SMITTEN BY FAITH – ALMOST FOUR YEARS - A REVIEW

Smitten By Faith Issue Number : # 000095 27 December 2024

On 6th August 2021, I published the inaugural issue of ‘Smitten By Faith’. The first guest writer was my friend and ‘good shepherd’, Fr. Thomas Montanaro LC who not only brought me back to my Catholic faith, he inspired me to do more. Be an apostle ! Go out; spread the good news and grow the Kingdom of God. Why not indeed ! And so, ‘Smitten By Faith’ was born and I was able to open up my heart and soul on what it means to have faith; how much joy one can have with faith.

I called that first article, ‘LIGHT THE LAMP AND PUT IT ON THE STAND’.

‘Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven’

(Matthew 5:15–16)

Matthew was a former tax collector from Capernaum when Jesus beckoned him to ‘FOLLOW ME’. Matthew heard the call and this gentle Apostle who was the first to write the teachings of Jesus Christ in Hebrew, then preached all over Syria, Cappadocia, Galatia and Thrace before he was cruelly put to death by the Romans and Jews.

For sure, people do not simply light a lamp and then just hide it under a bowl. That would have been a wasted effort. If you light a lamp, it’s because you want to light up your space. In the Gospel of Matthew, he goes further and says that we don't just light up the lamp to light up the space ; we should give that light to others and light up their space !

So, ‘Smitten By Faith’ would be about all aspects of faith - and love. I wear my Catholic faith firmly on my sleeve; but my readers do not need to be Christian or even Catholic. My articles would not be religious per se. My plan was to write about anything and everything which could inspire and transform.

As Guest Writers, I was fortunate to have many good friends from all over the world – accomplished, sensitive and compassionate human beings. Their articles during the first two years of publication enabled ‘Smitten By Faith’ to literally leap off the ground and we went from hundreds of readers to thousands ! And, now since late 2023 onwards, I was able to fly solo.

Today, I wish to pay tribute to and give my very grateful thanks to the more than 44 guest writers ( including some whose pictures are not here ) - who have written such wonderfully inspiring articles for ‘Smitten By Faith’ since 2021.

THANK YOU and BLESS YOU !

· Rev. Fr. Thomas Montanaro LC – Rome

Light the Lamp and Put It on the Stand ( 6.8.21 )

· Astrid Poghosyan – Armenia and Shanghai

Journeys – Believing in Your Destination (14.8.21)

· Frederick Sturm – Austria and Singapore

The Weeping Women of Jerusalem ( 21.8.21)

· Dr. Melanie Yeoh – Kuala Lumpur

Eight Reasons Why I am a Catholic ( 28.8.21 )

· Rosari Soendjoto – Jakarta

The Love that We Give ( 4.9.21 )

· Tan Lim Heng – Singapore and Hong Kong

A Joy Shared is a Joy Multiplied – From Pen to Paint Brush ( 11.9.21 )

· Satish Kumar Modi – India

In Love with Death, Inner Happiness and the Art of Dying ( 18.9.21 )

· Christine Ma Lau and Andrea Ma – Hong Kong

A Christian Perspective ; Never Too Late ( 25.9.21 )

· Carmel Greenwood – London

How Well Do You Love ? Do You Live your Life Fully ? ( 2.10.21 )

· Julie Lim – Kuala Lumpur

Spiritual Adventures and Travelling Solo ( 9.10.21 )

· John Van Praag – Hong Kong

The Return – Keeping Ithaka in Our Minds ( 16.10.21 )

Beyond Thought ( 17.12.22 )

· Suzi Digby OBE, Baroness Eatwell ( United Kingdom )

Uniting the World with Music and Singing ( 23.10.21 )

· Marie Jose Pereira -Portugal

All is Interconnected ( 6.11.21 )

· Noriko Barrow – United Kingdom and Japan

Enchanting Nature ( 15.11.21)

· Rachel Yu Ying Ng – Malaysia

Change Our Habits; Not Our Climate ( 20.11.21 )

· Lim Hui Lin – Malaysia

Preserving the Cycle of Nature (27.11.21)

· Dato’ Dr. Prof. Elizabeth Lee Fuh Yen – Malaysia

December Musings from an Educator ( 4.12.21)

Seeing the World with Easter Eyes ( 13.4.24)

· Usha Rani Cashyap Sood – Nottingham, UK

Giving a Voice and Rights to Those in Need ( 11.12.21)

· The late Vikram Lall – India

Tribute to a Modern Renaissance Man ( 18.12.21 )

· Sandy Ross Sykes – Ireland

A Botanical Illustrator’s Christmas Letter ( 25.12.21)

· Fr. Joseph Tham LC – Rome and Hong Kong

When the Work of the Cross is Done ( 8.1.22)

Artworks from an Exhibition ( 5.2.22 and 7.1.23)

· Flavia Arzeni and Nathalie Biancheri ( Italy )

Identity, Humanity, Finding Happiness and Inner Peace ( 15.1.22 )

· Roberto Fuentes, Christa Ramirez, Malaz Madani, Thomas Ng - Mexico, UK & Indonesia

Oceans of Hope ( 1.1.22 )

· E-Lene Kee (Malaysia)

Hanging onto Our Social Consciences and Hanging Out with Jane Goodall (19.2.22 )

Paul Lau – Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur

What is Your Theology ( 29.1.22)

· HH Maharani Priyadarshini Raje Scindia – Gwalior, India

A Maharani, a Destiny and a Museum ( 5.3.22 )

· Victoria El-Henawy – USA and Egypt

Walk Like an Egyptian Queen; Walk Free ( 12.3.22 )

