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Inspiring Thoughts
TWO ANCIENT VOICES
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Mark 6:31; Ecclesiastes 5:10; Matthew 5:10–12
Every small act of compassion lines up with the highest line of the Chinese proverb and the deepest promise of the Beatitudes. And the beautiful paradox is this: When you stop chasing happiness and start serving others, happiness quietly finds you.
THE BOTTLE NUMBER NINE
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Proverbs 16:18; Mark 8:18; Matthew 6:22
Sometimes healing comes not through pills or procedures, but through a moment that forces us to be honest about ourselves.
THE MISSING FISHING ROD
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Galatians 6:2
Teaching someone is good. Encouraging someone is noble. But Christ calls His people to something deeper: to notice what is missing, to supply what life withheld, and to give the “fishing rod” that opens the first door to hope.
THE BEAUTY QUEEN
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Proverbs 17:22
Confidence isn’t about being the most beautiful person in the room — it’s about being the most comfortable version of yourself.
THE OLD VIOLIN
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Matthew 12:20
God never discards a broken instrument—He simply tunes it until its cracks can sing again.
THE EMPTY CHAIR AT DINNER
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Revelation 3:20
We live in an age of locked doors and hurried dinners. Families eat in front of screens, neighbors live side by side but rarely speak, and loneliness has become a silent epidemic. Yet, the Gospel calls us to open up our tables again — to turn ordinary dinners into small acts of evangelization.
THE FOLDED APRON
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Matthew 20:26
True greatness is found in folded aprons—the quiet, humble acts of love that no one sees but God never forgets!
DO NOT CONFUSE ACTIVITY WITH ACCOMPLISHMENT
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Luke 10:38–42; Psalm 127:2; Proverbs 19:2
Busyness is comforting. It gives us the illusion of control. When we feel anxious, uncertain, or afraid of not measuring up, filling our day with tasks makes us feel safe. “If I keep moving,” we think, “I won’t have to face the deeper questions.” But constant motion without meaningful direction is just noise.
THE BURNT TOAST
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
2 Corinthians 12:9
I thought about how God must look at us—the burnt edges, the uneven efforts, the half-baked prayers—and still call it good. Because His grace isn’t given for the perfect; it’s given for the trying.
THE LAST LEAF
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Isaiah 40:31
Life has seasons when everything feels stripped bare—faith, energy, joy. But God hides renewal in what looks empty. And when we trust Him through the winter, we find that even our waiting becomes part of His growing.
THE WINDOW WASHER
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Matthew 5:8
Purity of heart isn’t perfection—it’s clarity. It’s seeing without resentment, without judgment, without fear. It’s allowing God to wipe away the film of sin and self so that His light can shine through again.
THE OLD UMBRELLA
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Galatians 6:2
How often had I thrown things away the moment they stopped being perfect? How often had I judged people — or myself — by the same standard? Yet here was an old woman with an umbrella that refused to quit, and somehow it carried more dignity than anything new.
THE BURNT RICE AND THE GENTLE HEART
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Proverbs 15:1
The world often celebrates big acts of heroism, but the real battles are usually fought in kitchens, living rooms, and daily conversations—where our words can either heal or wound, soften or harden. The rice burns, the plans fall apart, someone says the wrong thing—and in that moment, love gets its test.
REMAIN IN MY LOVE
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
John 15:9; John 15:12
Loving like Jesus does not mean becoming weak or pretending sin doesn’t exist. It means choosing mercy over revenge, prayer over resentment, patience over pride. It means going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, and loving even when love costs something.
THE BROKEN CUP
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
Ephesians 4:32
It reminds me that some breaks are worth remembering, not because they show failure, but because they remind us how fragile we are — and how each moment of self-control becomes a quiet grace that heals.
THE WORN-OUT SHOES
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
2 Corinthians 5:7
I thought of all the people who walk by faith like that—ordinary men and women who carry their crosses quietly, who serve without recognition, who love without conditions. They, too, have worn-out soles and steady hearts.
THE CUP OF COFFEE LEFT UNFINISHED
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
James 1:19
That unfinished cup of coffee became a lesson I didn’t expect. It reminded me that sometimes the holiest thing we can do is stop what we’re doing and pay attention. God often speaks in whispers, and sometimes the whisper comes from someone else’s pain.
