Can đảm

"Giữa thế gian, các con sẽ phải đau khổ, nhưng hãy can đảm lên, Thầy đã thắng thế gian." (Ga 16,33)

Không phải tự con có khả năng chọn mọi sự cho con ở giữa trần gian này,
mà là chính Chúa đã lựa chọn cho con.

Chính Ngài lựa chọn hoàn cảnh sống cho con,
và cho con chào đời thực thi sứ vụ
trong một bối cảnh trần gian như thế.


Con đường thi hành sự vụ đầy gian truân
nhưng can đảm lên, "Thầy đã thắng thế gian."


Being Sent Into the World

Each of us has a mission in life. Jesus prays to his Father for his followers, saying: "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (John 17:18).

We seldom realise fully that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks. We act as if we have to choose how, where, and with whom to live. We act as if we were simply plopped down in creation and have to decide how to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do.

Fulfilling a Mission

When we live our lives as missions, we become aware that there is a home from where we are sent and to where we have to return. We start thinking about ourselves as people who are in a faraway country to bring a message or work on a project, but only for a certain amount of time. When the message has been delivered and the project is finished, we want to return home to give an account of our mission and to rest from our labours.

One of the most important spiritual disciplines is to develop the knowledge that the years of our lives are years "on a mission." (Nouwen)