From Fragmentation to Wholeness

You are able to listen to Father Vincent Youngberg's five part talk "From Fragmentation to Wholeness" on this web site with Father Youngberg's permission. [Click on the links below.] If this is your first time listening we recommend you do so in the order presented.

(These mp3 files were created with "Windows Media Player." Use a high speed internet connection for best results.)

CD's and DVDs are normally sold during his Parish Missions. We hope you will support Father Youngberg's mission by ordering your own copy of a CD and/or DVD by sending a check to:

Rev. Vincent Youngberg, C.P.
Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center

1300 US Highway #1

North Palm Beach, FL 33408

The cost is $23.00 for a set of five CDs or a DVD. Also available is a book expansion of his talks at a cost of $12.00. [Prices include shipping and handling.]

FATHER VINCENT YOUNGBERG"S
PARISH MISSION RETREAT
RECOMMENDED BOOK LIST
(Subject to Change)

The Spirituality of Imperfection (0553371320)
By Kurtz and Ketcheum, Banttum Books

Everything Belongs - The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (0824519957)
By Richard Rohr, Crossroad Publications

Jesus Before Christianity (1570754047)
By Albert Nolan, Orbin Publications

Meeting Jesus for the First Time (0060609176)
By Marcus J. Borg, Harper Collins

Sabbath (0553380117)
By Wayne Muller, Bantam Trade Books

What's So Amazing About Grace (0310245656)
By Phillip Yanzey, Zonderman Publications

"Why Worry?"
A Reflection on John 8:31-42

April 9, 2003

Father Henry C. Frascadore

“A rabbit doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what to do with his life. He does what he is supposed to do: live in the thicket, eat herbs and vegetables, propagate, and take care of his young. As far as I know, he doesn’t spend any time reflecting on the meaning of life or wondering whether or not he has made good use of his time. Other than having to deal with the normal anxieties associated with being caught off guard by a fox or chased by a neighborhood dog, his life is fairly simple. His time is spent being a rabbit and doing rabbit things until he dies.

There is a big difference between a rabbit and us. For him, nighttime is for sleeping; for us, it’s too often for thinking. We wake up in the middle of the night, our thoughts going a mile a minute: What am I doing with my life? Have I made the most of it?

“The truth will set you free,” Jesus says today. If we discover at two in the morning that we’ve been living our life doing things which bring us no happiness, and that there are no good reasons for doing the things we do, it’s time to ask whether our life matters to us or to anyone else. This is the moment of truth: the moment we all fear.

At that moment we realize that there is no turning back, that there is not enough time left to go back and start all over again. If we don’t seize that moment, we may never have another chance. The irony is that we have to live a long time before we can see that moment for what it is. When we were young and had all the time in the world to try and fail and start again, we didn’t appreciate the importance of each passing moment. Their source seemed endless. As profligates we wasted them, and at times wished them away as stumbling blocks in our path—a path leading to a prize that turned to dust as soon as we took it in our hands. Now the truth strikes us with the force of a thunder clap on a summer’s night: there is only so much time to do the things that really matter, the things that will make us happy. If we miss the moment, we reach the point of no return.

A rabbit never has to face that kind of decision. He goes to bed a rabbit and wakes up a rabbit. The things he does--nibbling on lettuce, outrunning dogs, taking care of his litter and nest, and sleeping—these are all that matter to him and to those in his life. The moment of truth never comes. Not so with us. It’s sure to come—and when it does, we discover we’re alone. We have to make our own decision; no one in the world can make it for us.”