THE EMPTY SWING
Deacon Paul Nghia Pham
2 Corinthians 5:7
Sometimes faith feels exactly like that empty swing—moving without knowing who’s pushing. You feel the motion but not the hands. You sense the rhythm but not the source.
NICODEMUS
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
John 3:19; Psalm 27:1
As Scripture says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). Faith that stays only in the mind eventually withers. Faith that steps into the light—even trembling—begins to live. Nicodemus teaches us this: it’s okay to come with questions. It’s okay to come quietly. But when the Spirit begins to move like wind in your soul, don’t close the door.
REPENTANCE
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Matthew 4:17; Acts 2:38
Confession without repentance is equally empty. Words spoken without a turning heart bear no fruit. Confession only becomes powerful when repentance is real—and repentance reaches its fullness when Christ, acting through the priest, grants absolution and restores grace.
A LEPER
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Mark 1:40–45
Leprosy often develops slowly, numbing the nerves over time. Likewise, sin dulls our spiritual senses. We stop feeling remorse, stop hearing the voice of conscience, and slowly lose the capacity to distinguish good from evil.
NOT RIGHT NOW
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
John 14:2; Matthew 25:13
Heaven isn’t just a reward waiting at the end—it’s a direction we walk toward every day. Every act of kindness, every choice to forgive, every prayer whispered when no one is watching is a small step in that direction. God isn’t asking us to be perfect right now; He’s asking us to be willing right now.
COME FOLLOW ME
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
John 1:29; John 1:39
God often enters our lives quietly, walking past us in ordinary moments. We’re busy. We’re distracted. We think we know what we’re looking for—success, happiness, answers, direction—but when Jesus turns and asks, “What are you looking for?” we sometimes don’t know how to answer.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Romans 8:26–27; John 10:27
The Holy Spirit doesn’t always shout. Sometimes He nudges. Sometimes He whispers. Sometimes He gives an entire family the same ridiculous idea and waits to see if they’ll trust Him enough to act on it. That day, they did.
SHARING AND THE TOYMAKER
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Hebrews 13:16, Luke 3:11, Luke 6:38
The act of giving and receiving both invokes gratitude in the participants of the exchange. The receiver is thankful for the gift and the giver feels gratitude for being able to have that exchange. Gratitude, as we all know, contributes to a person's ability to feel happy. When a person is able to feel gratitude for all that he/she has been blessed with, they are more inclined to feel happy and content.
THE WHEELBARROW
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
James 2:17; Matthew 14:27; Hebrews 11:1
It is easy to say we trust God while sitting safely inside that boat. It is easy to sing of faith, speak of faith, admire faith—just like the crowd admired Blondin—yet hesitate when God invites us to take a step... God does not ask us to walk on tightropes or across stormy seas. But He does call us to take steps of courage—small or large—that deepen our trust in Him.
PURGATORY
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
John 6:37-40
Purgatory is a delay imposed by our impurity, a delay before God's embrace, which causes intense suffering. It is precisely this burning, this longing which cleanses us of whatever is still impure in us.
LIFE IS PRECIOUS
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Genesis 1:26-27
We spent billions of dollars with all of our skill, technology, and many years of preparation to prove that there is an indication of life on Mars. We not only accept this indication without doubt but we celebrate, treasure, and protect it with all of our power. On the contrary, we completely deny, refuse, and conveniently destroy the real life in the mother’s womb.
HABIT & RITUAL
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Mark 7:15; Isaiah 29:13
. Week after week, people often spend far more time preparing their appearance for church than preparing their hearts. Rituals meant to lead people to God can quietly replace God Himself.
CHALLENGE & TEMPTATION
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Matthew 16:25; Romans 8:28
A temptation pulls us away from God—toward fear, selfishness, or sin. A challenge, though painful, pushes us toward trust, courage, and deeper faith. The devil uses fear to trap. God allows trials to strengthen.
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Luke 6:39-45
Sight and vision are not the same and neither are knowledge and wisdom. Sight is the functioning of the eye that let us see. It is what happens when the eye perceives light and processes it into an image. However, vision is more important than sight. Vision is the process by which the brain is able to assimilate what they natural eye sees and convert it into an anticipation or prediction of what might occur as a result of what one sees.
BETRAYERS, DENIERS, AND DESERTERS
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
John 13:21-33, 36-38
What is the difference between denial and betrayal? They both sound just as bad. If you figure in premeditation difference, we can easily deny someone or something in the heat of the moment when embarrassed or afraid. However, betrayal takes some thinking about it ahead of time. Betrayal is more cold-blooded.
