the Lord as he has always desired.”

b) Banishment. “But, for him, everywhere is the Lord’s country.”

c) The death penalty. “But, thus he will be a martyr and he will satisfy his aspirations to go to the Lord. None of these plans will cause him to suffer; on the contrary, he will joyfully accept them.”

d) “There is only one thing of which he hates above all else – sin; but it would be impossible to force him to commit sin!”

Therefore, if your only fear is sin, no one will be stronger than you. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

This fear of sin moves us into the truth of who we are and also moves us into a deeper interaction with others. Thomas Merton, in The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation, writes:

Thus the man with the “sacred” view is one who does not need to hate himself, and is never afraid or ashamed to remain with his own loneliness, for in it he is at peace, and through it he can come to the presence of God. More still, he is able to go out from his own loneliness to find God in other men. That is to say, in his dealings with others he has no need to identify them with their sins and condemn them for their actions, for he is able, in them also, to see below the surface and to guess at the presence of the inner and innocent self that is the image of God. Such a man is able to help other men to find God in themselves, educating them in confidence by the respect he is able to feel for them. Thus he is capable of allaying some of their fears and helping them to put up with themselves, until they become interiorly quiet and ‘learn’ to see God in the depths of their own poverty.

This is why the one who fears sin is such a threat to the “world”. As the fear of sin liberates us to encounter our true selves; we unconsciously give other people both permission and witness to do the same.

The Twelth Paragraph

08 Tuesday Apr 2008

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Have one ideal: to turn toward God the Father, a Father who is all love. The whole of our Lord’s life, his every thought and deed, had but one goal: “the world must know that I love the Father, just as the Father has commanded me, that is what I will do” (Jn 14:3), and “I always do what is pleasing to him” (Jn 8:29). (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

In a reflection on the psalm passage, “Sing to the Lord a new song; his praise is in the assembly of the saints,” St. Augustine suggests that it is by love that we “sing a new song” to the Lord. God’s love active in each person is a unique manifestation both in the love received and in the love given. The saint further writes, “God offers us a short route to the possession of himself. He cries out: Love me and you will have me for you would be unable to love me if you did not possess me already.” (Office of Readings, Tuesday, Third Week of Easter)

Our ideal is that of the Son toward the Father: to turn toward God the Father in all things, a God who is love.

The Eleventh Paragraph

07 Monday Apr 2008

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Take as your one wisdom the science of the cross (cf. 1 Cor. 2:2). Look to the cross and you will find the solution to all the problems that assail you. If the cross is your criterion for making choices and decisions, you will be at peace. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

To live by the “criterion” of the cross means to make the choice to love in all situations; heedless of the shame and heedless of any hoped for outcomes. To apply this criterion to all situations is a very demanding discipline but it is a path to true peace and to true hope.

The Tenth Paragraph

04 Friday Apr 2008

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Cultivate a special love for Mary. Saint John Mary Vianney used to confide: “After Jesus, my first love is Mary.” If you listen to Mary you will not lose your way. Whatever you undertake in her name will not fail. Honor her and you will gain eternal life. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Mary points to Christ not simply as an ideal or a symbol or a model disciple (although she is this and also the first) but in truth as a person and as a mother. One of the greatest joys of the Christian life is found in encountering Mary and coming to have a relationship with her. Mary will speak to our hearts if we are willing to listen, she will help guide us along the way and she will protect us with her maternal love. Mary knows Christ uniquely and she is generous is sharing this appreciation of her son. When we encounter Mary we find hope.

The Ninth Paragraph

03 Thursday Apr 2008

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Loyally follow one leader: Jesus Christ and his representatives on earth: the Holy Father and the bishops, successors of the Apostles (cf. Jn. 20:22-23). Live and die for the Church as Christ did. Do not forget, however, that living for the Church entails as much sacrifice as dying for the Church. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Love alone is that which makes sacrifice possible. The willingness to sacrifice for the Church (if it is to be authentic) must first entail a humble and sincere love for the Church. We must learn to recognize and cherish in our hearts the presence of Christ in the very human face of the Church.

Here, Mary is our model. When the young Jesus is finally found in the temple by a worried Joseph and Mary and responds, “Why were you looking for me? Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Mary, we are told, ” …kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 1:49-51) It is through hearts moved by compassion, generosity and gentleness that we learn to recognize and cherish the presence of Christ in the Church.

The Eighth Paragraph

02 Wednesday Apr 2008

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Observe one rule: the Gospel. This “constitution” is superior to all others. It is the constitution that Jesus left his apostles (cf. Mt. 4:23). It is not difficult, complicated, or legalistic like others. On the contrary, it is dynamic, gentle, and stimulating for your soul. A saint separated from the Gospel is a false saint! (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

When we enter into the Gospel we encounter not a set of principles but a person – Jesus the Christ, the one who once was dead but now lives. To hold to the Gospel in its entirety is to encounter the living Christ. Every day some time needs to be spent with the Gospel, every day we need this encounter with Christ.