Flora Cantábrica

QUOTES BY FRANÇOIS XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN

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QUOTES BY FRANÇOIS XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN

Don’t be afraid to tell the Lord everything you want. He thinks of Jesus’ words: «Until now you have asked for nothing in my name; ask and you will receive it» (Jn 16:24). Not having fear means loving like a child loves his father.
Jesus does not teach you to love based on your emotions, in fact he teaches you to love even your enemies. Loving others means sincerely wishing them well and doing anything to ensure their happiness. This requires you to completely forget about yourself
Following Jesus is an adventure: to the ends of the earth, without a car, without a horse, without gold, without means, without a cane; only with faith in Him.
Every night before going to bed, you should be able to say: «Today I have loved all day.»
Only the present moment is important. Don’t keep remembering what your neighbor did to you yesterday, to criticize him. Don’t keep remembering what happened to you today to regret it; It is already part of the past. Don’t be pessimistic about tomorrow; It is still part of the future. Entrust the past to God’s mercy, entrust the future to his providence, and entrust everything to his love.
Decide to do what needs to be done without fear and without hesitation. Be brave and full of hope; Trust in God and your courage!
If the Lord wants you to endure some humiliation because of your obligations, this, in reality, is inviting you to share with Him the glory of the Cross.
Continue advancing on the path of hope, not worrying about the incisive protests of those who are at your side, as Saint Paul says, «Chains and tribulations await me,» and as Jesus says, «Now I must go to Jerusalem to suffer.»
When people praise you or denigrate you, do not worry: rather be happy because on the one hand you can lose something, and on the other you can gain something. There is only one thing that can harm you; the sin. There is only one thing that can enrich you: virtue
Living in the present is how crosses become bearable; By living in the present you can understand the inspirations of God, the impulses of his grace; By living in the present we can profitably build our holiness.
To be holy it is enough that you fulfill, to the core, your duties of the present moment. The discovery and revelation of this truth will bring peace and strength to your soul.
The Church was born on the cross. The Church grows by continuing the passion of Jesus until the end of time. If you put your security back into money, diplomacy, power, influence or propaganda of any kind, you will find yourself sadly disillusioned.
The strong man knows when he has to be silent. Many times useless words, said without thinking about the consequences, spread discord. Useless words are the devil’s instrument to undermine charity.
Egoists escape responsibility, situations that involve hard effort, and avoid sacrifices. They would want to create their own happiness and their own paradise on earth. Unfortunately, they will lose paradise for eternity
If you do not remain closely united to the will of God, moment by moment, you will experience falls along the path of hope. This will happen because your duty will seem lacking in novelty, too unobserved and hidden, and full of everyday monotony. The problem is Very simple. Before doing anything you would have to think: «Lord, what do I have to do?» (Acts 22, 10) Do the will of God!
If everyone in his life were faithful to his obligations, the growth of personal holiness would change their hearts and renew even families and the entire world.
Rather, you are willing to renounce wealth and social position, to renounce life to safeguard your honor and your faith. Never give up this behavior, because that would mean losing everything.
Maybe you are one of those who say «yes» to everything and are willing to make any commitment. Now, what path do you want to follow? Say «yes» to many gods? Adhere to many religions? Accommodate yourself to the most varied moral standards? Or do you have an elastic conscience that knows how to adapt to any situation?
The Lord is not the Savior who forces you to love him and relive him, but rather the one by whom you have to let yourself be loved without reservation.
Having courage does not mean: neither venturing into meaningless things, nor making reckless approaches. If you want to go to the bottom of this path of hope, you must free yourself from fear. How many people remained next to Jesus, at the foot of the Cross?
Refusing to accept false values ​​is not arrogance, nor even obstinacy: rather it proves total adherence to your ideals.
The Lord says «I am the truth.» He does not say that the newspaper or television is the truth. What kind of truth do you want to follow?
Whether you are rich or poor, whether people praise you or laugh at you, whether you are noble or humble, all this has no importance if you have decided to walk the path, waiting for the joyful hope, the coming of our Lord. Jesus Christ.
If you have abandoned everything, but you have not yet renounced yourself, you have not really abandoned anything, because little by little you will cling to all those things that you left at the beginning.
The habit of lamenting is a contagious epidemic whose symptoms are pessimism, loss of peace, doubt and the decrease in that zeal that comes from being united with God.
Have the courage to live the life of faith every day, as the martyrs have bravely done.
Faith is the unconditional acceptance of Jesus Christ, and the decision to live and die with him
Avoid false humility. We must be «ambitious» in seeking what is true, in wanting to act and accept risks, but all this for God and his Church.
The habit of criticism is one of the biggest obstacles to spiritual growth. Speaking ill of others does nothing but irritate them and cultivate bitterness in your heart.
I’m afraid of wasting a second living meaninglessly.
I won’t wait. I live the present moment, filling it with love.
In a solemn pilgrimage in which thousands of people participate, everyone would want to carry the cross at the head of the procession. But, in the pilgrimage of our daily lives, how many are willing to carry their own cross? In truth, it is difficult to be heroes without others seeing it.
You think you have nothing to sacrifice to God, but he sees that you reject many opportunities. For example, he tries to be cheerful and jovial with someone who teases you and tries to make you angry; he remains silent in the face of false and unjust accusations; he shows affection to a friend who betrays you; do not reply in anger. Every moment you are offered an opportunity for sacrifice.
If the Lord wants to make you endure some humiliation because of your duties, he is actually inviting you to share with him the glory of the cross. Then let your answer be: «Lord, my duty is your Calvary and I am the holocaust.»
The laity think that holiness consists in fervent prayers, in making sermons, or in withdrawing from the world; They are inspired by the figure of the religious or priest of past times. Priests and religious understand holiness in terms of social or political activity. They should compete with the secularists. Here is how he has fallen into the realm of chaos!
If you leave to go to a place, thousands of kilometers away and you take all your defects and the old man, what good is it to you?

Before deciding what action to take, for anything, say a prayer. Then, behave as Jesus would in a similar circumstance.
An examination of your actions and your reactions will be enough to see if yours is a faith that finds echo in life. Or is your faith just a label?
Do not say: «I am made this way; it is impossible to change.» No, it’s about your flaws and your mistakes. You have to be mature, you have to become a true child of God; Continuing with these errors and defects goes against you becoming one.
Using people for your own interests is not worthy of a leader. You will be a worthy person responsible if you do not feel distant from people, if you mix with them and put your life at risk to save them.
Everyone can start, but only the saints manage to follow the path to the end.
Our life is made up of millions of minutes. To make a beautiful straight line you have to make thousands of points, and if we do each point well we have a beautiful straight line. Our life is made up of millions of minutes; If we live well every minute we have a holy life.
Authentic love does not reason, it does not set limits, it does not calculate, it does not remember the good it has done or the offenses it has received, it never sets conditions. If there are conditions, there is no longer love.