My Road of Art

I like drawing, especially sketching, although I had not learned drawing formally. In my primary school I had drawing class, but I only had technical drawing class in my secondary school. Occasionally, in Bible Study Class we were requested to draw so I got practice. Once there was a drawing competition to celebrate the feast day of St. Bosco. I was persuaded to join the competition and got the first runner-up. From that time I started doing portrait on my own.

I had drawn lots of portraits for ex-co members of Katso when I was at Hong Kong Polytechnic. I kept draw portraits for friends of FCS after my school time. I had drawn a portrait of Bishop Joseph Zen also. Portraits are presents for my friends. However I do not think I can draw quick sketch of portrait until I am here in Taiwan. I need to thank Br. William again. He invited me to make quick sketches for those senior citizens during a street activity of an elderly centre. I refused at the very beginning but I tried at last and found that I could do so, although those sketches were not good enough.

My recent portraits drawn in Taiwan

Later on Br. William requested me to draw three pictures about St. Francis of Assisi for our 2008 calendar. This is the first time for me to draw colour pictures since my primary school days. I used to draw with pencil only. Before that I visited to the studio of a sister to see her paintings. I would like to learn drawing formally after the visit and accepted the request of Br. William to draw three pictures. This is the best practice and the sister artist said that practice is very important for an artist.

My first colour painting

My first trial Chinese painting-Lotus

I like classic Chinese poetry and Chinese literature also. In my secondary school there was no Chinese literature but only Chinese language. I read classic Chinese poems myself and tried to write new lyrics for old songs when I was studying at Polytechnic. I tried to write poetry only after my school life. The first time I visited the famous West Lake in Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province, I was deeply attracted by the beautiful scenery and was moved to write poem. Nevertheless I stopped from writing new lyrics for old song and writing poems afterward until I started my journey with St. Francis of Assisi.

方濟逾越偶感二

改於丙戌年八月初六

衛道無方遍地哀！
心懸普濟問將來。
塵網能轉今聞召，
不釋點化是愚才？
青年二八尋出路，
若逾半百怕難栽！
寰宇四周多煩事，
願借一年辨鏡台。

By now I had written quite a few lyrics for old melodies. Most of them are about St. Francis of Assisi. I tried to draw the attention of people to St. Francis through such songs. Moreover I have written plenty rhyming riddles with names of members of the Franciscan Family. I wrote these with Cantonese tones. As Mandarin tones are quite different I have started to re-write some of my lyrics for old songs in Mandarin. Br. William prefers me to write lyrics for new song. He invited me to co-operate with him to write lyrics for new hymns. I tried once but had difficulty in getting familiar with the music. Anyway I shall try and hope that God will grant me such talent.

方濟讚(國語版)

於2007年8月12日 調寄：貝多芬快樂頌

1. 大地鬥爭 方濟未聞 玩樂阿西西市鎮 父業恃依 方濟未疑 日夜宴歌多放肆
自大志豪 為顯功勞 誤釋基督挽弓矛 敗陣悔懺 方濟憑欄 前塵細思問疑難

2. 獨念救恩 方濟夢魂 歧途折返心振奮 利令智昏 方濟樂聞 浮華棄拋釋窘困
遇癩病人 互擁親吻 盡顯基督愛精神 望復聖身 方濟確認 在十架中得重任

3. 父恨太癡 方濟力持 未懼赤身抒壯志 仁人再思 方濟言辭 齊來獻身未遲疑
共念舊時 為主奔馳 誓宣基督愛甘飴 活現聖書 方濟神儀 麻袍赤足過城池

4. 肉慾棄拋 方濟忠告 貧無掛牽消懊惱 旁人責鬧 方濟同袍 面晤教宗說召叫
捨棄財寶 不畏辛勞 是隨基督足印跑 衛道志高 方濟不撓 惟求在天聖母保

5. 長治久安 方濟盼望 傳揚四方促向善 令喻已頒 方濟召喚 聚集弟兄一會誕
姊妹欣然 聚達勉堂 默觀基督伴佳蘭 在俗共甘 方濟稱讚 同按福音活塵寰

6. 杜絕戰爭 方濟熱忱 回王賞識聲遠振 為伏政爭 方濟力陳 巡迴廣宣化怒恨
遇壞牧人 未減謙誠 為尊基督血肉呈 使徒化身 方濟傳承 重納眾心歸父神

7. 會聚三思 方濟言辭 辯論刺激損愛意 願為恃依 方濟樂擬 未料會規要延遲
律令嚴厲 弟兄質疑 是否基督最堅持 避席再思 方濟慎擬 完成會規決呈辭

8. 護育幼羔 方濟作導 豺狼猛鷹聽勸告 莫認至高 方濟任勞 亂用濫摧萬物倒
鳥獸聚牢 上主功勞 靜聽基督救恩豪 洞穴光耀 驢牛伴禱 共賀聖嬰誕馬槽

9. 拉維納山 方濟避談 默受聖傷堪讚嘆 淚滴滿衫 方濟目殘 同途勸止惜太晚
萬物頌彈 未感身軟 臨終歸於寶尊壇 十月有三 方濟夢還 遺言赤身脫塵凡

創世讚(國)

