Evangelical Hope

 Francis  Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was born in Vietnam, on April 17, 1917.  He was the oldest of eight children.  He was diligent and studious and rose through the ranks both in studies and in the priesthood. It was when he was appointed him Archbishop of Vadesitana and Coadjutor Archbishop of the Diocese of Sai Gon, that a spotlight highlighted him.  The Vietnamese political authorities considered him a threat and arrested hilm.

In total, Archbishop Van Thuan was in prison for thirteen years, nine of them in solitary confinement.

             Don't you just love this picture.  Note what the Bishop has in his hand.  Look at the table.  

                         He is celebrating Mass, the best that he can, with what he has.

After his release, he went into exile.  In Rome, he was asked to lead a Retreat in 2000.  Eventually, Van Thuan was made a Cardinal.  John Paul II asked him to publish the Spiritual Exercises he gave in his retreat in the year 2000.  The result is the book, Testimony of Hope The Spiritual Exercises of John Paul II by Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan.

This is a book of meditations given by someone who has suffered.  He had suffered beyond what we can imagine, yet he never gave up hope.  What a person to offer a retreat! He imbues his spiritual exercises with hope.  Here and there he gives glimpses of his life in prison, which hammers home the points he was making.  This is called evangelical hope. What witness!  He passes it on to us, in this little testimony.