tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post4359839548832844385..comments2024-03-17T22:48:00.427+08:00Comments on Reflections and Ruminations: As one vision weakens, another sharpens and captivates.Fr Luke Fonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03079016104331055895noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-76276164532395029322015-06-04T00:24:41.508+08:002015-06-04T00:24:41.508+08:00“But when one experiences these crosses, especiall...“But when one experiences these crosses, especially when seen and accepted in the light of faith, one can be graced with a very much heightened sense of God’s overwhelming presence in the world.”<br /><br /><br />I like the scent of the Chempaka. It has a sweet freshness reminiscent of dewdrops and lilies (?) and something else......a lingering whiff of childhood - for these trees were common in the kampong, interspersed with the more ‘gregarious’ Frangipani with its cloyingly sweet perfume. But the small flowers of the Chempaka were preferred - often harvested to be stringed into fragrant necklaces to perfume the rooms or family altars. Seen from afar, the flowers and tree don’t amount to much – a very ordinary tree but each bloom is exquisitely formed and the scent exhilarating. Such is how we know “the Divine is poured into everything and that ‘the world is charged with the grandeur of God.” - as you have said. Definitely, these little flowers also heightened the sense of God’s overwhelming presence in the world.<br /><br /><br /><br />At mass today, the homilist used a beautifully apt word- that summarized the first reading of the Book of Tobit – Abandonment (to God)...............that both Tobit and Sarah, in their grief, gave themselves over, totally to God in an act of loving acceptance. Though it was not explicitly expressed, somehow, I felt that in giving-over-of-self to God, especially in these dark moments of pain, weariness and grief, it speaks of a deeper and steadfast faith. Perhaps we too- need not try too hard to pray in rich verse or engage in lengthy prayers, but just be like Tobit who “groaned and wept aloud” and the Lord heard him and sent the Angel Raphael to minister to him.........for the groans are prayers from the heart.<br /><br /><br />God bless you, Fr<br /><br /><br />tessa<br />Tessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04211998984286520369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-76451011489464058562015-06-01T20:41:23.391+08:002015-06-01T20:41:23.391+08:00So nice and heartening to see you still posting de...So nice and heartening to see you still posting despite your bout of infection. Yeah, I had a similar experience too after undergoing a double cataract operation. One eye after another, I began to see everything much more clearly,brilliantly and with a wider, far reaching vision. And I began to appreciate in quantum leaps, the blessings God surrounds us with, wonderful sights that I did not care to admire before. Take good care, Fr Luke. Ignatius Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com