tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post3073639052779533451..comments2024-03-17T22:48:00.427+08:00Comments on Reflections and Ruminations: Respecting God in the other is the only way out of the spiral of violence.Fr Luke Fonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03079016104331055895noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-890520129794387882016-08-06T07:34:10.177+08:002016-08-06T07:34:10.177+08:00While I do welcome feedback and comments, in the 8...While I do welcome feedback and comments, in the 8 years of the existence of this blog, there have been numerous instances when 'comments' have turned out to be spam and unsavoury advertisements in disguised forms. There have also been very unpleasant 'comments' which turned out to be stalkers of my other readers and the blog was almost hijacked for evil intentions to harm the readers of this blog. It is out of protection that I choose to moderate them. I don't edit them. I only accept or mark them as 'spam'. It may seem ironic, but it really is for my readers' protection. <br /><br />As a writer, I am a lover of words and invite my readers to expand their vocabulary through the use of a variety of words. I would like to think that not just the words I use invite an expansion of knowledge, but that the very topic of choice invites my readers to broaden their thinking and approach towards spirituality. I believe that like muscles that are not used end up atrophied, our minds need to be constantly stretched and challenged too. Maybe it's the hidden educator in me that makes me think this way. <br /><br />Thank you for your feedback.<br /><br />Fr LukeFr Luke Fonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079016104331055895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-33369896359193312452016-08-03T17:19:04.564+08:002016-08-03T17:19:04.564+08:00Good day to you Fr Luke.
If you welcome comments ...Good day to you Fr Luke.<br /><br />If you welcome comments and feedback of any kind, why are comments moderated before it is being published in the comments section? I find that ironic.<br /><br />Secondly, when you use complex words in your posts, it makes me stop and look up the meaning of the said word. This disrupts the flow of thought and is time consuming.<br /><br />Hope my feedback helps.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-77669513143568675682016-07-25T12:00:31.603+08:002016-07-25T12:00:31.603+08:00Hi Fr,
Thanks so much for replying. I agree with ...Hi Fr,<br /><br />Thanks so much for replying. I agree with your thoughts.<br /> <br />To my mind, what Jesus did at the temple is akin to a young Catholic boy today, abandoning his parents to discuss papal encyclicals with priests in Church! So we can possibly infer his IQ developed very early but his EQ took some time. <br /><br />It is such a pity the Bible is largely silent on His teenage years. We do not know HOW Jesus advanced in wisdom and age. What was his teenage relationship with our Blessed Mother, St Joseph, St John the Baptist like? At what age did he realize He was the Son of God? <br /><br />If only our Blessed Mother and St Joseph had recorded His growing up years in some form, we would have so much more insight about our Lord as a Man and how He developed the way He did with so much empathy as an adult.<br /><br />God bless you with good health Fr. Be assured your blogs are read and appreciated.<br /><br />Regards<br />Jonathan <br /><br /><br /><br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17660409168173004609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-22881218955444705562016-07-23T22:05:30.914+08:002016-07-23T22:05:30.914+08:00Dearest Fr Luke,
This week post resonates with me...Dearest Fr Luke,<br /><br />This week post resonates with me; empathy/compassion for others is my struggle of living out God’s commandment of “To love one another as I have loved you.”<br /><br />When the spectrum of “one another” is increased to encompass all mankind- inclusive of the unlovable taker, it seems simply impossible to give unconditionally. Yes, it is not possible to love with compassion without fatigue if we are drawing on within ourselves alone. <br /><br />To have genuine compassion and authentic love for others, we need to be loved first. We must be consistently sustained by love, as we can’t give what we do not have. I should know as my job requires me to be unconditionally compassionate to those under my charge... <br /><br />For those who never experience this abundance of love will be in constant craving and need, desperate to be fed and yet not knowing where and how to seek this authentic love. Hence, they accept counterfeit versions of this love to satisfy the void in their hearts. <br /><br />As GK Chesterton reputably quoted – “The man who rings the bell at the brothel, unconsciously does so seeking God.”<br /><br />With authentic love, we are satisfied and filled to the brim, till we have to share out this overabundance. With the lack of this love, the opposites is true, we become self-absorbed, lacking, unlovable.<br /><br /><br />Pope Gregory the Great -<br /><br />At first she sought but did not find, but when she persevered it happened that she found what she was looking for. When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation, and if they do not grow they are not really desires. Anyone who succeeds in attaining the truth has burned with such a great love.<br /><br />For those who did truly experience the love of God, and allow ourselves to be transformed and burned by this greatness of love, then and only then, can we be given NEW eyes, the hermeneutical flashlight, to truly see. When we truly see, tears will flow, we will be on our knees, praying.<br /><br /><br /><br />Thank You Fr, for sharing the heart stirring song with us, for our quiet reflection.<br /><br />LauraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-53875378596758180702016-07-22T10:15:50.024+08:002016-07-22T10:15:50.024+08:00Hi Father