調寄：貝多芬 快樂頌 於07年8月6日

混沌泰初 光現暗除 萬物誕生因救主 下地上天 花開雲舞 月亮太陽 掌夜日
水內沉浮 魚蝦怪物 半空鳥兒在歌舞 大地結出 千果百穀 育養眾生 多眷顧

爬蟲獸畜 陸地遍處 誰來照管兼看顧 按主肖像 造成男女 把受造物 來托付
萬物相輔 共享川湖 引吭高歌震深谷 頌謝主恩 造生愛護 視受造物 如手足

贈友人

於2007年8月4日

稱佳德憐知音稀，徒有俏麗眾人離。每得救在無求處，專心可換是寸祈！

In conclusion, I hope that I may have the opportunity to study art. As one must work to earn a living, I hope that these artworks may generate some income for the community. I am really encouraged as we were asked whether the wire crucifixes that I made are for sale. I think I shall not refuse to sell them if people appreciate them and it is good for evangelization.

May I earn my life with my products?

YY
8/9/2007

(註：方濟逾越偶感，請留意每句第四個字；
贈友人四句，每句射一字，分別是Catherine趙敏惠)

But You Are a Chosen Race...

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).” As Christians, we are prophets, kings and priests. Since the time baptism, we are called to make this idea come true.

According to our Christian faith, the final homeland is the Kingdom in heaven. But the fields of our daily life are on earth. We can’t live in the world as ghosts from heaven. Jesus requires us to be light and salt. We have duty to earn a better life for everyone, not for earthly pursuits, but for eternal interest. The obligation is not for our own benefit, but for all people.

There are contrary opinions on the Christian participation in the politics. No direct engagement is a common suggestion that churches ought to follow, but that is not saying that we forsake making any influence. Billy Graham’s route has already become a paradigm. Many pastors pray for the nation frequently, but nobody hears their voice except God. Graham leads the members of White House including the president to pray for the future of the nation. President takes up his advice, his audiences pray for both them. Graham sends out charism through his present position. He plays a special role in the political world under his evangelist garb. He may or may not be a master of politics, but certainly a sign of spirituality.

Graham retains his impartiality among different positions. He avoids the suspicion of nepotism and bribery. He rejects leaning towards either the right or the left. He doesn’t want to reject any people. All citizens possess the freedom to express their views and organize parties. All people are the chosen ones God loves, including voters of different parties. If Graham’s heart is partial, jealousy and hatred among the populace will be instigated. He serves for all people, by giving the fruits of spirituality.

The Holy Face of Jesus

A reflection on the address of Fr.Cantalamessa, On Jesus’ prayer
If I were an artist, how would I grasp Jesus’ countenance in a series of portraits? I would start with drawing Jesus in prayer, because it is only in prayer can we catch a glimpse of how he manifests himself to us. Why not through reading the scriptures?
We accept Jesus as our savior and brother, so we can say ‘Our Father’ to the Creator when we pray. Jesus unfolded the road to God the Father, making it possible for us to approach Him. There is a difference between Jesus and us: that is he is the only one who has the authority to call himself the ‘Son of God’. Through Jesus the mediator between us and God, we are attracted to participate in the relationship as if being part of the communion among the three persons of the Trinity. When Jesus prays to the Father, Jesus’ face reveals the glory of his being: the only son of the Father any moment, especially in prayer. This is the core quality I want to emphasize; if we ignore it, we can’t comprehend the Being of Jesus.
How does the face of Jesus look like when he prays? I think that many artists want to express this, but not all of them can do it successfully. To express the Holy Face in prayer is not an easy task since we did not have the experience to see Jesus with our own eyes. Nor did we have any chance to look at him carefully. As artists, if we want to depict a man as who he is in a painting, we need to know his character, or even his spirit. But how can we contact Jesus’ spirit? It is through the Holy Spirit and in faith, we can have deep cognizance of Jesus.
Jesus is not only a great man in human history. We can’t acquire a correct picture about Jesus from Zen master or from the New Age or even atheists. Their words about Jesus is elusive, unreal and inexplicable, because their knowledge about God is not promoted by the spirit of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the imprint that church owns the authority to reveal the truth according to God’s will.
Jesus taught his disciples prayer so that they can know the Lord when they pray. For us believers, we can also know God more when we pray. We adore and worship God with our hearts and in truth, the spirit of Jesus conduct us to hike along the thoroughfare toward truth.

The Ways of Meditation

Recently, Bro.William received an invitation of a talk by Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB. But since he would not be in Taipei at that time, he encouraged us, the postulants, to attend that talk to enrich our spirituality, for the subject was Christian meditation.

