Dear friends,

A few weeks ago, during a Sunday Mass that I attended, I heard a very inspiring homily from my parish priest, Father Cassidy. His message was so meaningful and so satisfying that I just have to share it with you today:

The Gospel Reading for that day was "The Parable of the Sower." It was about the sower who spread the seeds to many different places and some seeds fell on bad, rocky grounds or thorny bushes and couldn’t grow further, those plants withered and died; but other seeds fell on good soil so they grew into healthy plants and multiply. Father Cassidy was telling us that the seeds symbolize of the Word of God - the Good News, planted inside each one of us. Our heart and soul are like the soil in which the seeds are being sown. How fertile the soil of our heart and spirit, will determine how well the seeds grow.

Father Cassidy went on to talk about all the bad things that we’ve been hearing in the news recently: the scandals within the U.S. Catholic Church, the bombing in the Middle East, the pollution and endangerment of our environment, conflicts between nations, crimes in many communities, etc.. We are being bombarded with bad news all the time and this makes many people sad, worried, angry or depressed about life. Many people feel hopeless and see the world as an "ugly" place to live in. These bad news made us feel helpless against the face of so many evils in the world. But the truth is that in spite of all the bad news around us, there is Good News for each one of us every day. That Good News can be found in the Bible! The problem is that many people don’t believe strongly enough that the Good News in the Bible can actually free us from our distress, our fear and our worries. Many of us don’t connect the Good News in the Bible with everyday events. We think one has nothing to do with the other; that although the Bible has inspirational words, those are merely nice words that have no power over any real life situation. That’s a big mistake!

The truth is that those words are not just mere words. They are the living Words of God! Jesus is truly the Word (of the Father) made flesh, in order to reveal to us how tremendously God loves us. That, my friends, is the Good News! God loves us so much that he created us so that we can enjoy perfect happiness with God forever. not just in heaven, but right here, right now, on earth! How do we gain happiness? Jesus taught us how in the Bible. If you can just start out spending 10 -15 minutes each day reading a few passages in the Bible, you’ll soon realize that God’s Words are alive and actively at work at every moment in your life. His Words have the power to heal and transform us. If we could firmly believe in this truth and allow our heart to become fertile soil for God’s Words to take root and grow in us, we’ll see our problems in a different light. We won’t feel helpless, but we’ll see a meaning and a purpose behind the hard times. We’ll be able to face the storms of our life with peace in our heart and trust in God. We’ll be certain that God is with us and He’s holding us in the palm of His hand. We need to hold on tight to God and let God’s Words guide us through the pain and struggle of our lives. We need to spend time and focus on the Good News, to live its message; only then will we be able to find the hope, the strength and the endurance to overcome the "bad news" of this world.

My friends, will you try to spend a few minutes reading the Bible every day. You can always come to a priest or a religion teacher to ask about the things you don’t understand in the Bible. Some people said that the Bible is God’s love letter to each one of us. I think that is so true! I can certainly testify to that. I have been so touched by God’s love for me so many times when I read the Bible. His message is not a general, "one-size-fit-all" message, it’s very personal, and is intended for each one of us in our own different circumstances. To be able to hear and understand his Words, we must have a "listening heart" - sincerely willing and wanting to read God’s love letter. We need to ask God to come and guide us as we read, and be opened to receive God’s Holy Spirit. with God’s grace, we’ll gradually enter into a loving relationship with God. That’s when we discover our true happiness! May our Blessed Mother guide us on this spiritual endeavor.

Dear friends, do you know that the fifteenth day of August marks a very special day? It’s the feastday of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrating the taking up of her body and soul into Heaven after her death. Her Assumption then is truly her privilege but also for us a sign and promise of the total glory after our lives here on earth. In Viet Nam, every year, around the time of this Feastday, thousands Catholics and non-Catholics alike make the pilgrimage to La Vang where Our Mother Mary first appeared more than 200 years ago to honor Her. So, in the column of Emmaus’ Journey this month, I want to include an article about "Our Lady of Lavang." By the way, you will find on the magazine cover of this issue the picture of Pope John Paul II blessed the statues of Our Lady of Lavang last February. You will also find the pictures of these statues being carried by reprentatives of Vietnamese Catholic Communites around the world (in five continents) during the Mass marking the opening of the spiritual preparation year for the First Congress of Vietnamese Catholics in Diaspora which will be held in Rome (Italy) next year. The Mass was attended by about 6000 thousand Catholics at Santa Ana Stadium in Little Saigon (Southern California) on June 30 this year.

Enjoy the rest of your summer break, stay cool and don’t forget the sun-block!

OUR LADY OF LA-VANG

The history of Our Lady of Lavang began in 1798, when the persecution of Vietnamese Catholics was carried out by the order of King Canh Thinh. Many Catholics from the town of Quang Tri, which is in central Vietnam, fled to a deep jungle area. The place was called La-Vang, perhaps after the name of a plant that grew there, Lá Vằng, perhaps after the indigenous word that means "crying out." Cold, hungry, sick and afraid of the jungle beasts, they prepared themselves for martyrdom.

One night, while they were gathered together to pray, a lady surrounded by light appeared among them. She was wearing a long cape, holding a child in her arms, with two angels at her sides. All of the people could see her, and they recognized her as the Blessed Mother. She offered them words of comfort and encouragement, told them to boil leaves from the nearby trees to use as medicine and promised to intercede on behalf of all who came to that spot to pray. She continued to appear periodically to the people in this same place throughout the period of nearly one hundred years of religious persecution. During this period of time, her name was spread among the people in the region to other places. Despite its isolated location in the high mountains, groups of people continued to find ways to penetrate the deep and dangerous jungle to pay homage to the Lady of La-Vang. Over time, the pilgrimages went on every year despite the continuous persecution campaigns.

In 1884, the persecutions ended. In 1886, Bishop Gaspar of this local orderd a new chapel built in honor of the Lady of La-Vang; it was consecrated in 1901, and the bishop proclaimed Our Lady of La-Vang as the Protectress of Vietnam. In 1928, a larger church was built to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims coming. In 1961, the Catholic Conference of Vietnamese Bishops chose the church as the National Marian Center, and Pope John XXIII elevated it to a basilica.

Unfortunately, in 1972, the church was destroyed during the Vietnam War. Because of the Communist regime’s policy of religious persecution, it has not yet been rebuilt, but pilgrims still journey to the shrine to honor Our Lady of La-Vang.

In 1988 Pope John Paul II himself honored Our Lady of La-Vang during the canonizing ceremony of 117 Martyrs of Vietnam, publicly and repeatedly recognized the importance and significance of the Lady of La-Vang and expressed a desire for the rebuilding of the Basilica.