Dappled...

Glory be to God for dappled thing...

Thus begins the poem of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89), Pied Beauty, that sings of Creation and of the poet's awe at all the wonders, truth and beauty that has its source in God. That was also one of my assignments for the class and exam work for this semester course of Poets and Mystics, which I am glad to inform you that I have completed.

This poem's opening sentiment was also chosen to be part of a title of a book which I am currently doing up through this wonderful little website that provides the service of making and publishing books through the Internet. I am still working through the pages of the book - The Grandeur of Dappled Things - and hopefully will see the light in a couple of months.

Meanwhile, I have already finished all the required assignments and can now start up on my preparations for the examinations. It is more or less settled for the following dates:

3 June - History and Theology of Prayer
10 June - Infallibility
11 June - Ave Maria: History, Culture and the Arts
17 June - History of Spirituality, Pt 2
19 June - Wisdom of the Saints: Spiritual Direction

I don't have much time as I like to prepare for those subjects (in oral) and therefore feeling the heat of having much to do with so little time at hand!...

CatholiCircus #3

The last round I summed up some blogs of interest around Catholic issues, I had that during the Holy Week. This time round, during the Ordinary season, there are more reads that may perk your interest and at the same time, introduce you to some new fellas on the Catholic blogosphere.

First off, here is an insightful piece on the question of discernment and what it has to do with being 'charismatic'. If you are still wondering what it is all about, well let Catholic Analysis assist you...

I am no canonist, I'll leave it to the experts. But In the Light of the Law has made dealing with Canon Law rather a fascinating blog read where he shows the intricate workings of Church law regarding many of the current life and moral issues we encounter daily but take much for granted. There are many cases that can offer much pondering there, even if you are not directly involved in the proceedings.

I just finished my semester seminar on the topic of the Rosary. It was quite a trying topic to do as there weren't enough solid materials and references around in English to assist me and my other course mates to work. Most of the needed references were either in Italian or French. Nonetheless we managed and now all is over. *phew*. We learned some lessons along the way and grew much wiser with our understanding of the prayer beads which many Catholics come to love as the Rosary. But this report by Curt Jester on a website that deals with 'rosary' points to an utterly dumbo advert ! Check out the picture provided... *shake head*

Here's a little (shameless) plug for the Singapore Major Seminary and the seminarians that reside there as they discern their call to the priesthood. Situated all the way at Punggol, is it no wonder they named their blog Life In Kampung Punggol? They are doing what they can to contribute to the concern of promoting more vocations (together with the help of the local Serra Club) and it sure is a daunting task considering the latest statistics on the Singaporean priesthood.

Something about the 'smoke of Satan' is an interesting interview presented here at The Extraordinary Form. I sense also this unease with why our liturgy can't be followed as it should but be usurp by so called creative licenses. Perhaps two words reveal much of the problems - 'vainglory' and 'pride'...

Lastly, a little words of wisdom from my friend, over at kuntiak. So, heaven or hell? Inspired by our recent trip to Albaredo, where this was done around Lake Como.

God Is

It's Friday and the weather outside is just about the right kind of setting that is neither too hot nor too cold. You can get the sense of serenity and peace of the day with the sounds of birds twittering away outside and the coolness of the early dawn gives way to the gentle warming of the Sun as the day progresses.

Abiding within me is this inner joy that came about since yesterday. It is not your usual 'happy-goody' kind of joy that comes and goes depending on one's mood or the happenings of the day. It is a joy that abides and stays within one's being, knowing and being aware at the same time of the fragility and impermenance of life. It is a joy that abides, knowing that doing the best we can and make the best of things around is not something 'unacceptable' but that of acknowledging one is really not at the center of the universe and is able to be in control all the time.

All the saints that we have known, says the same thing about our standings and position in the world that we are in - God really is in control, no matter how ridiculous this may seem to some...

Finally!...

Yes, I am done with my seminar, yesterday being the last class for it and also my presentation that closed the session. I had some difficulty with the general topic which the entire seminar was focusing on, namely the Rosary Prayer. There are so few English reference books available that can give proper and relevant details on this subject matter. The main ones available are either in Italian or French. Yet, despite the limitations, my class managed to scour around for other references which were in English and agreeable to our professor and we used those instead. The Church documents by Pope Paul VI and John Paul II on the Rosary and Marian devotion also contributed greatly. In the end, after all was over, our professor invited to hand in our work, the final draft, by the end of this month (May). He also said that he will give us the 'highest marks' for all our work, effort and presentation which we put in during these seminars. By the way, there were only three of us in this class! ;-)

Meanwhile, I am recovering from my allergy and now facing my preparations for the coming exams next month. I have already settled 3 dates for the oral exams to be taken and will settle the last two dates next week. I have a total of 5 oral exams to go through before I can call this a day! :-P

Signature

My brother passed me this Youtube link and I thought I would put this up here as a little fun signature in the midst of all the stress I am under lately. I have to bear with an allergy attack from some seafood item I ingested lately and also the added anxieties from the impending exams as the semester draws itself to an end...

And if you feel that nothing seems to have gone right today, have another look here and enjoy... ;-)

Mothers

To my Mum and all Mothers out there,
Happy Mothers' Day!

I am so far from all this celebration that this day would pass by unnoticed, if not for my filial perspective that I came from a family who loves me and expressed in a special way first and foremost by my mother. Hence, this post.

Far from all the usual hype and consumerist slant that come with this celebration, from where I am and what I can afford, offer prayers of thanksgiving to God for our mothers who have nourished us and brought us up to where we are today. I also ask for His blessings on this special day for all our mothers, that they continue to be every child's best friend and models of care, like no others.

Albaredo - Football

Albaredo - Football
Originally uploaded by Annoysius

Ok, ok, I know this is bad! But I can't resist this... So if anyone out there knows how to make use of this particular scene, go ahead and make the best out of it! Just don't say I told you... ooops, I think I just did, didn't I?

(more pics here)

TGIF!

Putting some thoughts here have been pretty spotty lately. I usually come back late after class and having no inspiration to pen anything after a long day at the university.

Nonetheless, life carries on around me and since the Albaredo trip, there were still some interesting items that came by to make the day above average. There was this first time where I ventured into the cinema hall with two other priests from the Collegio. We went there to watch Iron Man which was a blast to watch, literally! :-D It has been quite a while since I last saw a movie after leaving Singapore. After that show we promised ourselves to return to catch the new Indiana Jones movie. That cinema is one of the few who shows movies in their original language with Italian subtitles. So, I could really watch and understand what it's all about.

Meanwhile, signs of the semester coming to an end are very clear as the lecturers here begin to put up dates for the exams for the students to choose. I have a total of 5 oral examinations to undergo. I have already settled the dates for 3 of them. The other two will be set by next week in a similar manner. The going will be a little tough this semester with two subjects being rather heavy going and one being dependent only on our own handwritten notes...

Above all those, the most important fact that arises all these is that I shall have finished one academic year of studies and I would begin the next one as a final year student! That's a year closer (actually, slightly less than that) to being able to set my sights on returning to good 'ol Singapore!...