Fortunately, before attending the talk given by Fr. Freeman, OSB, I have already read some articles of Christian meditation by Fr. John Main, OSB who promoted a way of Benedictine meditation to urban people. So, it was not so difficult for me to absorb the ideas that he gave us, for the principles in the meditation that he mentioned had already been written in the articles which I had read previously. Yet, I benefited a lot from that talk. Actually, the way of meditation that he introduced was very simple, but not easy to practise. This method was similar to the two other ways of meditation, for they all focus on the problem of distraction, although it was merely the beginning of meditation.

One of the two other ways of meditation was “Centering Prayer” which has been also widely promoted in the West. What Fr. John Main had introduced (the Prayer of the Heart) is also based on the early Christian tradition, especially that of the desert fathers and mothers of the 4th century. And, both ways of meditation use a “mantra” as a means or a guide from the beginning to the end of the meditation. Besides using “mantra”, the most important quality of both meditations is discipline, that of the body and of the mind. One may say that Centering Prayer is one variation of the Prayer of the Heart, since Fr. John Main was the first one to promote the Christian Meditation Movement in the modern Western World. But it seems like that Centering Prayer has become more popular.

In the Eastern World, especially in the Orthodox Church, there is another tradition that is similar to the Prayer of the Heart. They call it “Jesus Prayer”, and it was just like the Rosary for us Catholics. I knew this way of prayer from the book The Way of a Pilgrim. The prayer consists of the repetitive recitation of the prayer “Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me” as a mantra for the Prayer of the Heart. And, the main purpose of reciting “Jesus Prayer” as a “mantra” is to keep distraction away from our mind, since full attention to God is the key to the way of contemplation.

So, these three ways of meditation or prayer all have the same element of using a mantra, and they are all rooted in the early Christian Tradition, especially that of the Desert Fathers’. I wonder why all these three ways of meditation require simplicity (maybe their essence shows that it is not three kinds of prayer, but only variations of the same tradition) are so popular in our time. Maybe it is because our modern world is full of changeable things and the complexity of the world always leads us astray from paying due attention to God. The words that Jesus said to Martha rings true in my ear, that “only one thing is necessary…” Perhaps, I think it is the right path for us modern people, and the quality that we need in meditation or prayer is simplicity as a child.

My Cross

My cross, my crucifixes

Hanging crucifixes (top row) and standing crucifixes

Crucifix made by galvanized iron wire with different bases

Crucifix made with plated aluminum wire

My cross, my crucifixes

With thanks to God, I learned indirectly from Fr. Pius Jeun the technique of making a crucifix with a single piece of wire. He had taught my postulant brothers before I arrived Taiwan to join the community. Ever since I saw the wire crucifix made by Fr. Jeun I was looking for time to learn the technique. At last he asked the postulant brothers to teach me and Paul took up this responsibility. Paul made one crucifix together with me and I practiced by myself afterwards. I love it very much and keep on practicing. Today I have developed my own style of crucifix which is somewhat different from that of Fr. Jeun.

I need to thank Br. William too. He asked me to make 30 crucifixes for a sister in USA who had requested for some of these crucifixes. I might not have practiced so hard if I had not got such assignment. I became more skillful after this practice. At that moment most crucifixes were for hanging. However I found that most people like the standing crucifix with a base more than that for hanging. Br. William suggested that base stand for the crucifix might have different design, and I started to make crucifixes with different base designs.

For me, making crucifixes with a piece of wire is not only an art form. It helps me to pray also. I pray when I am making these wire crucifixes. Moreover when I need to wait for somebody or something else, I can make crucifixes and pray rather than walking around. Therefore I always bring some wires and a pair of pliers with me. The crucifixes made by me are souvenirs to be given away for my friends. They become a tool for evangelization also. It is easier to start discussion with new friends who Jesus is by talking about the person shown by the crucifix.

Fr. Jeun asked us to try making crucifixes with colour-plated aluminum wire. However I prefer using ordinary galvanized iron wire. Despite the more attractive outlook aluminum wire is not tough enough. Moreover the colour plating of aluminum wire will be damaged easily during the making process. Instead galvanized iron wire crucifix is not easy to be deformed after it is made. Furthermore it is nearly impossible not to make any mistake during the process. After twisting galvanized iron wire can be recovered with little mark left while clear mark will be found on the splendorous surface of the plated aluminum wire. From this I learn also: it is nearly impossible not to make any mistake in my life, and I do not like to keep records of mistakes so clearly on my face.

Once when I was making a wire crucifix and wearing a shirt with a cross as design as well as a “Tau” around my neck, somebody asked me whether I felt difficult for bearing so many crosses. I replied that the cross I borne from Jesus is always soft and is within my capability. In fact I do not treat my cross as a burden. Therefore I do not feel uneasy to bear my Cross. Moreover I like to share my experience of carrying my cross as well as my wire crucifixes with those who are interested in this.

YY
20/8/2007