SHEEP
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Luke 5:1-11
In broader culture, dependence is a quality used to emphasize innocence and Jesus's followers are referred to as sheep under his guidance as the "Good Shepherd". This highlights the innocent and trusting nature of those who depend on a higher power for guidance.
SUBMISSION & OBEDIENCE
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Luke 5:1-11
Merely “obey” may give Peter the full load of fish but it was through “submission” to God's word that Peter was entrusted with the mission of becoming a fisher of men instead of a fisherman, becoming the helmsman, the captain of the great fishing boat of the Church. Obedience catches fish and submission makes fishers of men.
OBEDIENCE
Deacons Dominic Thien Ta, Joseph Nhat Tran, Jude Tam Tran
Luke 22:42; Acts 5:29
For people of faith, obedience flows from love. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that love of God is the heart of obedience. Scripture contrasts the disobedience of Adam and Eve with the faithful obedience of Abraham, Mary, and above all Jesus.
THE SON
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Luke 2:41-52
Mary and Joseph lost Jesus for three days. We too can lose Jesus if we do not watch Jesus especially when Jesus is not on our mind. It is a part of Christian living. The longer as we are Christians, the greater we are in danger to lose Jesus. We can drift away in doing his works or we can turn his work into a routine without thinking or focusing.
AWARENESS
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Acts 3:1-10; Lk 24:13-35
The disciples knew about Jesus, but they did not know him. They had heard about Jesus, and maybe read about Him, or even claimed to know Him, but they did not recognize Him when they met Him because their eyes had not been opened. Knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus are two different things.
BE CONSISTENT
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Acts 20:28-38; John 17:11-19
This is a very familiar picture of what happened not only to my flowerbed, but also to our society, and to our Church as well. The problem was our lack of discipline and lack of commitment to stay caught up with the weeds and pull them out consistently.
BREAD OF LIFE
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Acts 8:1b-8; Jn 6:35-40
Bread is food that we need daily in every morning and evening in our lives. So, it is with Jesus because there is no day in our lives that we do not need His grace. Jesus alone can relieve and feed us from our hunger, and we may as well call him “The bread of life!”
GOD’S INTERVENTION
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Is 50:4-9a; Mt 26:14-25
You probably wonder how Google’s exploitation relates to my reflection on Matthew Gospel. It is about the difference between human intervention and divine intervention. Human intervention is for profit and by exploitation, but divine intervention is for salvation and by love.
NO RISK INVESTMENT
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Acts 12:24-13:5a; Jn 12:44-50
Investing in Jesus is not as complicated as investing in Amazon, but very simple. Jesus only requires us to do His two greatest commandments: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37), and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39). There is nothing simpler than that.
PATIENTLY WAITING
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Ez 37:12-14; Rom 8:8-11; Jn 11:1-45
When we judge God by our own definition and limited understanding, as Martha and Mary did, we make God small, remove his grace and mercy, and diminish his work on the cross and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us that waiting is a virtue because God always comes at the perfect moment.
THE ART OF THE DEAL
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
John 8:34
Slavery doesn’t always come with chains. Sometimes it comes with a trophy puppet and a restless night. And freedom? Freedom often comes with humility—and a quiet lesson learned the hard way.
TRUSTING
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Is 7:10-14, 8:10; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38
Give God the burden of what we are trying to control over to Him. God can do way more through our surrender than we could ever do through our control. Following Mary’s footsteps is the best way to live our life because, “Nothing is impossible for God”
UPDATED TRADITIONS
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20; Matthew 5:17-19
In our Church, we need to be ready to move forward creatively to new ways of understanding our faith and living it out. The traditions of the past are still valid, but we must never be bogged down in them to the extent that we do not respond to the clear signs of the times.
VITAL CONNECTION
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Acts 15:1-6; Jn 15:1-8
There is no doubt that when Jesus purges and purifies our lives, it can be very painful. However, we should remember that Jesus is never closer to us than when His ministering hand is upon our lives! His touch, no matter how it may hurt for the moment, is proof that we are His and that He cares for us!
WISE CHOOSING
Deacon Jude Tam Tran
Acts 5:17-26; Jn 3:16-21
It is not God’s judgment that we are to fear, but it is our own choices which can bring us closer to Jesus or away from him. It is our own choice whether we wish to live in the light or choose darkness.