Jason Vaz, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic studying theology at Regis College, University of Toronto.
17 posts
From time to time, over the next few months, as part of the "Our Culture" section, igNation will post poetry written by Jesuits. Poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins and St. Robert Southwell will appear as well as poems by contemporary Jesuits. Today's poem is by Jason Vaz, SJ, a Jesuit scholastic studying in Ottawa....
Consolation and desolation mean direction. Consolation is a balance between extremes. Desolation is seducing oneself to an extreme. An analogy: In the famous corridor at the Gesu Square (Rome) Jesuit Br. Pozzo applied artistic perspectivism to explain Jesuit spirituality. The corridor teems with masterful paintings and murals. Standing at either end of the corridor renders the murals and paintings warped and disproportionate. Standing, however, at the center of the corridor under a painting of the Holy Trinity renders the paintings along the corridor proportionate. From this center perspective the corridor makes sense. One can enjoy and identify with the artwork. The universe, similarly, only makes sense when we have God as the center of our lives. This worthily explains consolation and desolation....
New Year's resolutions are the worst way to begin the New Year. Resolutions often breed failure and if they do not then they add on one's shoulders the burden of keeping these resolutions. Whare resolutions so necessary or appropriate to the New Year? Why does resolution tend to accompany new starts? Is there even such a thing as a new start? Is it the same old all over again? It seems to me that resolutions put one on a vicious cycle of failure. The reason I want a new start in the first place is because I had originally resolved to turn over a new leaf. What is the etymology of the word resolve?...
I teetered on the slender branch of a deciduous tree. One hand was grabbing the trunk and the other trembling towards a plug. My job was to connect plugs of two different strands of coloured lights, light the tree, and make it look nice for Christmas. It was my job both Christmases, I think, because I am the only one in the house young and fit enough to climb a tree. Once I climbed the woody mammoth resignedly, I found myself divided about the task. One part of me was sure that I would fall to the ground with a massive thud, and another part of me wanted to take the risk of moving precariously closer to the plug, which was hanging on another branch overhead and needed connecting....
From time to time, over the next few months, as part of the "Our Culture" section, igNation will post poetry written by Jesuits. Poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins and St. Robert Southwell will appear as well as poems by contemporary Jesuits. Today's poem is by Jason Vaz, SJ, a Jesuit scholastic studying in Ottawa....
After being encouraged by a respected friend, I undertook, what is for me, 'the monumental task' of reading The Brothers Karamazov. Since I am a slow reader, I usually have an aversion to lengthy books. I tend to read them so slowly that I, eventually, become impatient to finish the book, until I give up reading the book altogether. What convinced me, then, to read The Brothers? Perhaps, I thought that it would be as good, if not better than, Crime and Punishment, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Perhaps, I thought I might find wisdom and knowledge in the reading of it. Well, I am only half way through the book, and wisdom has already visited me....
In As it is in Heaven, directed by Kay Pollak, world-famous middle-aged conductor Daniel Dareus is forced into early retirement due to a weak heart. When he returns to his home village in Sweden he appears quite mysterious because there is no memory of his having lived there. Daniel, at 7 years, was forced to flee his home village with his mother due to bullying. Now back in his hometown, Daniel has to confront his painful childhood, and when he decides to conduct the local church choir, he realizes that its members too live miserable lives due to oppressive memories and suppressed emotions....