Thanks for the blog. I like the questi...Hi Father<br /><br />Thanks for the blog. I like the questions that your piece poses - that there is a deeper reality to what we normally see. In fact it had even crossed my mind before that what makes, say a child with special needs, less able to grasp the things of Heaven or God? At this point in time, I don't think there is. If it is sin (only) that separates man from God and God's ways, then God is all in all, special needs or not. <br /><br />However in a very harried and crowded world, not to mention disruptive technologies, it is difficult to cultivate a contemplative mind which necessarily is a slower mode. But without some contemplation, will we know where we are heading or exactly what we are doing and for who or for what? What scares me nowadays is when people reply for the sake of reply, do for the sake of doing and say for the sake of saying....it is a dumb-down world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-1840301913954791752016-07-21T21:33:34.107+08:002016-07-21T21:33:34.107+08:00Dear Father
Thank you very much for sharing the s...Dear Father<br /><br />Thank you very much for sharing the song "This is a son". It is indeed very moving, especially the last part of the song:-<br /><br />Mother Mary stands beneath the cross<br />Staring up in utter disbelief<br />and as the angry crowd screams out in hate<br />she whispers through her tears and through her grief<br /><br />This is a son<br />He has a mother<br />He is my child<br />He is your brother<br />He has a heart for every soul in need of love<br />To see beyond the awful things that you have done<br />This is a son<br /><br />For the first time, I can empathised with Mother Mary when she was grieving so deeply at the foot of the cross seeing her beloved dying so shamelessly. I have attended so many Good Friday services but I could not empatised with Mother Mary. <br /><br />Please continue to blog, even if no one reads your blog. God will read it.<br /><br />God BlessAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-69370151476962872652016-07-20T16:31:02.108+08:002016-07-20T16:31:02.108+08:00Dear Cheryl
Thank you for the courage that you to...Dear Cheryl<br /><br />Thank you for the courage that you took to share your thoughts, fears and feelings. I am sure that my blog readers are grateful too.<br /><br />It does appear that you may have reached some breakthrough in stepping into the shoes of the other person (your mother-in-law) to handle these feelings of insecurity and fear. I am sure that it will go a long way to alleviating or addressing these whenever these feelings emerge in the course of your life. Psychologists will always say that most of the time, the issues or problems are not 'out there' in the other person, but rather that they start 'in here', i.e., with unsettled or unaddressed issues that we ourselves have. To admit of this possibility, is a huge first step in handling personality conflicts. And when we have the Holy Spirit as our guide and strength, great things can happen.<br /><br />I am afraid that I have never considered using this blog page as a place to post my preaching notes. In fact, the homilies that I give are better listened to than read. At least that is what I personally think. Is it possible for you to encourage your non-Catholic husband to come with you to Mass on Sundays? At IHM, posted on the noticeboard outside of the Adoration Room is the preacher/celebrant schedule of all the priests in the parish, and you can thus ensure that the Mass you come for will be one where my preaching can be heard by your husband. At the present moment, I will prefer to use this blog to reflect on issues outside of the Sunday's liturgical readings. I hope you understand.<br /><br />God bless<br />Fr LukeFr Luke Fonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079016104331055895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-29322668047323884442016-07-20T16:20:38.244+08:002016-07-20T16:20:38.244+08:00Dear Jonathan
I thank you sincerely for writing b...Dear Jonathan<br /><br />I thank you sincerely for writing back in the comments section of this blog. And I do hope that it does pave the way for more questions and comments of a similar nature.<br /><br />You have opened with an interesting tangent, conjecturing on the "Theory of Mind". If we extend this to all cases where we see evidence of a lack of empathy in the general population, then I suppose we will come to the conclusion that everyone is autistic to some degree. <br /><br />But to extend this to the Divine, and to suggest that at some point in time Jesus was autistic, would be an interesting point to consider, if we take care not to attribute this as a flaw in Jesus but something that was handled as a growth phenomenon. After all, scripture does say that it was after Jesus was after this event of being lost and found in the Temple that he went down to Nazareth and it was there, with his mother and Joseph, that he advanced in wisdom and age. There was a development in his growth. Scripture never holds that Jesus was all-knowing from the moment of his birth. He too needed to grow and mature, and if so, perhaps this may throw some 'hermeneutical lights' on understanding this oddity where Jesus seems to be 'lacking in empathy' as a child. Interesting proposal. <br /><br />Thank you Jonathan. God bless.<br /><br />Fr LukeFr Luke Fonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079016104331055895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-31718201078305016852016-07-20T13:04:23.217+08:002016-07-20T13:04:23.217+08:00Thank you Father.
