New, Sort Of...

Image by mjdave via Flickr

New look, new feel...

The weeks past has been very taxing with many other work and responsibilities that cropped up which occupied my time and attention, making blogging rather difficult to attend to. There was the annual priests' retreat, of which I was in the committee that was organising it. Then came several visitors from Rome who needed my attention again as I played tour guide for them. They were the rector and spiritual director of the Collegio where I stayed during my studies in the Eternal(ly Crazy) City.

It is only today that I could do something viable for this 9 year old blog which had been with me through thick and thin, with some wear and tear here and there. It is appropriate today for a little 'facelift' and since Blogger had a new inbuilt template designer, it was a good day for a 'renewal'.

Meantime, I finally took the plunge and got myself an iPad and it was an investment well spent! I have been using it for the past week already and it is 'magical' as Apple claimed it. I know it is really a bigger version of the iPhone with its OS that uses apps and all, but I am not complaining. I have already used it for teaching in my classes, both in the Seminary and over at SPI, and it is really a good and useful help! I used it in these classes for notes referral during my lecturing.

This has been a little sliver of light in the midst of the dark throes of problems that continue to hover over this parish, as the struggle to stay sane and above waters become a usual staple of activities here...

Slight Alteration

There were some feedback on the previous new template which I had installed earlier on this blog which made me redo the template and hence this newer one. Hopefully this one is a more stable and conducive one to look at! :-D

The Practicing Catholic mentioned something interesting which has also been bugging me for quite a while, but for a different reason. Ascension Thursday has come and gone and in Singapore, it has been celebrated on Thursday which gives a fitting ring to the flow of the liturgical life of the celebration as it coincided with the 40 days after Easter. This is because it would make celebrating Pentecost 10 days later on a Sunday following that all the more striking. Practicing was disappointed that they, in her place, celebrated Ascension on a Sunday after Thursday instead. This is similar in Rome where Ascension has been celebrated on Sunday for, oh, donkey years already.

There are many reasons why Ascension is not celebrated on Thursday in Rome, one of which is that you probably would not get anyone going for it. This is a place where most are Catholics but in name only. In Singapore, however, that it is continued to be celebrated on Thursday, and also a day of obligation, has been quite a feat for the faithful to take time off from work or other chores of the day to attend the Mass celebration. This has raised calls, on several occasions, by some priests to have this celebration to be done on Sunday instead. So far, the Bishops Conference of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei have kept it to Thursday. :-)

So, I am in twos-and-threes as to which would be a better way or day to celebrate this occasion. Perhaps, it depends on the culture and place where all this unfolds. While the option is given between these two days, culture and the the bishops' conferences will decide the final vote.

(pic - "The Ascension of Christ" by Garofalo)

update1 - commenting had some problems. I managed to resolve it and it ought to work now. I apologise if that was a bit of a bummer for some earlier.

update2 - did another slight 'esthetic' rearrangement to the items at the right bar to accomodate a 'Featured Video'. I had wanted to have that item earlier but could not find a suitable slot for it. Since I managed to change the way 'Categories' to display its result, I could add the video now. Enjoy!

While Waiting, Something New...

21st May 2009, 11:52 p.m.

It took a while, but it is finally here!

I decided to do a little spring cleaning and redo, a little, my blog here and was hunting around for a suitable template to use that can present the entries in a more organic manner. So, after hunting around, I managed to come across this scheme and used it as the placement for the display as you can see it here. It may take a little getting use to, at first, but I think it will eventually grow on you and settle nicely into that little corner of your mind, sitting there unobstrusively and comfortably.

The only small drawback with this template is that I cannot display the labels, date and time of the entries. Hopefully I can resolve this later with any upgrade that may arise for this template. For now I have to put in the date and time manually, beginning with this entry. :-P

Meanwhile, it has been a slow week if not for a series of celebrations in honour of the final years who will leaving the Collegio when the semester ends in June. First was the Mass celebration in the chapel of the crypts below the Vatican. That was last Saturday, 16th May at 7.30 am. The chapel was the main one that faces the tomb of St Peter's where it can sit around 60 people. To the right of this chapel is the tomb of John Paul II.

Then on that same Saturday afternoon, we had football between the juniors and those of us who are leaving the Collegio. For both these occasions, I was the main photographer, as was always the case for festive or communal activities.

Something to do while waiting for that hour to arrive when I get to go off to Singapore!

The Calm Before the Storm...

In case you haven't notice, I have decided, after much procrastination, to upgrade my template using the new template layout system Blogger provided. It has streamlined and simplify the process very much and I get to be able to put some interesting widgets, like that news feeder you see in display now!

Apart from that, it has been a quiet week so far with that silent anticipation of the coming Easter Triduum celebrations which will begin tomorrow evening with the celebration of the Lord's Supper. My work for the Chrism Mass activity for the Priests' Penitential service has been completed and only awaits the participation of the Presbyterium tomorrow morning when we begin at 9.30 a.m. The powerpoint presentation/slides have been put through its paces this morning at the Function Room and found to be fine. I hope... :-)

Meanwhile, it is warm and sunny outside and the weather promises to get hotter later. Clouds are making their presence felt and perhaps too much especially at night when I could do with less cloud cover. :-P Still haven't had chance to get Venus onto my scope's sight despite its enticing bright sparkle in the skies the past month. I usually ended up gazing wistfully at it as I went about to some meeting or appointment... *sigh*