Saturday, August 11, 2007

Moving to a new blog!

After much reflection, the Author has decided that a change in the direction of his wonderblogging efforts is necessary. The first change would be a greater focus of content on issues relating to the intersections on faith and politics, parallelling the Authors academic and personal interests.

The change in content would also be reflected in a repackaging of the wonderblog to a name that reflects the rebellious nature of faith against the secular status quo, a divine wedgie if you will. So for future posts, tune in to The Divine Wedgie

Find this new improved wonderblog at divinewedgie.blogspot.com

Thanks to all faithful MJP Tan readers that have followed the dark pathways of this author's imagination, but now a new one awaits you...

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Good and Faithful Servant: a Tribute to Fr. Louis Fossion





On 26th July 2007, on the Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, just one week shy of celebrating his diamond Jubilee of his ordination, the Lord called home one of Singapore's clerical veterans, Belgian priest Fr. Louis Fossion.

Fr. Fossion's standing as one of the titans of the Church in Singapore is demonstrated by the flood of blog and online forum entries mourning his passing. As a further demonstration, one teengage blogger gave Fr. Fossion the honorary title of "Singapore's Dumbledore".

Like the wise old wizard of the Harry Potter series, Fr. Fossion has been a source of wisdom and encouragement to hundreds of people, not just in his native Belgium, but in Scheut mission territories of China, Inner Mongolia and Singapore. Even the Singaporean Government's mouthpiece, the Straits Times, had to take note in a lengthy newspaper article, the number of parishoners whose lives were touched by the zeal of Fr. Fossion.

Indeed, Fr. Fossion's love for Christ is not just illustrated by his love of the people residing in the territories he visited, in particular Mongolia. It is also graphically illustrated in his parish Church of the Holy Spirit (pictured above), the interior of which was famously painted by him singlehandedly (he would have been in his 60s), and which bear two copper symbols of the Holy Spirit, hanging on either side of the central alter, both of which were handbeaten by the man himself.

The Author's family have also come into personal contact with Fr. Fossion's dedication. He has baptised all member of the Author's family (save strangely, the Author himself). In one instance, Fr. Fossion was noted to have stayed in a newly-moved-into house from 8pm until 3am (the time when all the furniture was transported to the house), so that the new domicile could be blessed.

Ever the stalwart of the Catholic Church, Fr. Fossion was never one to countenance the shallowness and irreverance that has dominated much of the Church in the West today. In one noted example, Fr. Fossion quite audibly berated a couple who took offense at his refusal to baptise their daughter "Fifi". After remarking that he would not even demean his dog by giving it such a name, he told them to go back and return only when they have decided upon a proper name.

Few, if any, priests in this day and age could demonstrate the love and dedication that Fr. Fossion has shown. A great day would dawn if the likes of this cigar chomping Belgian would see the light of day. Truly, if the words "Well done, good and faithful servant" should apply to anyone, it would be Fr. Louis Fossion.