Loan báo

Anh em hãy đi khắp tứ phương thiên hạ, loan báo Tin Mừng cho mọi loài thọ tạo (Mc 16,15)

Empowered to Speak
The Spirit that Jesus gives us empowers us to speak. Often when we are expected to speak in front of people who intimidate us, we are nervous and self-conscious. But if we live in the Spirit, we don't have to worry about what to say. We will find ourselves ready to speak when the need is there. "When they take you before ... authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say" (Luke 12:11-12).
We waste much of our time in anxious preparation. Let's claim the truth that the Spirit that Jesus gave us will speak in us and speak convincingly.


Claiming the Identity of Jesus
When we think about Jesus as that exceptional, unusual person who lived long ago and whose life and words continue to inspire us, we might avoid the realisation that Jesus wants us to be like him. Jesus himself keeps saying in many ways that he, the Beloved Child of God, came to reveal to us that we too are God's beloved children, loved with the same unconditional divine love.
John writes to his people: "You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children - which is what we are." (1 John 3:1). This is the great challenge of the spiritual life: to claim the identity of Jesus for ourselves and to say: "We are the living Christ today!"

Superabundant Grace
Over the centuries the Church has done enough to make any critical person want to leave it. Its history of violent crusades, pogroms, power struggles, oppression, excommunications, executions, manipulation of people and ideas, and constantly recurring divisions is there for everyone to see and be appalled by.
Can we believe that this is the same Church that carries in its center the Word of God and the sacraments of God's healing love? Can we trust that in the midst of all its human brokenness the Church presents the broken body of Christ to the world as food for eternal life? Can we acknowledge that where sin is abundant grace is superabundant, and that where promises are broken over and again God's promise stands unshaken? To believe is to answer yes to these questions.
(Nouwwen G)

Nói

"Khi người ta đưa anh em ra trước hội đường, trước mặt những người lãnh đạo và những người cầm quyền, thì anh em đừng lo phải bào chữa làm sao, hoặc phải nói gì, vì ngay trong giờ đó, Thánh Thần sẽ dạy cho anh em biết những điều phải nói." (Lc 12,11-12)


Witnesses of Love
How do we know that we are infinitely loved by God when our immediate surroundings keep telling us that we'd better prove our right to exist?
The knowledge of being loved in an unconditional way, before the world presents us with its conditions, cannot come from books, lectures, television programs, or workshops. This spiritual knowledge comes from people who witness to God's love for us through their words and deeds. These people can be close to us but they can also live far away or may even have lived long ago. Their witness announces the truth of God's love and calls us to act in accordance with it. (Nouwen G)


A RELIC OF JOHN PAUL II WILL BE TAKEN TO LOURDES
Vatican City, 19 October 2012 (VIS) - A relic of Blessed John Paul II will be transported to the French shrine of Lourdes during a pilgrimage organised by UNITALSI (Italian National Union for Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines). The pilgrimage is to take place from 21 to 27 October.
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, has granted UNITALSI permission to take a reliquary containing blood of John Paul II, so that it can be seen and venerated by pilgrims from all over the world.
Speaking on Vatican Radio Salvatore Pagliuccia, president of UNITALSI, noted that we currently are in the Year of Faith, and the Synod of Bishops is meeting to examine the question of new evangelisation, "a theme very close to John Paul II's heart". That Pope's "influence is still felt in the Church and among the faithful", he said. Thus, "the presence of the reliquary of the blessed on the pilgrimage is a very significant sign, because it represents the presence of his ideas and his sentiments, above all the presence of the love which, as man and as pastor, he gave to people, to the faithful, and in particular to the sick and those with disabilities".


INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC AND ART TO BE DEDICATED TO THE YEAR OF FAITH
Vatican City, 19 October 2012 (VIS) - The eleventh edition of the International Festival of Sacred Music and Art - which takes place during the autumn in Rome's patriarchal basilicas and in the Vatican - is to be dedicated to the Year of Faith.
The festival serves to promote the activities of the "Fondazione pro Musica e Arte Sacra", an organisation presided by Hans-Albert Courtial which has the mission of restoring the artistic treasures contained in the patriarchal basilicas, and ensuring that sacred music continues to be played there.
This year's programme includes seven concerts due to take place between 2 and 13 November. The first will be the Requiem Mass of Giovanni Sgambati to be performed by the Roman "Sinfonietta" Orchestra in the basilica of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In the same basilica on Wednesday 7 November the Orchestra of Rome's "Teatro dell'Opera" will play Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7. On 11 November a private concert will take place in the Vatican at which the Sistine Chapel Choir will sing the "Missa Anno Santo", composed by the Pope's brother Msgr. Georg Ratzinger. On the same day in the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, the Johann-Rosenmuller-Ensemble will perform Claudio Monteverdi's "Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Mary". On 12 November a concert will take place in the papal basilica of St. Mary Major with a performance of "Polyphony of the Roman School" by the Sistine Chapel Choir, and "Six Centuries of Catholic Choral Music from the British Isles" by the Westminster Cathedral Choir. On 13 November, the Westminster Cathedral Choir conducted by Martin Baker will sing during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Comastri. Also on 13 November, the festival will come to an end with a concert at the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls at which the Wiener Philharmoniker Chamber Orchestra will play a programme of music by Mozart.
Commenting on the coming festival Cardinal Comastri, who is honorary president of the "Fondazione pro Musica e Arte Sacra", said: "This a music born of the faith, and thus a music which also attracts to the faith. All art in the Church is, in fact, nothing other than an expression of inner beauty translated into exterior forms".

