Joseph Vương's Blogger

  IMMERSIONS AND THE RESPONDING HEART Vietnamese traditional folk says “Đi một ngày đàng, học một sàng khôn”, in English “Once you go, you grow” which means, “the more you go, the better self you are”. Due to the pandemic, everyone is afraid to get out because we may get contaminated by the deadly virus. Therefore, people try to keep a safe distance from one another. Contrary to that, I felt so much blessed and grateful to go for immersions, as we call the “mission of the presence due to the time of the pandemic”.  At first, I was assigned to Nueva Ecija, Philippines, to live with a farmer. Among the four families that I lived with, there are two of them were broken families. I spent time listening to their stories, struggles as well as joyful moments. One of the stories that I have heard was that one paternal uncle asked the boy “why did you quit the study? Only 2 years more you can graduate high school”. Then, the boy answered the question by questioning us back “So, why did...

Gospel Reflection - John 8, 31-42 Which country needs to be supported: Russia or Ukraine? Bong bong Marcos or Leni is more reliable and competent to lead the country? Is it Donald Trump or Joe Biden? Is it better to be a communist or a capitalist? Is it better to have a dictatorship or a democracy? These are issues that compel people both at domestically and overseas to engage in "seeking the truth, the right to liberate people from all oppression." One of the most recent stories I read was about Vietnam abstaining from voting in support of Russia against Ukraine. Since then, there have been numerous reactions.  Similarly, here in the Philippines, people are debating who they should support for president and government officials in the following year. People may not be troubled excitedly to pick if there is true truth, but life always has two sides that ask people to choose where to stand in the middle of perplexity.In other words, people are unsure of which side or whom they...

Stephen Hawking once declared, "I don't think we will survive another 100 years without escaping our fragile planet." Air and polution  

Peter says " Lord, we have left everything and followed you" . And Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come ." Religious Profession is my commitment to God! - Art. I believe that. We have left everything and the Lord repays us not just in the next life but also now. He is already giving me a hundredfold blessings.  I would like to give a personal reflection of my blessings as a priest. I speak only for myself. People always say to me "I will pray that you will persevere in your vocation because religious life is a life of sacrifice". Then I tell them "what sacrifice? I have so much joy being a religious".  Why do they think ...

  A CALL  A call is a formal invitation. It is an expression of affection.  If there is no love, there is no calling there.        Whenever I send a letter, my heart is in it. As a result, there is something missing, waiting, and being anxious being involved. I never send letters towards the wind since the wind does not communicate with beings. I do not even send to that same cloud since it never reacts. I just sent out a letter to man so that he'd be cognizant of my concern and could respond to it. Man, on the other hand, has the freedom to decline or reject the call. My call can reverberate dryly and flicker back to me. Calling is a sign of splitting indicates a desire to be closer.  There are a number of applications. Call and offer something. Call to share a joyous occasion. To entrust a trust, make calls. The deepest level of calling is the call to follow a man. The call to be one's devoted follower is the call to everything. God has written...

 The Quest 7-Step Self Counseling Technique Every issue can be solved and every pattern healed. You can change the conditions of your life! Step one: Identification  Review what you are going through , or a condition or illness you are facing, and what you are feeling . Allow yourself to feel your feelings fully, then write these feelings down. ( recalling, staying with them and doing journal and let its revealing in writing ) Next, move back into your Authentic self, so that you can get a clear visual image of the part of you that is feeling this way and that has the condition, giving it loving attention rather than criticism or judgment. Visual imaging is important. Once you can see an Inner Aspect, you can heal it. (Inner Aspect = Inner Child or Inner Self)  Draw a picture of your Inner Aspect and then write down everything it is feeling . If the upset is a result of what happened with another individual, you can draw them as well, so you can get a clear visual image...

Moving on does not mean that we never look back. We need to move on into the future and yet we do not need to abandon the beauty and goodness of what once had been part of our life.  Good memories are good reservoirs of hope.  We take the best of what has been and gather it to our hearts.  We need to move on, confident in our resiliency  and in the abiding strength of God's presence in us. 

