Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from TNF Torrance!

TNF began the Christmas season with the annual Christmas TBDT that includes presenting presents, caroling, and spreading the Christmas spirit to one another.

TNF Torrance had a festive Christmas carnival with beautiful crafts and competitive games.

The fun did not end there! The Thieu and Nghia Christmas party added more warmth and bonding to the season, through food and games.

Lets not forget the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of baby Jesus. With hard work and dedication TNF Torrance presented the Nativity play on Christmas Eve, celebrating the coming of Jesus.

Once again Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from TNF Torrance.

Chị Veronica

Huynh Trưởng 

Đoàn Thiếu Nhi Fatima

Đức Mẹ Truyền Tin Torrance

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Peter's Pickles #4: Understanding the Theme - What is your Net Worth?

Dear friends,

This past weekend, Torrance hosted its 3rd annual One Day Spiritual Retreat, an event aimed at developing the spirituality of our older youth (16+). As Chi Pauline explains, “in preparation for the coming school year, we want to remind ourselves about what is important in our service and renew our faith”-- why we are here.

So, the focus of my post will be to explain the theme that was explored at this retreat, and why it matters to us as leaders of our youth.

For those of you that could not attend, the theme this year was “What is your Net Worth?”

“Net Worth” is a term often used to distinguish a person’s assets in a monetary way.

For instance, a quick google search tells us that Bill Gates net worth (counting his property, investments, savings, etc.) is somewhere between 78 and 90 billion US Dollars. On the other hand, if one were to calculate Anh Peter’s net worth, it would probably be a lot lower, counting 4 years of college tuition.

It would not take a genius mathematician to conclude that Bill Gates is probably worth alot more than me. He drives a nicer car, lives in a bigger house, and has a way fancier education. These are all things that money can assure.

Moreover, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, are known to be one of the BIGGEST philanthropists in the world. A philanthropist is a person who promotes the welfare of others for nothing in return. They use their enormous fortune to help millions of poor, sick and starving people around the world everyday. Money allows them to benefit the world in so many ways.  

Bill Gates makes more and does more in one day, than I could ever do in my entire life. That is a very likely a fact. So, knowing that, why should I continue living? Why should I keep learning, and working, and loving? These are among the biggest questions that we explored throughout our 10 hour retreat.

So, let’s move past money for a second. Because, aren’t there other ways that our society determines value? Of course.

Here are a couple:

• Education: Knowing more means that we are able to do more. Even 10 lifetimes is not enough to learn everything there is to learn about our world. But, at least it makes us more qualified than someone that never received an education.
• Athleticism: Not everyone can be a cop, or a firefighter, or Michael Phelps, or even a construction worker. Strength has always been valued and adorned in every society for thousands of years.
• Social Skills: Progress cannot be achieved by one person alone. Many of the great innovations of our time were built by thousands, even millions, of people working together. Being able to communicate effectively, and maintain relationships is a crucial part of that.

Anyways, my point is that the list goes on. A person’s net worth is not just about money. There are so many ways in which the world values its people. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Think about your immediate families, like our parents and siblings. If you didn’t have any of the above qualities— if you weren’t rich, or smart, or strong, or outgoing— would your parents still value you? If today they were given the chance to sell you for Bill Gates entire fortune, would they accept it? Easy answer: No.

Through the eyes of a parent, their children are worth far more than anything else in this world. There is no amount of money that comes even close. Why? Because of love.

Love is one of those things that throw all logic and reason out the window. It is not something that can be measured by the gifts we give, or the things we do for each other. It is something that drives us, that sustains every fiber of our being. We can live without money, without materialism, even without food for awhile. But, we cannot last without love.

That prepares us for the biggest question. If our net worth depends on the person assessing it, how does God value us? How does God see us in comparison to his other works?

The short answer: God does not value us at all.

Okay, hold on, I know that sounds a little bit weird, but let me explain. We call God our father, because our connection is not limited only to that of a creator and their creation. There is affection. We aren’t stone statues built from clay or plaster. We are living, breathing people capable of marvelous things. We cannot be recreated or replicated. Not even identical twins are the same. We do not refer to ourselves as mere offspring, because it fails to capture the whole picture.

God loves us, in the same way that our parents do, perhaps even more. He did not make us, and leave us to our own devices. He watches everything we do. He sees our anger, our delight, our pain, our excitement, our grief, our enjoyment… He is there to commend us in our achievement, and hold us in our failures. God does not stamp a price tag on any of us. We cannot compare ourselves with others, because that is like comparing staplers and rulers, apples and oranges. None of us are similar in God’s eyes, except for the fact that we are priceless and irreplaceable to him. Although we may disappoint him, often, his love for us does not change.

