Renungan: Bertobat dan dibaptis dalam nama Yesus

(Hari Minggu Paskah IV: Bacaan I: Kis 2:14a, 36-41; Bacaan II: 1 Pet 2:20b-25; Injil: Yoh 10:1-10)

Shalom!
Minggu ini kita mendengar kotbah Petrus untuk ''Bertobatlah dan hendaklah kamu masing-masing memberi dirimu dibaptis dalam nama Yesus Kristus untuk pengampunan dosamu, maka kamu akan menerima karunia Roh Kudus.
Kita tahu bagaimana pengalaman pertobatan dan pembaptisan dalam nama Yesus setiap orang berbeda dan juga bagaimana Allah selalu menyediakan kesempatan untuk bertobat dan bertobat lagi.
Dalam KGK 1257, 1213, 1215 dikatakan bahwa Tuhan sendiri mengatakan bahwa Pembaptisan itu perlu untuk keselamatan Bdk. Yoh 3:5.. Karena itu, Ia memberi perintah kepada para murid-Nya, untuk mewartakan Injil dan membaptis semua bangsa Bdk. Mat 28:19-20; DS 1618; LG 14; AG 5.. Oleh Pembaptisan kita dibebaskan dari dosa dan dilahirkan kembali sebagai putera-puteri Allah; kita menjadi anggota-anggota Kristus, dimasukkan ke dalam Gereja dan ikut serta dalam perutusannya Bdk. Konsili Firense: DS 1314; CIC, cann. 204, ? 1; 849; CCEO, can. 675, ? 1.. Sakramen ini juga dinamakan "permandian kelahiran kembali dan pembaharuan yang dikerjakan oleh Roh Kudus" (Tit 3:5), karena menandakan dan melaksanakan kelahiran dari air dan dari Roh, yang dibutuhkan setiap orang untuk "dapat masuk ke dalam Kerajaan Allah" (Yoh 3: 5).
Terkadang sebagai orang sudah dibaptis dalam nama Yesus Kristus, kita tidak menyadari kasih karunia Allah yang diberikan pada kita, melalui kuasa kebangkitan Yesus sebagai Tuhan dan Kristus. Roh Kudus yang dicurahkan belum sepenuhnya mengubah hidup kita sehingga kita seringkali lupa bahwa kita telah mengucapkan janji baptis setiap Misa malam Paskah sejak kita dibaptis: berjanji untuk menolak setan, dosa dan segala kejahatan yang merongrong masyarakat dan sekaligus mengakui iman akan Allah Bapa, Putera dan Roh Kudus serta iman akan Gereja. Dalam KGK 1285 dikatakan "Berkat Sakramen Penguatan mereka terikat pada Gereja secara lebih sempurna, dan diperkaya dengan daya kekuatan Roh Kudus yang istimewa; dengan demikian mereka semakin diwajibkan untuk menyebarluaskan dan membela iman sebagai saksi Kristus yang sejati, dengan perkataan maupun perbuatan" (LG 11) Bdk. Ocf praenotanda 2..
Untuk itu, dalam masa Paskah ini, Gereja mengingatkan kembali tawaran keselamatan dari Allah melalui pertobatan dan pembaptisan dalam nama Yesus.
Beberapa cara untuk melakukan pertobatan adalah:
1. mengubah pola pikir karena pola pikir ini sangat mempengaruhi tindakan/tingkah laku seseorang
a. menyadari dan mengakui bahwa Yesus sebagai Mesias, Yang telah bangkit menjadi Tuhan kita (Kis 2:36)
b. menyadari bahwa kuasa Roh Kudus dari Allah sendiri, bukan dari manusia, sebagai kasih karuniaNya.
2. mengubah tingkah laku; dengan menjadikan penderitaan Kristus sebagai teladan (1 Ptr 2:21)
a. bersedia menderita bagi Kristus dalam pelayanan
b. bersedia menderita bagi Kristus karena kehendak Allah
c. bersedia menderita bagi Kristus untuk mencapai kedewasaan rohani (Ibr 2:10), memperoleh berkat Allah (1 Ptr 4:14) dan menjadi berkat bagi orang lain (2 Kor 4:10-12)
d. bersedia menderita bagi Kristus sebagai akibat dari pengabdian kepada Kristus
Kerja bakti di Huilin Farm adalah salah satu contoh berkat kita kepada orang-orang cacat mental yang tinggal di sana. Ada banyak kesempatan dalam hidup kita sehari-hari yang bisa menjadi sarana untuk membagikan berkat yang kita miliki: waktu, tenaga, dan uang kepada orang lain.
Pembaptisan dalam Roh Kudus sebagaimana yang biasa dilakukan dalam Persekutuan Doa Karismatik Katolik, bukanlah Pembaptisan yang kedua melainkan sebuah doa untuk meminta pembebasan Roh Kudus yang sepenuhnya sehingga bisa dengan bebas dan leluasa berkarya dalam hidup kita. Bagi yang ingin membaca tentang pengalaman saya tentang Pembaptisan dalam Roh Kudus, bisa dibaca di:http://anastasialindawatimm.blogspot.com/2009/06/sharing-pengalaman-berdoa-dalam-bahasa.html
Melalui pertobatan dan pembaptisan dalam nama Yesus, kita diubah menjadi manusia baru, yang dipenuhi oleh kuasa Roh Kudus, yang membimbing kita untuk melakukan kehendak-kehendak Tuhan, sehingga kita mempunyai hidup dalam segala kelimpahan (Yoh 10:10) dan menjadi berkat bagi banyak orang.

