Dragon Eyes

Tap. Tap.
It was 6:07 and we were at the end of our morning prayer.
"It's Father," Sr. Gwen Huyền whispered.

I was still half-asleep and so Sr. Jacinta Ngân left the chapel to open the door for him.
Father Paul Hải, CSsR offered to celebrate 6:30am Mass at our convent. We were ecstatic because it would save us half an hour of driving to a Mass.

"Oh, a cricket!" Father exclaimed in the midst of his homily, as the tiny critter inched slowly towards the ambo. We were hoping he wouldn't notice the extra "parishioner" and his comment erupted laughter from us.

"I started from home at 5:30 because I didn't want to be late. When I got here at 6, I waited out in the car for 10 minutes because I didn't want to disturb you." Father took advantage of the pause in the solemnity of the Mass to explain why he arrived early at the convent. Thunder and lightening rumbled outside.

"Dragon eyes," Sr. Jacinta Ngân explained, when I saw a bag sitting on 0ur kitchen counter.
Mass had ended and I was getting a bagel for breakfast.

"Father says they're called dragon eyes, long nhãn."

"Wow, that is really sweet of him to give us something although he was the one who drove here to offer Mass," I remarked.

"You know, he went out to buy it. It is not something that someone gave him. "

"Geez...." Vietnamese priests and sisters are usually pampered with delectable and exotic food items from our people. I thought that Father had received these fruits from a parishioner.

"That is him, always doing a little extra." Sr. Jacinta Ngân continued.

Dragon eyes.
Dragons are believed to be the most dynamic of the animals in the zodiac.
Vietnamese believe themselves to be the children of dragons, possessing majesty and dignity.

Father didn't have to give us anything.
Yet he chose to give long nhãn, dragon eyes.
Probably because he has the gift of the inner dragon.

ps1. Photo from http://my.opera.com/piyemingo/blog/

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 3, 2010 at 5:22 PM

    The dragon is also the only mythical animal in the zodiac. Vietnamese dragon is the symbol of yang, representing the universe, life, existence and growth. Did you know the dragon was part of the coat of arms of South VN from 1955-1975?

    Great reading your thoughts online. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sr. Janine Van, CMRSeptember 7, 2010 at 11:37 AM

    Hi MK!

    No, I didn't know about the coat of arms... that is really neat... Thanks for the compliment... I try to make sense!

    Blessings,

    ReplyDelete

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