 Gospel of Mark 7: 31 - 37 Again, Jesus set out from the country of Tyre he passed through Sidon and, skirting the sea of Galilee, he came to the territory of Decapolis. There, a deaf man, who also had difficulty in speaking, was brought to him. They asked Jesus to lay his hand upon him. Jesus took him apart from the crowd, put his fingers into the man's ears, and touched his tounge with spittle. Then, looking up to the heaven, he said with a deep sign "ephphata!" that is "be opened" and immediately, his ears were opened, his tounge was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about it; but the more he insisted, the more they proclaimed it. The people were completely astonished and said " he has done all things well ; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak" 

  Sexuality in the lives of celibates and virgins (religious) There is a clear trend in theological literature today towards seeing masturbation as a considerably less important indicator of a lack sexual maturity than it was thought to be in the past. This trend, which is not directly related to masturbation in celibates and virgins, can be divided into two parts. on the one hand some theologians would still hold onto the idea that masturbation is an objectively grave moral evil and go on to say that personal mortal sin is very often not present when the objective evil of masturbation takes place because the person does not commit himself or herself to this act in such a way as to turn totally from God and therefore commit mortal sin. But other theologians would go still rather and argue that masturbation in itself is not an objectively grave moral evil . Regardless of which of these two approaches is taken. the end result is still that masturbation is seen as a less import...

Nhà tôi có một chiếc áo, qua bao năm tháng chiếc áo dù được ba má tôi mặc mỗi ngày nhưng điều kỳ lạ là "chiếc áo không phai màu với thời gian". Ba má tôi yêu thích chiếc áo đó hơn bất cứ điều gì, vì chiếc áo không những chỉ là kỷ niệm ngày cưới mà còn là sản vật của bốn chị em tôi. Những lúc về thăm nhà ngày tết, tôi luôn thấy ba má mặc chiếc áo này để cùng 4 chị em tôi định nghĩa Tết. 7 năm về trước, một người bạn của tôi tặng cho tôi một chiếc áo phía trước được in "Cùng nhau định nghĩa Tết". Tết...không biết đã có từ khi nào. Tôi chỉ biết, từ ngày có trí khôn, tôi nhận ra Tết luôn vui...luôn mới...luôn đáng yêu. Tết cũng giống như dòng sông, là nguồn vui của rất nhiều tuổi thơ và chất chứa rất nhiều ký ức và kỷ niệm. Thiết tưởng rằng cũng như những dòng sông, mặt biển, tết bắt đầu từ đâu và khi nào. Nhưng tôi biết rằng điểm bắt đầu ký ức của tôi với những cái Tết...đó là khi lòng tôi mong mỏi đón chờ một điều mới (một sự thay đổi) sẽ xảy ra: một bộ quần áo mới, m...

  Gospel's Reflection - Luke 10: 13-16 In 2014, I was able to conquer a girl's heart for the first time, which also happened to be my first girlfriend. I suppose most of us can connect to the words "I will spend time on it if I want to have the heart of anyone or if I want to subjugate someone." I will always treat her or him with care, spending time with them, supporting them with their schoolwork, accompanying them to church, spending time traveling to new locations, and many other things. All of my acts are directed toward one goal: to win, dominate, and conquer the heart. "Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida," Jesus said lately in today's Gospel, "if the mighty deed done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago." It shows how hard the hearts of those whom Jesus was attempting to persuade were in some way. From this vantage point, I'd pose a profound contemplative question: "Why is Jes...

1. Cosmos Allurement.           The presence of the divine fire is manifested in another way in our world. it shows itself as an energy of connection, the mysterious "magnetism" that permeates our cosmos on all levels of being.  In the beginning, there is no light, no air, no darkness, nothing. Shortly after, God created the creation, he created fire, light from that divine power. The divine power of God attraction. In the beginning is the relationship, the energy of love.  2. A Future With Hope (Listening to our psychosexual story).          There are times in most of our lives when we feel exiled - cut off from our feelings, alienated from those we love, uncomfortable with our bodies, guilt-ridden about something in our past. Therefore, each of us grows up with a desire to connect: to find safety, nourishment, and protection when we are infants; to discover playmates and friends when we are in school; to choose a way of ...