Sợ

Ngay đến tóc trên đầu anh em cũng được đếm cả rồi. Anh em đừng sợ, anh em còn quý giá hơn muôn vàn chim sẻ. (Lc 12,7)

Vỡ bờ bao, hàng trăm hộ dân ngập nặng TTO - Khoảng 5g ngày 18-10, bờ bao của rạch Cầu Ông Ngữ đoạn ở đường Bình Thới, P.28, Q.Bình Thạnh, TP.HCM bị vỡ khiến hàng trăm hộ dân sống ở khu vực này chìm trong nước.
Ghi nhận tại hiện trường, chúng tôi thấy bờ bao bị vỡ một đoạn khoảng 2m, đồng thời bức tường xây bằng gạch chắn quanh khu vực trên cũng bị sụp đổ một đoạn gần 6m. Nhiều nhà dân nước vẫn ngập tới thắt lưng, đồ đạc trong nhà nổi lềnh bềnh.
(http://tuoitre.vn/Chinh-tri-Xa-hoi/516520/Vo-bo-bao-hang-tram-ho-dan-ngap-nang.html)

Taking the Sting Out of Death
Dying is returning home. But even though we have been told this many times by many people, we seldom desire to return home. We prefer to stay where we are. We know what we have; we do not know what we will get. Even the most appealing images of the afterlife cannot take away the fear of dying. We cling to life, even when our relationships are difficult, our economic circumstances harsh, and our health quite poor.
Still, Jesus came to take the sting out of death and to help us gradually realise that we don't have to be afraid of death, since death leads us to the place where the deepest desires of our hearts will be satisfied. It is not easy for us to truly believe that, but every little gesture of trust will bring us closer to this truth. (Nouwen G)


Trusting in the Fruits
We belong to a generation that wants to see the results of our work. We want to be productive and see with our own eyes what we have made. But that is not the way of God's Kingdom. Often our witness for God does not lead to tangible results. Jesus himself died as a failure on a cross. There was no success there to be proud of. Still, the fruitfulness of Jesus' life is beyond any human measure. As faithful witnesses of Jesus we have to trust that our lives too will be fruitful, even though we cannot see their fruit. The fruit of our lives may be visible only to those who live after us.
What is important is how well we love. God will make our love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not.(Nouwen G)

Can đảm

Anh em hãy ra đi. Này Thầy sai anh em đi như chiên con đi vào giữa bầy sói (Lc 10,3)

A Courageous Life
"Have courage," we often say to one another. Courage is a spiritual virtue. The word courage comes from the Latin word cor, which means "heart. A courageous act is an act coming from the heart. A courageous word is a word arising from the heart. The heart, however, is not just the place where our emotions are located. The heart is the centre of our being, the centre of all thoughts, feelings, passions, and decisions.
When the flesh - the lived human experience - becomes word, community can develop. When we say, "Let me tell you what we saw. Come and listen to what we did. Sit down and let me explain to you what happened to us. Wait until you hear whom we met," we call people together and make our lives into lives for others. The word brings us together and calls us into community. When the flesh becomes word, our bodies become part of a body of people.

Spiritual Courage
Courage is connected with taking risks. Jumping the Grand Canyon on a motorbike, coming over Niagara Falls in a barrel, or crossing the ocean in a rowboat are called courageous acts because people risk their lives by doing these things. But none of these daredevil acts comes from the centre of our being. They all come from the desire to test our physical limits and to become famous and popular.
Spiritual courage is something completely different. It is following the deepest desires of our hearts at the risk of losing fame and popularity. It asks of us the willingness to lose our temporal lives in order to gain eternal life.

Downward Mobility
The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up. Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record - that's what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame.
The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life.
(Nouwen G)

Nô lệ

Khốn cho các người, hỡi các người Pharisêu! Các người nộp thuế thập phân về bạc hà, vân hương, và đủ thứ rau cỏ, mà xao lãng lẽ công bình và lòng yêu mến Thiên Chúa. Các điều này phải làm, mà các điều kia cũng không được bỏ. (Lc 11,42)

Called out of Slavery 
 The Church is the people of God. The Latin word for "church," ecclesia, comes from the Greek ek, which means "out," and kaleo, which means "to call." The Church is the people of God called out of slavery to freedom, sin to salvation, despair to hope, darkness to light, an existence centered on death to an existence focused on life. When we think of Church we have to think of a body of people, travelling together. We have to envision women, men, and children of all ages, races, and societies supporting one another on their long and often tiresome journeys to their final home.(Nouwen G)

Trong

Tốt hơn, hãy bố thí những gì ở bên trong, thì bấy giờ mọi sự sẽ trở nên trong sạch (Lc 11, 41)

Sharing the Abundant Love
Why must we go out to the far ends of the world to preach the Gospel of Jesus when people do not have to know Jesus in order to enter the house of God? We must go out because we want to share with all people the abundant love and hope, joy and peace that Jesus brought to us. We want to "proclaim the unfathomable treasure of Christ" and "throw light on the inner workings of the mystery kept hidden through all ages in God, the creator of everything" (Ephesians 3:8-9).
What we have received is so beautiful and so rich that we cannot hold it for ourselves but feel compelled to bring it to every human being on earth. (Nouwen G.)

Dấu lạ

Quả thật, ông Giôna đã là một dấu lạ cho dân thành Ninivê thế nào, thì Con Người cũng sẽ là một dấu lạ cho thế hệ này như vậy. (Lc 11,30)

Being Living Signs of Love
Jesus' whole life was a witness to his Father's love, and Jesus calls his followers to carry on that witness in his Name. We, as followers of Jesus, are sent into this world to be visible signs of God's unconditional love. Thus we are not first of all judged by what we say but by what we live. When people say of us: "See how they love one another," they catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced and are drawn to it as by a magnet.
In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds. (Nouwen G)