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A HEAVENLY HEAVEN

" Một tâm hồn mà không có giấc mơ th́ tựa như một loài chim không cánh"  - Morrie Schwartz

Đó là một trong những câu nói « nhớ đời » của một cuốn phim thật cảm động về ư nghĩa chân thật của cuôc sống mà tôi và các bạn trong nhóm Tứ Phương Đồng Tâm và Hiệp Nhất đươc thưởng thức cùng với hương thơm vị « mặn » của… popcorn trong một buổi tối-trước-thềm-tĩnh-tâm thật êm đềm và ấm cúng. Vơí những gương mặt thân thương của các anh chị và các bạn trong Đồng Hành Montréal, cuốn phim đó đă từ từ dẫn chúng tôi vào trong thinh lặng và ưu tư đê bắt đầu một cuối tuần tĩnh tâm với Cha Long tại Vaudreuil, 2003, khi mà lá vàng đă quấn quít với lá xanh. Một câu nói tuy đơn thuần nhưng nó tự gợi trong ḷng tôi những bồn chồn mỗi khi nghĩ tới và âm vang của nó thật sống động như một lời khẽ nhủ ḷng tôi trong mỗi bước chân của cuộc sống.

Chắc có lẽ không ai trong chúng ta mà chưa từng mơ ước. Ước mơ là thuốc bỗ của tâm hồn, là sức sống của con tim. Ước mơ uốn nắn con người của chúng ta phấn đấu hơn mỗi ngày. Ước mơ tạo thụ trong mỗi người chúng ta những lư tưởng đẹp, những lối sống đẹp cho cuôc đời. Ước mơ là động lực và cũng là sự nâng đỡ cho những bước chân hành hương của những người lữ khách tiếp tục cuôc hành tŕnh của ḿnh về một đích điểm. Tôi vẫn c̣n nghe văng vẵng bên tai tiếng nói thât ngây thơ và dễ thương của cậu bé 6 tuổi thốt lên cùng mẹ sau khi xem xong World Cup 86 tại Mexico:" Mẹ ơi, mai mốt lớn, con mơ ước làm cầu thủ đá banh!!!" Một lời nói thật ngây ngô, hồn nhiên, nhưng là một sự khởi đầu, v́ tất cả đều khởi nguồn từ những giấc mơ. Và rồi những ước mơ của thời thơ ấu được thay thế bằng chiếc áo mơ ước của tuỗi dậy th́, rồi lại đội lên những giấc mơ của tuỗi thành niên. Có người mơ một chiếc xe hợp thời và hợp mắt. Có ngựi mơ một căn nhà đẹp. Có người mộng trở thành kỷ sư, bác sĩ. Có người trông mong một chuyến du lịch hoàn cầu. Có người muốn giống như nhà kinh doanh này, nghệ sĩ kia, cầu thủ nọ. Tôi tự hỏi nếu ước mơ là đôi cánh chim như Morrie đă ví, th́ thử hỏi đôi cánh ấy đă bay xa đến đâu. Đôi cánh ấy có dám vượt băng qua chín tầng mây của Trần Thế để nếm thử cái cao vời và thiêng liêng của Thiên Đàng không? Tôi tự hỏi ḷng ḿnh đă mấy lần tôi dám khao khát Thiên Đàng như là tôi mơ ước thành công. Đă mấy lần tôi làm ước mơ Thiên Đường bị lu mờ đi bởi những ước vọng thuộc về thế gian này. Đă bao lần đôi cánh ấy không dám cất bổng vượt lên chín tầng trời kia để gần Mặt Trời hơn. Đă bao lần tôi có được giấc mơ nên Thánh.

Lạy Cha, xin Cha gieo trong ḷng con một chút khát khao đến sự cao vời và tuyệt diệu của Thiên Đàng cho đôi cánh mơ ước của con dám tung lên để mỗi ngày con gần Nước Cha hơn.

AN EARTHYLY HEAVEN

Sometimes we let the vision, the dream of Heaven dim in our hearts or we do not dare to dream of Heaven. Maybe It is something that seems too grandiose to us, something out of our reach, out of our grasp, far beyond our humanly conception. But somehow, Heaven is still very tasteful in our world today. Somehow, the feel of Heaven is still so true, so authentic, and so close, because the dream of Heaven has never been faded in some people's heart.

