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.

The Seventh Paragraph

01 Tuesday Apr 2008

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Hold firmly to one guiding principle: prayer. No one is stronger than the person who prays because the Lord has promised to grant anything to those who pray. When you are united in prayer the Lord is present among you (cf. Mt. 18:20). I recommend this to you with all my heart: in addition to times of communal prayer, withdraw every day for an hour, or even better for two if you can, for personal prayer. I assure you that it will not be wasted time! In my experience over all these years, I have seen confirmed the words of Saint Teresa of Avila: “Whoever does not pray does not need the devil to lead him off the path: he will throw himself into hell.” (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

Where there is prayer there is depth and “thickness” given to life, time and community. Prayer connects the individual to God, who is the font of all life and the true wellspring of all creativity. Prayer frees one from the tyranny of the clock which seeks to reduce all time to measurable segments of productivity. Prayer moves one beyond gatherings of like-minded individuals to true community where oneness of mind, heart and soul can be found.

The Sixth Paragraph

31 Monday Mar 2008

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Wear one garment and speak one language: charity. Charity is the sign that you are a disciple of the Lord (cf. Jn. 13:35). It is the least expensive brand-name, but the hardest to find. Charity is the principle “language.” Saint Paul considered it more precious than “speaking the languages of men and angels” (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1). It will be the only language in heaven. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

To quote St. Francis, “In all things proclaim Christ … even use words if you have to.” Charity is the sign, the language and the garment of the disciple. As charity becomes more and more our first and primary language; so is hope born in our hearts and also in the hearts of those we encounter.

The Fifth Paragraph

30 Sunday Mar 2008

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Believe in one strength: the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the Lord that will give you life. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (Jn. 10:10). As manna nourished the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land, so the Eucharist will nourish you on your road of hope (cf. Jn. 6:50). (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

In today’s Office of Readings, the excerpt from the Jerusalem Catecheses (4th Century) instructs us that when we receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, “we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature…

… Do not, then, regard the eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact he body and blood of the Lord, as he himself has declared. Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and blood of Christ. You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: ‘Bread gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness.’ Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.”

The Fourth Paragraph

29 Saturday Mar 2008

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Shout one message: “All one,” that is, unity among Catholics, unity among Christians, and unity among nations. “As the Father and the Son are one” (Jn. 17:22-23). (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

This call to be one, to unity, is not a naive and sentimental wish along the lines of, “Can’t we all just get along … wouldn’t that be nice.” The call is in fact an awareness that all reality is grounded in the very unity of the Father and the Son.

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may also be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (Jn. 17:20-21).

We are caught up in this very prayer of the Son to the Father; a prayer which the Spirit will bring to completion. We must be agents of unity.

The Third Paragraph

28 Friday Mar 2008

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Stay faithful to the ideal of the apostle: “Give your life for your brothers and sisters.” In fact, “No one has greater love than this” (Jn. 15:13). Spend all your energies without rest, and be ready to give yourself to “conquer” your neighbor for God. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

There is a saying which states, “No one will care how much you know until they know how much you care.” “Be ready to give yourself” are, I believe, the operative words in this paragraph. To care means fundamentally to give of ones very self and not just out of our surplus or the time and scant attention we believe we might be able to afford people before we rush off to our next favorite thing. To give of our very self now – this is the ideal of the apostle.

It sounds like a very tall order and left to our own devices it would be (in fact, it would be impossible) but the reality is that we are not left to our own devices. God is with us and God’s Spirit has been given to us. When we do not believe that we can give anymore maybe it is time to give a little more and by so doing discover a wealth of reserves in ourselves of which we had little to no idea.

The Second Paragraph

27 Thursday Mar 2008

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Commit yourself to one campaign, the goal of which is to make everyone happy. Sacrifice yourself continually, with Jesus, so as to bring peace to hearts and souls, and development and prosperity to all peoples. This will be your spirituality, discrete and concrete at the same time. (Cardinal Van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish)

Reflection

The willingness to serve is a sure and certain way to cultivate hope in ones heart. In the action of serving another person a fundamental inner shift occurs. The shift is this: we stop thinking about ourselves, even if just for a few moments. When service occurs in truth and charity the focus turns from “I” to the “other”. For a little bit of time we forget ourselves, we set ourselves aside, in favor of the other person.

And here is the paradoxical rub – its when we forget ourselves in service that we gain our true selves. To borrow from Thomas Merton’s analogy; it is when we sacrifice ourselves for the other with Jesus that the false self fades in light of the approach of the true self . Hope will not keep company with illusion; only as the false self lessens and the true self is gained will hope be cultivated in ones heart.

This is the spirituality of the washing of the feet; it is both discrete and concrete in the same moment and also thoroughly sublime.