Faith

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“Amazing Faith”
Friday, April 8, 2005 †

“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29).



May he rest in peace and may God continue to bless his faithful soul. The person that I am lovingly referring to in this message of grace is my grandpa, Mr. Dang V. Le, who was baptized as Francis Xavier. There is much to say about the kind of Christian man my grandpa was, but my main reason for sharing this short verse with you today is because I’ve never known anyone who’s been a greater example for me when it came to keeping the faith.

Grandpa was born in Vietnam, 1904 and was called home to God while residing in the US by 2002. He had a long, poor, hard life where he lacked many things that you and I have the luxury of having today. And though that list was long, and anything else that wasn’t on the list was also constantly being stripped away from him, but his faith in God was rock solid and knowingly present by anyone who were to meet him. Grandpa always told me as long as we have our life and our faith nothing else matters; for our faith is something which no one can take away from us. In the 27 years that I knew him, grandpa faithfully prayed the rosary at least twice a day if not more and attended daily mass seven days a week unless his health prohibited him to do so. Yes, I would say his faith in the Lord was his main source of strength, and it held him strong through all 98 years until his final breath. In his final months his body slowly broke down as he began to loose the battle with Father Time; this brought him to the hospitals many nights and endless days of living in discomfort. And though his body was breaking, the same could not be said for grandpa’s faith. His faith continued to beat strong as it always did, and even up to this last breathe when grandpa took three quick breaths of air and mumbled, “Xin vâng! Xin vâng! Con sẳn sàng xin vâng,” which translate to “I’m ready! I’m ready! I’m ready to come home.” Then, he was gone. I can’t imagine the peace he must have felt at that last moment. I can’t imagine a life that was more devoted to absolute pure faith in God.




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☺ “In Remembrance of Me:”

This message of daily grace, “Amazing Faith,” written on March 31, 2005, is written in remembrance of my mom’s father, who I had the honor of calling Grandpa, Mr. Dang V. Le, 12/03/1904 – 12/27/2002. May grandpa rest warm in God’s strong embrace while he waits for eternal life with Christ when He will come again. You’ll always have my love grandpa - me.

☺ In remembrance too, our beloved Pope John Paul II – the people’s Pope, who was laid to rest on this day, April 8, 2005, in St. Peter’s Cathedral, Rome, Italy. God’s modern-day disciple, who in life lived following Christ’s footsteps, and who in death is now sharing in the promises of Father’s kingdom. Thank you Lord for lending us your faithful child, without whom, man now wouldn’t be as close as we are to Christ.
α†Ω

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