I still remember October, the 19th, 2003. It was one of the most beautiful, blessed days of the year, or maybe of the decade. Day of Compassion. Day of Devotion. Day of Sacrifices. Day of Service. Day of Love. It was the day of Mother Teresa of Calcutta's Beatification, the earliest Beatification in history. There was something hard to forget about that day for me. Three hundred thousand beating hearts gathered in Saint Peter of Rome, along with millions of hearts all over the world, joining their rhythm together in harmony to celebrate one Beautiful Heart, the One of Mother Teresa, the One that was entering the Orchestra of Angels, rejoicing the rhythm of Above, the rhythm of Heaven. However, this Melody was not unfamiliar to Mother Teresa, because all she did during her life was playing this Melody to the grieved, the discards, and the poor. But before that Ceremony, there was a life of compassion and service. Before that life, there was a beautiful heart sensitive to misery. And before that beautiful heart playing the Melody of Heaven, there was a Beautiful Dream that had dreamed about Heaven every single day. No, Heaven is not as far as we have always thought. Mother Teresa knew it. That Beautiful Dream, the Dream of Heaven on Earth, was born in her heart since the very first chapters of her life. She could have dreamed to be a nurse. She could have dreamed to be a doctor. But she let the dream of Heaven replace her heart beats, become her vitality, and become her source of life. And by loving until it hurts, by dedicating her entire life to God and to others, especially to the poor, one by one, every single day of her life, she had come to realize her dream, her Beautiful Dream.

When a drop of Love given and received in the name of God is when Heaven is sowed into the Earth.

Dear Jesus, please grant me the grace to open my heart, and willingness to replace my heart beat by the dream of a Heaven on Earth, so that all I am, all my life is dedicated to You and to my brothers and sisters.

A FAMILY OF HEAVEN

2003 was a blessed year for me, a year filled of love and graces. I chanted the countdown of 2002 and welcomed the third year of the millennium with my sisters and brothers in Dong Hanh, gathered together in Christ with the cool breeze and the sound of the ocean in a "heaven" of Jazz, French quarter, beignet and Café du Monde, crawfish and heartwarming, God-blessed people, in a place called New Orleans. The occasion was Họp Mặt Đồng Hành Cuối Năm with the theme "Called to be Christ's Companions and Sent to the World". What a wonderful way to start a new year.

The family of Dong Hanh has always occupied a heavenly place in my heart and this place has grown bigger and bigger with time. I was more or less "conceived" into this family through khóa Come and See with Cha Long in Montreal, in the summer of 1996. That autumn, we decided to form Tu Phuong Dong Tam, a new youth group taking on the Ignatius's Way of Life. However, my official date of birth in this family was July 2001 in Pennsylvania, when I had the privilege to burst my first cry among around 250 brothers and sisters gathered in occasion of the Second Youth Gathering in the theme "Family in Christ". What a perfect "hospital" and Family to be born!!! A first lesson was taught to me: You are always loved as you are. Like every newborn, even if I was still unfamiliar with the language, I could still understand the meaning of this first lesson through the smiles, the wide-opened hearts, the heartwarming actions of my brothers and sisters. And they have given me the brand new breath of life…

World Youth Day in Toronto, summer 2002, Dong Hanh Gathering in New Orleans, December 2002 was where the Family has taught me my first steps, where I tried my first words. Word by word, day by day, I became more comfortable with the language, I understood more and more. Somehow, I found it easy to learn this language, because I had not only one teacher, but hundreds of teachers. Everybody was a teacher and had the same way of teaching: love as Christ loved. I remember my first words: I am blessed to be part of this Family. Kind of long for the first words ever!!!