"God does not make junk, only masterpieces". So, go out there and live knowing you are loved. There are times where we forget that, but we are not alone. We have God, and we have each other.

Remember, that God made us all with purpose. Move forward knowing that you will someday realize it. You have something to offer us all. Let’s make this a great year. We got your back.

Anh Peter

Additional Resources: Here is a beautiful video shown at our retreat by Sister Thanh that I highly encourage all of you watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfUzodLRvk

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Peter's Pickles #3: Love Thy Neighbor

Welcome friends,

For those of you that follow the news (or don’t live under a rock), it’s pretty obvious that this isn’t really the best year for humanity. In the past few months alone: Nice, Orlando, Turkey, Baghdad, Dallas… The list goes on, and on— another event being added with every couple of days. It’s bleak and certainly not easy to accept, but this seems to be the direction that the world is moving.

But, anyway, why bring up such a depressing topic? What does any of that have to do with us, as high schoolers, as college students, as human beings, as future HT, as current HT? How do these moments change the way we see ourselves, and the world around us?

Well, the truth is… it sometimes doesn’t.

For most of us, we turn on the TV or browse Facebook in wake of these tragedies, and our natural responses range between fear, anger, and sadness. Typically, our hearts reach out to the families of those affected; we might think of saying a few prayers; some of us actually end up saying them...  Then we talk about it for a few days:

• “Did you hear about the 49 dead and 53 wounded at that gay nightclub in Orlando?”
• “Did you hear about that guy shot dead by the police? Another unarmed black man.”

However, our grief is short-lived. It’s difficult to admit, sure. But, we eventually move on with our lives, whether that be a conscious choice or by chance, and forget that these things ever happened in the first place.

I find the words of Jon Stewart, former host of the Daily Show, to be especially insightful. He says:

“By acknowledging it, by staring into that and seeing it for what it is, we still won’t do jackshit. Yeah, that’s us. That’s the part that blows my mind.”

All the news coverage in the world can’t change the fact that we, as human beings, are becoming increasingly apathetic, we care less and less. Social injustice occurs even in our own country, the first world— injustice that preys upon the poor, the gays, the minorities— but we won’t do a thing to stop it. What does that say about who we are as Christians?

The Bible teaches that all human beings have the potential to do good, but at the same time we are not necessarily born righteous. Listening to Jesus’ vision for us doesn’t come naturally, it’s hard, I know. Think back to the Gospel from a few weeks ago. Jesus says:

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:30-35).

We all have the capacity for love, but we are selective with who we love. We find difficulty loving the homeless man that asks us for money outside the 7-11 in the same way that we love our families. Although we might not see the presence of God in his eyes, He is there. They are all our  neighbors.

Jesus did not tell us to “love thy neighbor...unless they’re black, gay, or disgusting”. He uses the absolute statement without exception, with faults included. Prejudice, racism and homophobia are what we have created out of hate for each other, not love.

Love must be unconditional.

If we were able to live by that instruction, would these tragic moments still occur? If we were able to love each other as neighbors, as shared inhabitants of this beautiful world that God gave us?

Would we intentionally hurt the man/woman we love?

Would we kill a child, if they were our own?

Would we steal money from the poor, if they were our parents?

Love every human being like they are you(rs).

I’m not saying that all of us have to go travel the world, preaching love and kumbaya...

Instead, we should learn and teach this love by our good work. Let tragedy remind you of this.

When you find one of the kids annoying or weird, love them anyway.

When your colleagues don’t appreciate you, love them anyway.

Someday, they will return that love to others, if not to you.

And, with this I will leave you with a beautiful quote from Kurt Vonnegut:

"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you’ve got a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” –God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Sincerely, Anh Peter

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Peter's Pickles #2: A Faith We Did Not Choose

There’s this question that I love asking my Giao Ly students on the first day of class every year. It goes something like: “Why are you here? What’s your motivation for being in this class? Why do you go to Mass?”

Since it’s the first day, and they’re all trying to make a good impression, it’s not uncommon to hear answers like, “I’m excited to learn more about God”, or “I want to learn how to be a better Catholic”.

These are good answers, but they’re not the ones I’m looking for, so I keep fishing. I’m patiently waiting for that one really honest kid in the class to raise their hand, and answer plainly:

“My parents made me!” Bingo.

