Happy Birthdate to Fr Dominic Bao

HAPPY BIRTHDATE TO FR. DO MINIC BẢO. On this very special day, the Feast of St. Martin de Porres, "the VSL Patriarch" Fr. Dominic Phạm Văn Bảo turns to his age of seventy. It is the age of wonder, for it is inevitably marked with the blessing from God. May the Almigh ty God continue blessing this humble friar long life of witnessing His Love in the rest of his journey of imitating the good Shepherd to serve the Church and the Order of Friar Preachers. The age of seventy marks a significant turning- point of one's life. For the Vietnamese as well as the Chinese, a man living up to his seventieth is very rare and thus a blessing from God. The famous poet Đỗ Phủ once said, "Nhân sinh thất thập cổ lai hy" ( Since the advent of time, it has been rare for a man to live up to the age of seventy ). In the words of the Bible being placed in the mouth of Moses, "Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong; Most of them are sorrow and toil; they pass quickly, we are all but gone ." (Ps. 90:10) According to the famo us Vietnamese composer Y Vân, the whole span of one's life is wrapped merely in 60 years, as written in his famous song "Sáu Mươi Năm Cuộc Đời" (60 Years of Life). According to the composer, the span of 60 years is divided into three 20-year parts; the first is of short happiness, the second of sorrow, and the last of merely counting few days left. Simply a short span o f life is sentimentally exp ressed in suspiration, "Anh ơi, ta sống là bao!" (How short it is of our li fe!) How many years one' s life having been lasting no lon ger becomes a question when one's engaged in pondering its meaning. For it is short, why lamenting and blaming? If death is an inevitably unavoidable step of human life, let not the course of one's life be wasted but rather becomes meaningful. There was a famous scholar-general Văn Thiên Tường in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was very famous for his patriotism and righteousness, who courage ously resisted and indomitably fought against the (Hốt Tất Liệt) Kublai Khan's invasion of China, once said: " None since the advent of time have ever escaped death, may my loyalty forever illuminate the annals of history" in his poem "Quá Linh Đinh Dương". (Its original verses in Chinese and Vietnamese are below) This famous quotation was later quoted by the great Vietnamese military General and well -known prolific poet Nguyễn Công Trứ in his immortal epic "Chí Nam Nhi" (The Will To Be A Righteous Man): The spirit of this immortal epic of the great Vietnamese hero has been eloquently expressed in the humble and quiet life of the Dominican friar Fr. Dominic Bảo, being under voluntary obedience but being lived out in an incredibly free manner. Fr. Dominic Phạm Văn Bảo's life has been associated with endless days of up and down, closely intertwined with struggling days of the Vicariate of St. Vincent Liêm since the very first moment of its conception. One might say that without this humble friar Dominic Bảo, the Vicariate could never come into existence. Therefore, his humble pres ence in the Order has become an instrument of God's caring providence for the Vietnamese Vicariate. At the reception of his 70th birthdate, the Regional Prior Joseph Trần Trung Liêm rightly gave respect to him, "the Dad and the Teacher of the friars of the Vietnamese Vicariate," and acknowledged his loving and ca ring presence as a wise and humble shepherd amidst the friars and the communities, both English and Vietnamese-speaking in Calgary.

Happy Birthdate to Fr Dominic Bao

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