Faith is unconditional acceptance…
Faith is the unconditional acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and the determination to live and die with him.
–Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002)
Examine your conscience…
After you have examined your conscience, what should you do? You must weep over your sins like Peter, lay yourself at his feet like Mary Magdalene, resolve to reform with the resolution of Zacchaeus and the zeal of Paul. Only in this way will you advance with hope.
–Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002)
Keep going forward…
Along this road you are traveling, you will encounter thorns and brambles, tigers and other wild animals, as well as fragrant roses and beautiful views. There will be kind friends and treacherous enemies, times of soft rainfall and times of scorching sun. Be ready for both the pleasant and the unpleasant. Whatever comes, keep going forward, filled with the spirit of the Lord like Cyril and Athanasius: do not stop, do not hesitate for fear of criticism, do not search for praise.
–Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002)
The kingdom is within…
Now the Greeks leave home and traverse the sea in order to gain an education, but there is no need to go abroad on account of the Kingdom of Heaven, nor to cross the sea for virtue. For the Lord has told us before, ‘the kingdom of God is within you.’
–Saint Anthony of Egypt (c. 251-356)
The Ways of the Lord…
The ways of the Lord are many, though he is himself the way. When he speaks of himself he calls himself the way and shows us the reason why he called himself the way: ‘No one can come to the Father except through me.’ We must ask for these many ways, we must travel along these many ways, to find the one that is good. That is, we shall find the one way of eternal life through the guidance of many teachers. These ways are found in the law, in the prophets, in the gospels, in the writings of the apostles, in the different good works by which we fulfill the commandments. Blessed are those who walk these ways in the fear of the Lord.
–Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c. 300-368)
Fear of the Lord…
But of the fear of the Lord this is what is written: ‘Come, my children, listen to me, I shall teach you the fear of the Lord.’ The fear of the Lord has then to be learned because it can be taught. It does not lie in terror, but in something that can be taught. It does not arise from the fearfulness of our nature; it has to be acquired by obedience to the commandments, by holiness of life and by knowledge of the truth.
–Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c. 300-368)
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