It’s hard to admit, but most of the kids that go to TNF can sympathize with that answer. It’s important to realize that few of us chose to be Catholic in the first place. We were barely able to talk, much less make the conscious decision to pledge our entire existence to God.

We are Catholics by chance and attend church to satisfy the people we love. Just because we have become Catholics by the rite of Baptism, that does not necessarily make us believers. Perhaps that comes later in life. Perhaps not at all, which is why our current generation is not as attuned with the faith.

I was not a believer when I was Baptized as a child. Or, when I received First Communion as an adolescent. Or, when I was Confirmed as a teenager.

I don’t even know if I can call myself a believer today because, like many others, I am constantly in search of God everyday.

But, I do find it significant that I am still looking.

It is easy to distract ourselves when people are talking about something we don’t want to hear. We probably all do that quite often to the people in our lives. But, out of love, they will never give up hoping that we will eventually listen. God is always speaking to us, we just have to decide if we are willing to hear him. It’s an important choice that others cannot make for us.

If you have ever been to Tinh Huan, our November spiritual retreat with Lien Doan, then you have probably heard before that becoming an HT is like answering a call from God, which I find fitting. Not all of us are meant to be priests or nuns, but that doesn’t mean that God has nothing planned for us.

TNF will die out when its leaders no longer have a spiritual connection or goal. We teach about Mary and the Three Children because that is our way of bringing God to the people. Becoming an HT is not saying “Yes, I will believe”, but rather "I want to believe". You cannot teach what you do not believe in yourself, and you will never get there without trying.

Our kids have plenty of people in their lives that can teach them how to be Catholic, how to go to Mass, how to kneel and stand at the right times. That’s the easy part.

They depend on their role models to help them believe.

If you choose to be here as leader, it needs to be for the right reasons.

And, if you need help finding your way there, I will do my best to guide the way :)

Anh Peter

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Peter's Pickles #1: Spirituality and Beginnings

Hello friends,

So, since this is my first article, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself and briefly explain my intentions in writing this series.

My name is Anh Peter and I am a youth leader of Doan Torrance. The intended audience of this blog series is primarily Nganh Nghia and HT. I am here because I am deeply committed to educating young minds. I find no other vocation as important or enjoyable!

When most people hear “education”, they immediately think of things like Algebra or Chemistry. They’re not wrong. However, in the context of TNF, this isn’t the type of education we’re talking about. At TNF, we are in the business of teaching affection— reminding our kids that life is about loving others and being loved in return. I know this sounds a little cheesy, but hopefully someday you will understand.

Like my colleagues, I interact with children of all ages. From eating lunch with the Au boys to playing jump rope with the Au girls... But, my work is mostly focused on the development of Nganh Nghia— our high school/college age group. From a planning perspective, I love working with Nghia because we are able to get creative and challenging with our content.

This year, our curriculum was far more focused on leadership than in the past. We began to devote more time towards personal and professional development, and away from Hoc Hoi and spirituality. These were things that we found lacking in our current leaders and we wanted to develop these skills early in the next generation. The Nghia were more engaged and we were happy with the results. It wasn’t perfect, but it was progress. Or, at least that’s what we thought at first.

Recently, Chi Brenda and I have been working on the plans for HT camp— a retreat meant to develop the skillset of current and future HTs. I don’t want to go too much into detail, but, the long list of skills fall under three major categories: Spiritual, Relational, and Leadership. An ideal HT should maintain a balance between the three categories as a Catholic, a friend, and a leader.

When we began teaching more leadership, we also began teaching less spirituality. This wasn’t because our students were already strongly connected to the faith and God, but by accident. I actually sense that the opposite is true. Even though we are brought together for a religious purpose, the spirituality is beginning to fade away from our work.

This feeling motivates my writing of these blogs. I want to do my best to teach our kids to be strong leaders, but also how to be strong Catholics at the same time. Each entry will discuss a spiritual topic that pertains to the HT experience.

So, please stop by from time to time, and perhaps we can learn something beautiful about ourselves and God, together.

Anh Peter

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Ponder with Pauline #1 - New Blog Content Coming Soon

Hi everyone!

We're starting new segments on the website this summer. If you look at the top menu bar, there is a new tab called "Blog". You can click it to go to the main page for the blog. It also has a drop down menu where you can choose the name of the author whose posts you would like to read. We'll be updating with more content and each author will have their own tag.

New posts will be coming up very soon so please stop by once in a while for some great reads.
Hope you're enjoying your summer, have fun and stay safe!

Chi Pauline

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