Kỷ luật

Có một nhà phú hộ kia vận toàn gấm vóc, lụa là, ngày ngày yến tiệc linh đình.(Mt 16,19)

Creating Space for God

Discipline is the other side of discipleship.
Discipleship without discipline is like waiting to run in the marathon without ever practicing.
Discipline without discipleship is like always practicing for the marathon but never participating.
It is important, however, to realize that discipline in the spiritual life is not the same as discipline in sports.
Discipline in sports is the concentrated effort to master the body so that it can obey the mind better.
Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God's guidance.

Thus, discipline is the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God.
Solitude requires discipline, worship requires discipline, caring for others requires discipline.
They all ask us to set apart a time and a place where God's gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to.

Ngày ngày yến tiệc linh đình là vô kỷ luật. Một môn sinh vô kỷ luật sẽ là một môn sinh thiếu lửa, thiếu nhiệt tình, thiếu yêu thương... Xin đừng để con như thế

Phục vụ

Con Người đến không phải để được người ta phục vụ, nhưng để phục vụ và phó mạng sống làm giá chuộc cho nhiều người". (Mt 20,28)

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.

Solidarity in Weakness
Joy is hidden in compassion. The word compassion literally means "to suffer with." It seems quite unlikely that suffering with another person would bring joy.
Yet being with a person in pain, offering simple presence to someone in despair, sharing with a friend times of confusion and uncertainty ... such experiences can bring us deep joy.
Not happiness, not excitement, not great satisfaction, but the quiet joy of being there for someone else and living in deep solidarity with our brothers and sisters in this human family.
Often this is a solidarity in weakness, in brokenness, in woundedness, but it leads us to the center of joy, which is sharing our humanity with others.

Xin cho con đi theo con đường của Chúa, xuống đến tận cùng để yêu thương, thông cảm, phục vụ...

Chỗ nhất

Mọi công việc họ làm đều có ý cho người ta thấy, vì thế họ nới rộng thẻ Kinh, may dài tua áo. Họ muốn được chỗ nhất trong đám tiệc và ghế đầu trong hội đường, ưa được bái chào nơi đường phố và được người ta xưng hô là "thầy". (Mt 23,5-7)

Hidden Greatness
There is much emphasis on notoriety and fame in our society. Our newspapers and television keep giving us the message: What counts is to be known, praised, and admired, whether you are a writer, an actor, a musician, or a politician.
Still, real greatness is often hidden, humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. We must have strong self-confidence combined with deep humility. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.

Giao hoà

"Hãy tha thứ, thì các con sẽ được tha thứ." (Lc 6,37)

The Task of Reconciliation
What is our task in this world as children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus? Our task is reconciliation. Wherever we go we see divisions among people - in families, communities, cities, countries, and continents. All these divisions are tragic reflections of our separation from God. The truth that all people belong together as members of one family under God is seldom visible. Our sacred task is to reveal that truth in the reality of everyday life.
Why is that our task? Because God sent Christ to reconcile us with God and to give us the task of reconciling people with one another. As people reconcile with God through Christ we have been given the ministry of reconciliation" (see: 2 Corinthians 5:18). So whatever we do the main question is, Does it lead to reconciliation among people?

Benedict XVI: A Pope for This Generation
Youth Web Site Shares Pontiff's Legacy on 'Digital Continent'
Benedict XVI has been a leading advocate of the evangelization of the "digital continent." Now, as the Pope prepares to leave the See of Peter, young people are using the "digital continent" to tell their own stories about a pope who has profoundly impacted their lives.
Throughout this year's 40 days of Lent, an online initiative called Generation Benedict is publishing 40 testimonies, one for each day, from young people who have grown in their faith during Pope Benedict's pontificate.
Bloggers Collette Power and Lisette Carr came up with the idea for Generation Benedict after receiving the news that the Holy Father would resign at the end of this month.
Speaking with ZENIT, Lisette Carr, who is currently based in Dublin, explained that the aim of Generation Benedict is to highlight the "positive impact the Holy Father has had on young Catholics from the UK and Ireland."

Sáng

Và đang khi cầu nguyện, diện mạo Người biến đổi khác thường và áo Người trở nên trắng tinh sáng láng. (Lc 9,29)

Enough Light for the Next Step
Often we want to be able to see into the future. We say, "How will next year be for me? Where will I be five or ten years from now?"
There are no answers to these questions. Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do in the coming hour or the following day.
The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark.
When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go.
Let's rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.

Bringing Our Secrets into the Light
We all have our secrets: thoughts, memories, feelings that we keep to ourselves. Often we think, "If people knew what I feel or think, they would not love me." These carefully kept secrets can do us much harm. They can make us feel guilty or ashamed and may lead us to self-rejection, depression, and even suicidal thoughts and actions.
One of the most important things we can do with our secrets is to share them in a safe place, with people we trust. When we have a good way to bring our secrets into the light and can look at them with others, we will quickly discover that we are not alone with our secrets and that our trusting friends will love us more deeply and more intimately than before. Bringing our secrets into the light creates community and inner healing. As a result of sharing secrets, not only will others love us better but we will love ourselves more fully.

Bé mọn

"Những gì các ngươi đã làm cho một trong các anh em bé mọn nhất của Ta đây, là các ngươi đã làm cho chính Ta." (Mt 25,40)

Going to the Margins of the Church
Those who are marginal in the world are central in the Church, and that is how it is supposed to be! Thus we are called as members of the Church to keep going to the margins of our society. The homeless, the starving, parentless children, people with AIDS, our emotionally disturbed brothers and sisters - they require our first attention.
We can trust that when we reach out with all our energy to the margins of our society we will discover that petty disagreements, fruitless debates, and paralysing rivalries will recede and gradually vanish. The Church will always be renewed when our attention shifts from ourselves to those who need our care. The blessing of Jesus always comes to us through the poor. The most remarkable experience of those who work with the poor is that, in the end, the poor give more than they receive. They give food to us. (Nouwen G)