Living a life on my own strength
Thought I could do well, and could go at length
But without you in just a heart beat
I came to term with who I truly need
It's not about me
But grace given for free
It's not about strength
But your mercy that never ends
It's not about success
But faith lived out at my best
It's not about righteousness
For who to you is just
It's not about me, it's not
But all about you, my God.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Stations of the Cross
I posted on this page the different versions of the Stations of the Cross that we used at my parish. The Lent 2007 is an adaptation, bilingual with slideshow and music accompaniment. The Lent 2008 is a shortened version, putting together by Class Vào Đời II, with a skit for each station. The third one was used by the Salesian January Leadership Retreat in 2007.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
ABOVE ALL - TÌNH CAO SÂU
by Michael W. Smith
Verse 1
Above all powers, Above all kings
Above all nature, And all created things
Above all wisdom, And all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Verse 2
Above all kingdoms, Above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what You're worth
CHORUS
Crucified, laid behind the stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall, and thought of me
Above all.
TÌNH CAO SÂU
Vượt quyền quý cao sang, quyền thần thế gian
Vượt ngàn kiếp sinh linh, trên hết muôn dân trần hoàng.
Ngài từ xưa đó đã có trước khi trời đất
Ôi, quyền năng Thiên Chúa có ai sánh bằng.
Một lời Chúa ban ra, thì liền có ngay
Mặt trời, ánh sao đêm, muôn thú cá chim từng bầy.
Người từ bụi đất, Chúa thổi hơi ban sự sống
Ôi, tình yêu Thiên Chúa, ôi sao tuyệt vời
Trên thập giá, Ngài chịu chết đau thương
Chịu chôn huyệt đá, trời đen khóc thê lương
Sống kiếp người đắng cay hay khổ đau
Chúa không e ngại, vì yêu đoàn con
Tình cao sâu.
Verse 1
Above all powers, Above all kings
Above all nature, And all created things
Above all wisdom, And all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Verse 2
Above all kingdoms, Above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what You're worth
CHORUS
Crucified, laid behind the stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall, and thought of me
Above all.
TÌNH CAO SÂU
Vượt quyền quý cao sang, quyền thần thế gian
Vượt ngàn kiếp sinh linh, trên hết muôn dân trần hoàng.
Ngài từ xưa đó đã có trước khi trời đất
Ôi, quyền năng Thiên Chúa có ai sánh bằng.
Một lời Chúa ban ra, thì liền có ngay
Mặt trời, ánh sao đêm, muôn thú cá chim từng bầy.
Người từ bụi đất, Chúa thổi hơi ban sự sống
Ôi, tình yêu Thiên Chúa, ôi sao tuyệt vời
Trên thập giá, Ngài chịu chết đau thương
Chịu chôn huyệt đá, trời đen khóc thê lương
Sống kiếp người đắng cay hay khổ đau
Chúa không e ngại, vì yêu đoàn con
Tình cao sâu.
SANCTUARY
Lord, prepare me
To be sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true.
With thanksgiving
I'll be a living
Sanctuary
For you.
My translation:
Ước mong một đời
Làm nhan thánh Chúa Trời
Được trong trắng mãi
Được yêu chẳng phai.
Đếm ơn mọi ngày
Tình yêu Chúa thắp đầy
Nguyện xin hát khúc
Cám ơn Ngài.
To be sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true.
With thanksgiving
I'll be a living
Sanctuary
For you.
My translation:
Ước mong một đời
Làm nhan thánh Chúa Trời
Được trong trắng mãi
Được yêu chẳng phai.
Đếm ơn mọi ngày
Tình yêu Chúa thắp đầy
Nguyện xin hát khúc
Cám ơn Ngài.
THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU
Chorus:
There is none like you
No one else could touch my heart like you do
I could search for all eternity long, and find:
There is none like you.
My translation of the Chorus:
Có ai bằng Chúa đâu
Ai yêu con thiết tha, chạm hồn con thẳm sâu?
Con có kiếm muôn nơi trọn đời, nhưng vẫn là chân lý:
Có ai bằng Chúa đâu.
There is none like you
No one else could touch my heart like you do
I could search for all eternity long, and find:
There is none like you.
My translation of the Chorus:
Có ai bằng Chúa đâu
Ai yêu con thiết tha, chạm hồn con thẳm sâu?
Con có kiếm muôn nơi trọn đời, nhưng vẫn là chân lý:
Có ai bằng Chúa đâu.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
in preparing for DHNS - notes
Be Deeply Rooted so to be Far Reaching
I'm actually so happy when reading Long's email about some suggested themes for the next DHNS MDN. It is clear there are two themes they want to incorporate, and the reason I'm so happy is because these are the two very essential aspects of the identity of a member of TNTT, or even for any Catholic at all.
