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Prayers of Hope
Words of Courage
by François Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
 Prayers
written by Van Thuan in prison. "Though I was alone and seemed
to have nothing at all, I had the love of faithful friends who were
praying for me. And I had the love of Christ in my heart. In gratitude
for that love, I wrote these prayers on scraps of paper the prison
guards gave me. They are a remembrance of that time when I seemed
poor, but when I was actually very rich—for love can do all things."
Authentic Christianity
A Christian worthy of the name is one who imitates Jesus’ life
in every circumstance of his or her own life.
The life of every saint brings to light some particular mystery
of Jesus’ life: his childhoods, his preaching, his love for children,
his passion, etc. The Virgin Mary lived all the mysteries of their
perfection.
The first Christians had an original way of expressing their identity:
The Christian is one who bears Jesus
in his or her mind,
in his or her heart,
in his or her gaze,
in his or her hands,
on his or her lips,
in his or her entire being.
Abandon security
No one—the Church or its members—can be satisfied with possessing
the faith and withdrawing behind a fortress to enjoy it with security.
Rather, we cannot stop moving forward in our search for God; and
on the way Jesus advances and draws closer to us.
In the press of the crowds, Jesus sought out Levi, the Samaritan
woman, and the apostles who labored in their fishing boats. Jesus
seeks me in the midst of humanity—with the rickshaw, the street
sweeper, and the vendor.
From the very beginning, Christianity was called the way; Jesus
called himself the Way. I must leave the safety of my fortress,
Lord, because those who wish to follow you are not found there.
You did not ask me to shut myself behind some fortification, but
to follow you.
How the saints used time
The saints lived on earth as much as I do.
The saints were swept along
by the same current of time.
Their days were twenty-four hours long
and not one minute more!
All their lives were not longer in years:
Francis Xavier died at the age of forty-six,
Therese of the Child Jesus at twenty-four,
and Rose of Lima at thirty-one.
But the years they lived
were incomparably intense and concentrated,
because they recognized that time
had the value of eternity.
God works through the saints
who collaborate with God.
How much we must esteem a single moment
of the Lord’s work!
We build holiness in the present moment not by turning to the past
or anticipating the future. That is why the saints treasured the
present moment; without neglecting a single instant, they made each
moment a response of their whole being to God’s love.
The saints lived in the present as in an immense ocean of peace
because they already lived in that unending present of eternity.
Prayers
of Hope
0-8198-5938-9
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For more information or to order Prayers of Hope click
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Other Writings of Hope
Testimony of Hope
The Road of Hope: A Gospel From
Prison
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