I am more aware of the strang...Thank you Father. <br /><br />I am more aware of the strangers around me this week. Took time to talk to a special needs child and walked up to an old lady selling tissue paper and bough some from her.<br /><br />Not having the contemplative mind to be merciful to those who aren't merciful to me...yet. Hopefully, my being aware and being kind to strangers (who don't affect my life directly) is a small step in the right direction. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-84846400834736122652016-07-20T11:54:39.911+08:002016-07-20T11:54:39.911+08:00I like the lyrics of the song and what is haunting...I like the lyrics of the song and what is haunting are the first two lines, which I’ve taken the liberty to link together………….. “No one dares to take the time………to look him in the eye” – and I ask - Why?<br /><br />I believe if we do that….look him in the eye…..he will not remain nameless and faceless…… perhaps -we may even recognize a fleeting glimpse of ourselves in that face that confront us - for which of us has never suffered the guilt, pain and shame of failure and sinning against another (and against God)? <br /><br />Not only that………. once we are made aware of his “humanness”- we can’t write him off coz he’s become too real to and for us. We will be compelled to go deeper…..to see him not only as a problem to our community, a number in the file of undesirables…………but someone who (like you said) has “our shared dignity as children of God.” It is definitely not going to be comfortable to live with such thoughts especially for followers of Christ, for – he becomes the challenge thrown to us ( like the proverbial gauntlet) mocking us to daily- live our faith!<br /><br />So sometimes, it’s easier to have a non-contemplative mind……everything is smooth, no sharp corners, no jagged edges that cuts into our cushioned somnolence of our own “real” world.<br /><br />Thank you for posting this Fr. Sometimes, suffering does become one, for it gives one the boldness to broach on matters that may be ‘un-flattering’ to the community. I suppose that’s why they had to kill the prophets in the OT.<br /><br />God bless u.<br /><br />tessa<br /><br /><br />Tessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04211998984286520369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-27485009737868101902016-07-19T19:34:35.981+08:002016-07-19T19:34:35.981+08:00Thank you for your deep sharing, here, and in serm...Thank you for your deep sharing, here, and in sermons during mass. This is my first time visiting your blog, as I was searching for the transcript of your sermon for the Sunday evening mass. It touched me so, to hear your preaching about xenos-phobos. Though the contexts you shared were not so relevant to my personal life, they made me scrutinise the way I think and speak about my mother-in-law, who lives with my husband, myself and my 10-month old baby. My feelings of "xenophobia" towards her often make me second-guess her intentions towards my baby - that she wanted to be no. 1 in his eyes through vying with me for time with him. Taking a step back and considering my discomfort with her unfamiliar ways (as compared to how my grandma used to treat my brother and I when we were young), it does seem like much of my emotions about the matter stems from my own sense of insecurity and fear of the unknown as a new and working mother.<br /><br />Thank you for sharing. It would be wonderful if you could post the transcripts of your sermons each week too, so I can share it with my skeptical non-Catholic hubby. You're one of the few he finds "interesting" enough to want to find out more about what your take on issues are, from the Catholic viewpoint.<br /><br />Do freely respond to and criticise my writing and thoughts as well. It ought to be mutual!<br /><br />Cherylrainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01546979767741736653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-68420357118217590542016-07-18T12:20:32.892+08:002016-07-18T12:20:32.892+08:00Hi Fr,
Let me start the ball rolling with my comm...Hi Fr,<br /><br />Let me start the ball rolling with my comments about empathy. <br /><br />According to the "Theory of Mind", some people (usually those on the autism spectrum- many with high IQ) lack empathy by nature. They suffer from "mind blindness" and cannot put themselves in the shoes of others and understand different perspectives.<br /><br />IF the theory is correct, then the priest and levite could possibly have been "mind blind" and the Samaritan simply had empathy in heaps. <br /><br />The thing I find odd is that while Jesus had empathy in heaps as an adult, He seems to have lacked it as a child when He stayed back in the temple, causing distress to our Blessed Mother and St Joseph when they could not find Him. <br /><br />One could argue He was doing exactly what the priest and levite did, being so engrossed in religious matters that he was "mind blind" to the distress he would cause his parents. <br /> <br />Possible to shine a "hermeneutical flashlight" on this? <br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17660409168173004609noreply@blogger.com