Farmer of Hearts - How Not to Miss God’s Voice

We have officially entered the Holy Week and also the final phase of our Lenten retreat. Whether you have been accompanying us for the past 34 days of the retreat or have just begun the journey, we invite you to cherish this last stage of preparation for Easter, and through our Lord Jesus Christ, to feel deeply the Father's intense desire for us, and at the same time, deepen our thirst for God. Pe...

As we are about to enter the Holy Week - the holiest time of the year, let us prepare ourselves so that we will be in the best spiritual state and have the most awakened heart to accompany our Lord Jesus to enter Jerusalem, into the darkest and most painful moment of His life. Jesus bore the heftiest price for us with only one purpose, that is to use His suffering, death, and resurrection in excha...

Our life is a continuous process of seeking, and depending on the goals we pursue, we will have different desires. As we age and go through different stages in life, our goals also change, and these goals we pursue shape the trajectory of our lives. It can be said that our life goals affect the ultimate direction and destiny of our lives and shape us into the person we become, with profound impact...

The most important inspiration from yesterday's reflection is that even if we encounter great challenges and obstacles in our lives, they will not lead us to a dead end because God will not allow that to happen! Just as St. Paul the Apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your stre...

The key point of yesterday’s retreat was that if we don't want to be weighed down by the endless desires in our lives, we need to prioritize our desires. The key is to put our "thirst for God" as the top priority, then our other desires will be put in the right order easily. Amazingly, this solution is also the key to living a life of freedom and abundance. There are many examples in the teachings...

Everyone has different needs in life. It is natural and normal to have desires for what we need, and there is nothing wrong with it. However, the more desires a person has, the more time one spends on them. If those desires lead us closer to God, the time spent on them is valuable. But if those desires lead us away from God, they are  wasting our lives, and even more sadly, they distract us from f...

Everyone must have had this painful experience before, that is when the person you love doesn't understand you —— doesn't understand your pain, your difficulties, your feelings, your struggles —— this kind of pain is indescribable. The more you love that person, the harder it is to bear such pain. This feeling of not being understood can bring about a strong sense of loneliness, as if no one in th...

Although we know that we shouldn't make any more excuses and turn down God's invitation, there may still be fear in our heart.  It is normal in our human nature to feel frightened, anxious, confused and uncertain, when we receive the invitation from God. Even the Blessed Virgin Mary was no exception. In Luke Chapter 1 verses 28 to 29, in the narration of the Annunciation, the angel went to the you...

In yesterday's reflection, we asked if the concept of the "perfect father-son team" resonated with you. We believe that many of you may not have been able to relate to it, as you may not believe that you could become a perfect team with our Heavenly Father. This is understandable. First, we do not think that we are worthy of collaborating with our Heavenly Father. Second, we do not think that we h...

Yesterday, we talked about the "perfect father-son team." Does it resonate with you in any way? Do you think that this perfect team could only describe the relationship between the Heavenly Father and His Son? The truth is that our Heavenly Father also desires to establish this kind of close relationship with us, His children, as He has with His Son. This is the deepest longing from the bottom of...

In today’s Gospel, from the dialogue between Jesus and the Jews who wanted to kill Him, we learn about how Jesus related to and interacted with His Father, as described in the Gospel of John, Chapter 5, verses 19 to 20: Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Fat...

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”   He said to them, “C...

In this retreat a few days ago, it was mentioned that our Heavenly Father doesn’t want to let go of us. No matter how much we want to forsake Him, He still desires to be with us. In fact, our lives cannot be complete without our Heavenly Father and without knowing our individual calling from Him . Therefore, to encounter our Heavenly Father also means that we need to learn to listen to His voice,...

In yesterday's reflection, we started to look into the future positively and anticipate opening a new chapter in our lives. However, in this process, there are still many temptations and challenges. First, we need to clarify that although we have repeatedly emphasized that we need to meet with God, to return to His side, to obtain the "instruction manual" for our lives, and then continue to move t...

At the blink of an eye, we are already on the 21st day of Lent, which also marks the beginning of the second half of the Lenten season. Thank you for your continued participation and journeying with us. May the second half of this retreat symbolize our entry into the second half of our lives, or rather, the beginning of a new chapter in our lives! People often say that in order to succeed in life,...

In the previous days of this retreat, we have repeatedly emphasized the importance of meeting God, who is waiting for us in the wilderness, to quench our spiritual thirst. In fact, this crucial encounter is a turning point in our lives, and even the starting point of our lives. Any valuable object, such as a valuable violin displayed in an antique shop, is just a decorative item that is collecting...

Do you think God thirsts for you more, or do you thirst for Him more? Does God love you more, or do you love Him more? For most people, this is a very difficult question to answer. The answer itself is obvious because cognitively speaking, we know that God's thirst for us must be greater than ours for Him, and His love for us must be more intense and complete than our love for Him. However, our ex...

No one has ever truly understood you in your entire life - the pains and sufferings you have experienced, the heavy burdens you carry, the many difficulties you face, the sense of helplessness you feel - who could possibly understand? All that you have done in your life, your aspirations, your pursuits, and… the stories, reasons, and struggles behind them - who would know, to whom can you confide...

In the past few days, we have been talking about entering the wilderness to meet with God. You may wonder: there are so many better places to choose from, why do we have to encounter God in the wilderness? Indeed, before Adam and Eve sinned, God used to meet and walk with them in the garden. The rest is history.  Before we sinned, everything was good, so was our relationship with God the Father. B...

Can you imagine what it feels like to wait for your loved one in the wilderness? Have you ever imagined that from the moment you were conceived in your mother's womb until now, the One  who loves you the most has been waiting for you in the wilderness, eagerly anticipating your appearance, and cherishing every moment spent with you? The waiting in the wilderness signifies the Heavenly Father’s thi...

At our baptism and confirmation, we were consecrated. This "consecration" means that we are chosen, set apart by God and for God to fulfill the special mission that He entrusted to each of us. This means that each one of us and the mission entrusted to us are unique and irreplaceable. And because "God is love", so each of us, the Christ-follower, is God's "special envoy of love." We all have exper...

Yesterday we mentioned that we need to "enter the wilderness" regularly in order to quiet ourselves and listen to God's message. We need to make space for sorting out our lives, re-evaluating what is most important to us, and discerning the mission that God has for us. This process can help us see clearly the state of our spiritual life and then take action accordingly. But what does it mean by  "...

If we want to be able to discover the true meaning of life, discern the personal mission that God has entrusted to us, or simply hope to live well at the present time, "staying awake” is the prerequisite of achieving these goals. In fact, it can be said that one of our most important survival skills is the ability to "stay awake" as much as possible. We can even put it this way:  whether we can li...

Have you ever wondered why Jesus entered the wilderness and fasted for forty days and forty nights, and then faced temptation from the devil? What was Jesus' state of mind when He entered the wilderness? Jesus' entry into the wilderness demonstrated His determination to follow the will of His Father, to redeem the world He loved in complete obedience to the Father's way. We must understand that th...

In previous reflections, it was mentioned that the state of "I thirst" has become a "pandemic" in our world. Today, let us deepen our understanding of this state of "I thirst". In this online retreat, "I thirst" refers to the dryness of our spiritual and mental state. Few people would describe their condition in this way, just as people lacked knowledge and understanding of depression in the past...