Sharing: First Birthday in Hong Kong

My birthday celebration was started on June 14, 2010 as there were roses and birthday gifts in my room upon arriving from my two weeks trip to China.

The thought “if I only love my neighbors who kind, generous and similar to me, what’s the different with others” came to my mind in the early morning. The Gospel was taken from Matthew 5: 43-48: was "…For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And the reading for morning prayer from was “...I understood that LOVE COMPRISED ALL VOCATIONS, THAT LOVE WAS EVERYTHING, THAT IT EMBRACED ALL TIMES AND PLACES….IN A WORD, THAT IT WAS ETERNAL! Then, in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my love…my vocation, at last I have found it…MY VOCATION IS LOVE and PRAY (bold added by myself) ! Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, p.194, (3).” What a holy coincidence that I was invited to think about love three times within 2 hours to start my birthday. I thank God for all the blessings and graces in a mass intention during the English mass at St. Theresa’s Church. It’s my tradition to start my birthday celebration with a thanksgiving. My sisters and I had a lunch buffet at Royal Plaza Hotel as it’s my first birthday in the mission. I ate the hot and sour soup, main dishes including noodle, porridge and fruit. It’s really a big treat. As I was on the 8.5 hours bus and coughing since the last day in Xiamen so I took a rest in the afternoon. We had fried noodle for our supper including two birthday gifts on the table. In my childhood, my mom would prepare uncut noodle, represent longevity, and red dyed eggs, reprensent rebirth, on birthdays. The birthday celebrant should eat two eggs. As I growing older, my mom still reminds us at least to have noodle on birthdays. I had conversation with one of my sisters after supper and then with my family in Indonesia especially about my trip to Quanzhou and Xiamen. There was birthday celebration for all May-June birthday celebrants of Indonesian Catholic Evening Community on June 26, 2010 after mass at Catholic Center. The Indonesian Catholic Afternoon Community celebrated my birthday after mass at Christ the King Chapel, Causeway Bay on June 27, 2010. Nico, eight years old, invited me to come to his house and his younger brother William asked my favourite meal and drink for birthday dinner. We went around Megabox and then had pizza with their parents Chris-Sylvia. Thank you very much for all of the wishes, cards, e-cards, hugs, song, gifts, and red envelopes for my birthday. May God continue to bless your missionary journey. Kowloon Tong-Hong Kong, Jul 1, 2010 Sr. Anastasia B. Lindawati, M.M. Let’s do simple things with simple love to make God’s love visible