Priests Dancing?!...

Hahahahaha!....



iSay Amen to that!

(thanks to chiralcapers & the practicing catholic)

'Death' is Better!

Someone said, "Forget 'Angels and Demons', go read 'Death of a Pope'"...

I think I shall go get this book and read it on my flight back to Singapore. It would certainly make that 12 hour non-stop journey a little better to go through!

Taking Care of Things...

It has been spotty with my entries here lately. :-P The days are leading up to the exams, which are coming up next month and after my finals of final, I have to start packing and prepare leaving for home.

Meanwhile, there is always this waiting that can sap the enthusiasm and positivity of daily living, with all the anxieties and fears (real or imagined) that come with this. The current uncertainty of the flu problem that is enveloping the world doesn't help to lessen those nagging anxieties either. At this point, a portion of a stanza from T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets comes to mind:

But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

All shall be well. There is some sense of peaceful acceptance of all that has gone by and what is to come next. This has nothing to do with giving in to some sort of 'happy' pessimism (sure, this sounds like an oxymoron but that is how I see it at this time) or embracing the unknown with no idea of what to expect. Rather, it is placing myself in the hope of God's goodness that He knows how to take care of things for me, especially those which I cannot possibly do myself.

Two Stars...

The new Star Trek movie has just started making its round across all the major cinemas around the world. The reviews have been quite glowing and Trekkies are quite pleased with this rebooted version.

Me, I am a Star Wars fan, though I do like what I saw in the new Trek movie trailer. So, if you pit the Death Star with the Enterprise, who do you think will emerge victorious?...

Better late than never...

Happy Mother's Day!

Church In Reality - Genius and Mystery

I was somewhat busy with tying up the submission of my thesis and meeting up with the Dean over some lectio questions for the comprehensive exam that will be on the 19th June. Yes! It is the last stretch of activities before I fly off to Singapore towards the end of next month. Aahh.. could almost taste that glorious smell of the teh tarik and roti telur already! :-D

Meanwhile, I saw that the new movie based on Dan Brown's Angels and Demons is making its way around the cinema circuits around the world (did I tell you he and the cast were in Rome last week to promote the show?... never mind, I didn't even noticed). But, perhaps not to my surprise, it did not seem to create any waves of sensationalism or purported mass exodus of people from the Catholic faith as it did in the earlier film. I think the whole idea of the Church being that big, bad evil (galactic) Empire has begun to sound and feel lame and tiring. Kansas Catholic sort of round up my sentiments on this. I never read any of Dan Brown's book nor bothered to watch the movies. They are all laughable. I'd rather spend my money on watching comedies and Disney cartoons like this for instance than Brown's meanderings about old and stale conspiracy theories on the Church. Too bad my favourite Jedi Knight had to associate himself with the current Dan Brown's movie. Maybe he had to constantly use Force Mind Trick on himself to stay on acting there till it was all over...

Speaking of the Church, Amy over a Via Media provides us some good updates (via links) on the journey of peace by our Holy Father as he starts his Holy Land trip. I don't know how much he can bring about the needed peace and stability in that volatile area of Jews, Christians and Muslims living side-by-side, but it is a start. It is a concrete start of the Church's outlook in a world today to unite and bring hope to all. Certainly a far cry and a total opposite from all those tales spun by Dan Brown about the Church. Maybe that is why he needed to create a big and 'evil' caricature of the Church because the reality of who/what the Church is doesn't make him any money nor sell his books. The L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s official newspaper which reviewed the movie says it is “harmless entertainment” that “hardly affects the genius and mystery of Christianity."

Ever Closer...

We've crossed into the month of May and edging ever closer to my departure date...

Having submitted my copies of the thesis to the Dean's Office and clearing up a few more forms here and there, I have now only to wait for my exams to come by and that final of finals (lectio coram) before I can heave big sigh of relief from all my studies here in Rome! Meanwhile, it had been quite a drag to continuing waiting all is out to its end and some days are literally long. Sure, there are classes to continue going till end May and some other studying that needs looking into, but the temptation to go and do something else less 'studious' creeps in, making it all sort of confusing. It also gives me some sense of suffering a guilty pleasure of sorts to be the only person in the Collegio student, apart from those who are currently doing their doctorate or have finished it, who is free and with nothing much left to work through :-D

Anyway, the days are getting hotter and summer is just about to make its way in, so I might as well 'enjoy' whatever I can from the last months here...