And then, Ban Phục Vu's Retreat in Virginia, autumn 2003. It was an awesome, unforgettable occasion for me to know more about the roots, the functions, the members of my Family, and all those other brothers and sisters-the "servant ones"! But we spoke, we learned, we got to know more about our siblings, we shared and we helped each other to deepen our Faith and Love in our Father. "Thầy là cây nho thật, và Cha Thầy là người trồng nho. Cành nào gắn liền với Thầy mà không sinh hoa trái, th́ Người chặt đi; c̣n cành nào sinh hoa trái, th́ Người cắt tỉa cho nó sinh nhiều hoa trái hơn." Ga 15:1-2 Through that sentence, I heard: As a family united in Christ, I am called to open my heart and mind, to understand my brothers and sisters' dreams, visions, difficulties, obstacles, to drag them into the open arms of Our Father, to abide in His Awesome Love, so we ourselves can be His fruits of Love. Moreover, we are all responsible and liable for the Christ-centered and focused-passion mission that He has given us: Building the Kingdom of God in this world, making it Heaven on Earth. Truly, I have no doubt about The Love of our Father for the Dong Hanh Family, since I had witnessed and listened to anh Liem's sharing about his family-chi Anh Vinh and be Khang-in their journey of Faith and Love. Within a few months, Dong Hanh will become officially a part of the Apostolic Community of the Church, the Body of Christ. I came home, bringing to and sharing with my group the Love that was given to me directly straight from the source. I am so honored, to be a tiny particle in this Mystical Body of Christ.

In the last month of 2003, once again, I got the chance to attend the Light Works Training Program in Austin, organized by Dong Hanh Ban Phục Vụ. What a blessed year to begin and end the year with the Dong Hanh Family. I came to Austin with an open heart, ready to learn from my brothers and sisters to deepen my relationship with God through Light Works. Now, sitting here, writing these lines, memories and images flood my mind. A house, not real big, but "expandable" enough to receive more and more joy, laughter, sharing, love, and people. 50 people in a house. The warm and overwhelming welcome and hosting of the group Agape of Austin. The familiar and yet unfamiliar faces that had the same desire, the same passion. The hard work and devotion of our pastors and all the members of Ban Phục Vụ. Their workshops. Their sharings, witnesses. Their experiences. Their patience. Their open hearts. The love and sacrifices of one of our sisters in the group Agape, who just came back from her grandmother's funeral in Virginia. God has touched me through these people. They were witnesses, signs of God saying that He has tried everything, He has done everything to let me know that He would like to get in touch with me daily through Light Works. I can see His face, asking me to let Him be a friend, a true companion in my daily life. I can hear His voice, gently letting me know that He dreams to build a relationship with me, like two loved ones that try everything to keep in touch with each other, because like Morrie said: Death can end a life, but not a relationship.

Với một cách thật dễ thương, tôi cảm thấy Chúa ao ước muốn kết thân hơn với tôi trong cuộc sống. Tôi cảm thấy nỗi ḷng của Ngài muốn xiết chặt hơn mối quan hệ giữa tôi và Ngài.

O Holy Spirit, thank you for helping me grow in this Family tasteful of Heaven, for sowing into my soul the dream of a Beautiful Relationship, to be One with God, so that I can be like Him more each day of my life.

SIMPLY HEAVEN

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Heaven. A simple word. So far. But so close. Far because you have to spread the wings of your dream to fly far beyond the boundaries of the Earth, to touch the beauty of Heaven. So close because Heaven can be built on Earth, in your community, in your school, in your family, in your heart. Mother Teresa has aimed the farthest point of her dream for Heaven to be built on Earth, all by bricks of Love and Compassion. For me, God has sowed the dream of Heaven into my heart through my Dong Hanh Family and has nourished my Beautiful Dream by the soil of Love that I can always find in my dear Dong Hanh Family.

O Lord, the Almighty, please let me become more like You each day of my life, become Love for my sisters and brothers. Help me to fulfill my Beautiful Dream, the Dream of Heaven, because Heaven is to Live with You each day of my life.

Các anh chị và các bạn thân mến trong Thầy,

Ôi đẹp thay khi Thiên Chúa gieo trong ḷng mỗi người chúng ta Giấc Mơ Thiên Đàng, một Giấc Mộng cao vời hơn tất cả những Mộng Mơ thuộc về Trần Thế. Chắc có lẽ Giấc Mơ Cao Vời ấy có thể trở thành sự thật trên thế giới ngày hôm nay, nếu chúng ta ao ước sống trong T́nh Yêu, nếu chúng ta khao khát sống măi với Chúa Kytô mỗi ngày trong cuộc đời chúng ta. May the Wings of the Beautiful Dream take you to the Highness of Heaven in this New Year 2004. Happy New Year to you all, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ!!!


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