· Safa Fadhill Al Sultani – Baghdad

The Folly of War – a Personal Lament ( 19.3.22)

· Wendy Siu – Hong Kong

Lost in Translation- Understanding the Greatest Book in the Universe ( 26.3.22 )

· Pauline Lopez – The Philippines

Ordinary Everyday Heroes and Female Awesomeness ( 2.4.22 )

· Dr. Robert Chan Ying Lock – Singapore

Inter-faith Harmony and Co-existence ( 9.4.22)

· Cynthia Gu – Iceland

The Stress of Being the Perfect Parent ( 16.4.22 )

· Ricardo Acosta Latapi – Mexico City

Global Influencers and Fishers of Men- the 12 Apostles ( 7.5.22)

· Dato’ Tiffanee Marie Lim – Malaysia

God is Love ( 6.8.22 )

· Roberto Fuentes – Mexico City

Manifestations of God’s Love ( 19.11.22 )

· Divya Singh- India

Hope is a Decision ( 3.12.22 )

· Susan Alexander – Malaysia

Do Whatever He Tells You to Do ( 24.12.22)

· Fr. Marco Cho – USA and Hong Kong

Reflections on the Great Week of the Easter Octave ( 15.4.23 )

· Madalina Wu- Hong Kong

The Blood of Martyrs – a Pilgrimage to South Korea ( 2.9.23)

Since 2021, I continue to publish an article – at first once a week, and then every fortnight and, finally now tapering down to a more manageable once a month. The topics I choose for each article are as universal as my Catholic faith. And so time has flown by and today we come to the December issue of 2024 – issue number # 000095 ! This makes it almost 4 years and 95 issues of ‘Smitten By Faith’. I am happy to inform my readers that I intend to continue writing for as long as you wish to read my musings on faith.

Fr. Thomas Montanaro LC shared this thought with me in the first article, ‘Regardless of where we live, what our circumstances are today, I often come back to our common mission which is always stable and never changes : to love. Loving is our best investment and secret to happiness.’

All the 95 articles in ‘Smitten By Faith’ are fully accessible for free when you go into the website on Substack. Aside from what my fabulous guests have written, my personal musings on faith have covered many diverse subjects. Among them – here is a small sampling :

· Five Glorious Days in August ( 31.8.21)

· Walking by Faith – Betting on God ( 30.10. 21)

· Two by Two – We are Doing This Together ( 22.1.22 )

· Music of Angels and Swords of Saints ( 26.2.22 )

· Changing the Lives of Millions ( 30.4.22)

· A Woman Brighter than the Sun ( 13.5.22)

· Social Justice- a Moral Vision ( 21.5.22)

· Finding God in the Desert ( 24.9.22 )

· Go Gently Among My Friends ( 17.2.23)

· Let Your Hearts Be Broken ( 25.2.23)

· Transforming Your Beautiful Mind ( 27.5. 23 )

· Planting Kingdom Seeds ( 8.7.23)

· Just Because You are Young …( 7.8.23)

· Hanging Out with Jesus; the Forever friendships ( 16.9.23 )

· Hope for Our Broken World ( 28.10.23 )

· Beneficencia – Do good; Be Kind ( 11.11.23 )

· Less Than the Least- Ignite Hearts with the Power and Beauty of Words ( 9.12.23)

· Do Not Be Anxious, God Has a New Year Plan ( 6.1.24)

· The Mystery of Mary Magdalene ( 20.1.24)

· Spiritual Portraits – Striving for Holiness ( 2.2.24)

· Wizards, Humans, Elves, Dwarfs and Hobbits ( 17.2.24 )

· Being Human; Retaining Our Humanity in the Digital Age ( 2.3.24)

· The Blue of Heaven and Paradise ( 16.3.24)

· Were You There ... ? ( 30.3.24).

· God Makes the Music ( 27.4.24 )

· Come and Have Breakfast. Did Jesus Know How to Cook ? ( 11.5.24)

· The World is a Book. God, Travel and Reading ( 25.5.24 )

· A Unique Family Perspective ( 28.6.24)

· Miracle in Mexico. Be Not Afraid. Am I Not Your Mother ? ( 10.8.24)

· Communication with God. Two Poets Who Saw God Through Their Pens ( 14.9.24)

· A World at War - the Existence of Evil and Trusting in God ( 12.10.24)

· Backpacks from Heaven ( 29.11.24)

I continue to enjoy and be inspired to write about FAITH in all its many aspects, sharing my deep and undiminished faith in God which transforms my thinking and makes my heart tranquil and serene. I wrote in an earlier article on 27 May 2023 that when we place our hopes and trust in God, not only are we strengthened and secured by this great love, our lives are enriched and blessed beyond measure permeating into every area of our existence and in all our relationships.

In my book ‘Late Have I Loved Thee’ ( the free bitly link is available on this site on request ), I compared the effect of God’s words to the precious nectar drippings from a bee’s honeycomb.

‘They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb’

(Psalm 19:10)

Just a few days ago on Christmas Day, Christians all over the world celebrated the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Let’s reflect on why the fully divine Jesus had to come into our earthly world to suffer and die so excruciatingly. In the Gospel of John, we see the answer clearly. It was because Jesus wanted to give us hope and life everlasting.

‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’

(John 10:10)

And so, as we enter into the new year in 2025 - a very special Jubilee Year for Christians - which only comes every quarter of a century, let us embrace this precious gift from God - of an ‘abundant’ life – with thanks and HOPE .

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

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Editor’s Note :

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