1 - Coming back to our root which is the Eucharist
2 - Reaching out to others through service, thus the awareness of the mission work led by cha Thong and cha Chuong
These are the two movements that a person goes through over his/her growing up. There are points in their life, the only way for them to reach the, so called, "spiritual being," or God, is through service: doing good deeds for others. There are also other points when they feel that the only way to reach God is through deep praying and worshiping. There is nothing wrong with either approach, but too much of one while lacking the other only reflects a spiritual life that is not yet wholesome: that person will continue sensing something missing in their life.
Is there a starting point: prayer first or service first? There may be several different points of view on this question, but in my experience, it really depends on the developmental stage of a person or an age group in a social context. For younger people, they may be at the stage when it is harder to grasp the spiritual as something one can communicate through prayer. They need something concrete. They also need to be able to "feel" what they are doing, and feel that what they are doing is really going somewhere. For groups of people who are more experienced in life, especially spiritual life, who are more capable of abstract thinking, and who are more able to reach the conviction that God does exist in the things that human can't touch or feel, they may be more likely to find God's presence through their praying and worshiping.
The important thing to remember is, however, that it doesn't matter where we start, we have to keep moving. The moment we think we have reached your destination in spiritual life, our spiritual life is dead. It has to keep leading us to the deeper and deeper levels. Meeting God through prayer and worship will purify our intention and and strengthen our charity, so we can serve people with a more unconditional love. Serving people with an unconditional love will lead us to a deeper conviction that we and our human family will forever need God who comes to satisfy our hearts' desire through prayer. The cycle keeps on to lead us to the deeper and deeper levels of reality.
==============================================================================================
But for a Catholic, is that all: prayer and service? what makes us Catholic unique?
So we understand the role of prayer and worship and service in our spiritual life. What makes us Catholic unique from the rest is: more than prayer which is a human action, we have liturgy which is a divine action through human act.
--> Need to develop more on this thoughts
--> Maybe I can work on sketching or suggesting some applications for a Eucharistic way of life (spirituality)
===============================================================================================
The four aspects of youth development = a suggested model for a youth convention
1. Human aspect: all the fun activities such as sports, competitions, games, community buildings, dramas, sight-seeing, youth rally (with the band)
2. The encounter with Jesus:
(a) the personal encounter: private prayer, adoration, praise & worship, faith-sharing sessions, quiet time for meditation, perpetual adoration (expose the Sacrament overnight with someone adoring all the time)
(b) the encounter within the Church: sacraments, liturgy
3. Membership in the Church community --> at this convention, it could be teaching NSs (and HTs) what it means to be a member of the Catholic Church: teachings about the Eucharist, for example ...
4. Mission: sent out to serve others --> raise awareness of cha Thong's and cha Chuong's mission works, I suggest some concrete plans and long term projects so the kids can go home and do it and do it for a long time.
================================================================================================
The Fourth Day: Now that we have fun at the Convention and all, what's next?
- Ongoing formation on the Eucharist:
* Nghia Si
* Huynh Truong (I think more important, since they will in turn lead Nghia Si, but it really depends on the condition of each Doan)
- Mission
Got to work w cha Chuong and cha Thong on this. Can we make a commitment? for how long? what involves?
--> get cha Chuong & cha Thong on board to plan for this before presenting the projects to NS
I'm actually so happy when reading Long's email about some suggested themes for the next DHNS MDN. It is clear there are two themes they want to incorporate, and the reason I'm so happy is because these are the two very essential aspects of the identity of a member of TNTT, or even for any Catholic at all.
1 - Coming back to our root which is the Eucharist
2 - Reaching out to others through service, thus the awareness of the mission work led by cha Thong and cha Chuong
These are the two movements that a person goes through over his/her growing up. There are points in their life, the only way for them to reach the, so called, "spiritual being," or God, is through service: doing good deeds for others. There are also other points when they feel that the only way to reach God is through deep praying and worshiping. There is nothing wrong with either approach, but too much of one while lacking the other only reflects a spiritual life that is not yet wholesome: that person will continue sensing something missing in their life.
Is there a starting point: prayer first or service first? There may be several different points of view on this question, but in my experience, it really depends on the developmental stage of a person or an age group in a social context. For younger people, they may be at the stage when it is harder to grasp the spiritual as something one can communicate through prayer. They need something concrete. They also need to be able to "feel" what they are doing, and feel that what they are doing is really going somewhere. For groups of people who are more experienced in life, especially spiritual life, who are more capable of abstract thinking, and who are more able to reach the conviction that God does exist in the things that human can't touch or feel, they may be more likely to find God's presence through their praying and worshiping.
The important thing to remember is, however, that it doesn't matter where we start, we have to keep moving. The moment we think we have reached your destination in spiritual life, our spiritual life is dead. It has to keep leading us to the deeper and deeper levels. Meeting God through prayer and worship will purify our intention and and strengthen our charity, so we can serve people with a more unconditional love. Serving people with an unconditional love will lead us to a deeper conviction that we and our human family will forever need God who comes to satisfy our hearts' desire through prayer. The cycle keeps on to lead us to the deeper and deeper levels of reality.
==============================================================================================
But for a Catholic, is that all: prayer and service? what makes us Catholic unique?
So we understand the role of prayer and worship and service in our spiritual life. What makes us Catholic unique from the rest is: more than prayer which is a human action, we have liturgy which is a divine action through human act.
--> Need to develop more on this thoughts
--> Maybe I can work on sketching or suggesting some applications for a Eucharistic way of life (spirituality)
===============================================================================================
The four aspects of youth development = a suggested model for a youth convention
1. Human aspect: all the fun activities such as sports, competitions, games, community buildings, dramas, sight-seeing, youth rally (with the band)
2. The encounter with Jesus:
(a) the personal encounter: private prayer, adoration, praise & worship, faith-sharing sessions, quiet time for meditation, perpetual adoration (expose the Sacrament overnight with someone adoring all the time)
(b) the encounter within the Church: sacraments, liturgy
3. Membership in the Church community --> at this convention, it could be teaching NSs (and HTs) what it means to be a member of the Catholic Church: teachings about the Eucharist, for example ...
4. Mission: sent out to serve others --> raise awareness of cha Thong's and cha Chuong's mission works, I suggest some concrete plans and long term projects so the kids can go home and do it and do it for a long time.
================================================================================================
The Fourth Day: Now that we have fun at the Convention and all, what's next?
- Ongoing formation on the Eucharist:
* Nghia Si
* Huynh Truong (I think more important, since they will in turn lead Nghia Si, but it really depends on the condition of each Doan)
- Mission
Got to work w cha Chuong and cha Thong on this. Can we make a commitment? for how long? what involves?
--> get cha Chuong & cha Thong on board to plan for this before presenting the projects to NS
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Four days until the Feast of John Bosco
"It is enough that you are young for me to love you." (St. John Bosco)
Considering the sensitivity of our time and our current situation, such saying could be misinterpreted, but for me it reveals the secret of JB's holiness that I am so drawn to.
- Unconditional love. You can compare notes with me: in any relationship at all, the more unconditional love exists, the more meaningful and fruitful that relationship will be, the longer that relationship will last. JB's love for the young creates saints at early age, creates rapport between him and his students that lasts beyond his life time and his geographical location. God is not mentioned in this quote, but if you're on the same page with JB, you'd understand this is the very good news that Jesus wants to communicate to everyone: it is enough ... for me to love you.
- "... that you are young ..." Face it, if you are an adult, loud noise, rowdiness, spontaneity, immaturity, carelessness, etc ... are not something that you are naturally attracted to, unless you see it as the whole-package deal - you love the young, you love what comes with them. It doesn't mean you endore those traits; it only means you accept the young people in your life for who they are. What comes with young people is also the pure enthusiasm toward goodness in life, the passion that they seek for and instill in what they do, ... The late Pope John Paul II once said that young people were not the future but the present of the Church. JPII had the same heart that John Bosco had. If you embrace the goodness of the present moment, you will embrace the beauty of young people.
This saying of John Bosco is enough for me to work on for my whole life. I have to come to God regularly to ask for the grace that can purify my heart to love unconditionally; I have to learn the charity that enables me to accept people for who they are, then I believe the unconditional love of God will do the rest, whether it is through me or through anyone or anything else.
Watch movie about St. John Bosco on youtube
- Unconditional love. You can compare notes with me: in any relationship at all, the more unconditional love exists, the more meaningful and fruitful that relationship will be, the longer that relationship will last. JB's love for the young creates saints at early age, creates rapport between him and his students that lasts beyond his life time and his geographical location. God is not mentioned in this quote, but if you're on the same page with JB, you'd understand this is the very good news that Jesus wants to communicate to everyone: it is enough ... for me to love you.
- "... that you are young ..." Face it, if you are an adult, loud noise, rowdiness, spontaneity, immaturity, carelessness, etc ... are not something that you are naturally attracted to, unless you see it as the whole-package deal - you love the young, you love what comes with them. It doesn't mean you endore those traits; it only means you accept the young people in your life for who they are. What comes with young people is also the pure enthusiasm toward goodness in life, the passion that they seek for and instill in what they do, ... The late Pope John Paul II once said that young people were not the future but the present of the Church. JPII had the same heart that John Bosco had. If you embrace the goodness of the present moment, you will embrace the beauty of young people.
This saying of John Bosco is enough for me to work on for my whole life. I have to come to God regularly to ask for the grace that can purify my heart to love unconditionally; I have to learn the charity that enables me to accept people for who they are, then I believe the unconditional love of God will do the rest, whether it is through me or through anyone or anything else.
Watch movie about St. John Bosco on youtube
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