Guangzhou, 15 Mei 2011


Sr. Anastasia B. Lindawati, M.M.
Let’s do simple things with simple love to make God’s love visible

P.S. Materi renungan ini dari HSM Surabaya, ditulis ulang untuk Komsel Zhongda pada 15 Mei 2011

Sharing: First Easter in Guangzhou

As my Easter letter http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fanastasialindawatimm.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Feaster-letter-2011.html&h=978da, I attended Ash Wednesday in Cathedral. The Cathedral was not as full as English Sunday Mass.
I decided to celebrate Easter in Guangzhou as we had midterm and regular classes during Holy Week.
Two students and I planned to attend English Palm Sunday Mass at Shamian Catholic Church. It was our first time so we asked the direction to several people and we went into the first Church we found. We went around the compound as the liturgy was still going on and finally entered the Church. I felt a little bit strange as I didn’t see people hold a palm, no tabernacle near the altar, no Corpus on the Cross and finally I realized that is the Christ Church of Shamian! Thanks God, we could find the Catholic Church without being late. The English community gave out a bookmark with palm. Later on, I went to Cathedral for a confession in English. English confession is available every week before the English mass.
Three Indonesians and I visited and prayed with several Indonesian patients and their families at Fuda hospital on Wednesday. Then, I went directly to school for my ten minutes conversation midterm exam and regular reading-writing class. Last year, I was visiting a patient in ICU one day before my listening midterm exam, is it the way God teach me to put priority on the need of the people above the preparation for my midterm exam?
I had listening midterm exam and reading-writing class on Thursday morning. Later on, I attended the Mandarin Holy Thursday Mass in Cathedral. The Cathedral was not as full as English Sunday Mass. I offered my Lent observance during my opening prayer. The apostles for the washing of the feet were Chinese and Africans with colorfull cloths. I still couldn’t understand the language but I know God is always accompanying me including through the presence of one of my Chinese friends.
As I had the conversation midterm exam on Wednesday so I only had reading-writing class on Friday morning. I attended the Indonesian Holy Friday Liturgy at Indonesian Consulate. There were more than 80 persons. Eleven Indonesians and I visited Indonesian and Filipino patients and families at Fuda hospital after the liturgy. Only four of us could enter the rooms to pray with them.
I attended the Indonesian Easter Vigil Mass at Indonesian Consulate. We lit a new fire, renewed our Baptismal Promises and were sprinkled by Easter water.
I read the second reading on the Indonesian Easter Sunday Mass at Indonesian Consulate. There was rosary and apologetics after the Mass. I ended the Easter Sunday with an Indonesian meal and preparation for the reading-writing midterm on Monday afternoon.
Easter Sunday last year in Hong Kong, I didn’t know yet where would I study Mandarin but I met several Indonesian students who were studying in Guangzhou. And now, I am studying Mandarin in Guangzhou and working collaboratively with the Indonesian students: visiting patients in hospital, mentally disabled people and people with Hansen’s desease. I never thought that I would celebrate my first Easter in Guangzhou in Indonesian which is very well prepared (mostly) by the students. It’s our first Indonesian Easter Triduum celebration.
I know I was not ready for the midterm, so I only could say “God, You know I am not ready for the exam.” Thanks God, I got 96 for listening class, 85 for conversation class and 95 for reading writing class .
In this time of Easter, I recalled the quotation of our foundress: “There is nothing more astonishing than life, just as it is, nothing more miraculous than growth and change, just as revealed to us. And as happens so often when we stop to regard God’s work, there is nothing to do but wonder and thank God.” (Mother Mary Joseph, 1936).

Guangzhou, 29 Apr, 2011



Sr. Anastasia B. Lindawati, M.M./黄 莉 莉
Let’s do simple things with simple love to make God’s love visible

Easter Letter 2011

Greetings from Guangzhou!
As the season of Resurrection comes, may the miracle of Easter fill your heart with joy!
It’s my first Lent and Easter in the mission and my second semester of Mandarin study. I will upload my experiences on Holy Week on my blog. Here are my experiences during the first two months of the second semester.
I attended Ash Wednesday at Cathedral right after the class. I gave a reflection “Tuhanlah kekuatan kita” (=God is my strength, http://anastasialindawatimm.blogspot.com/2011/03/renungan-tuhanlah-kekuatan-kita.html) for the Indonesian Charismatic Prayer Group. We had the Station of the Cross twice in April.
My reading-writing, conversation, listening classes are on Mondays and Wednesdays afternoon and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays morning. There are 32 students in the list but the class usually between 9-26 students. They are coming from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, France, Tanzania, and USA. We have four teachers. There is a dictation of new words of reading-writing class, most of the time it’s also the words from previous lessons. For the first dictation, I forgot how to write 喝, 那，啤 from last semester. We had small test for the first 8 lessons of reading-writing class.
I attended optional classes in taiqijuan (=Taiji) on Mondays evening, pronounciation on Tuesdays afternoon, calligraphy on Wednesdays afternoon, writing on Thursdays afternoon, Chinese paper cutting and knots on Friday afternoon. I also have private tutor in pronounciation one hour a week.
Each university have a community of the Indonesian Catholic students. Our community have a prayer meeting on Wednesdays evening. We take turn to lead the worship and sharing the reading of the coming week. Each community take turn to responsible for the biweekly prayer meeting at Consulate General. Five students and I visited home for people with mental disabilities “Huiling” http://www.gzhl.org/. We prepared several games and we also played with them. Whoever available visited and prayed together with the Indonesian patients and their families at Fuda hospital who came from Indonesia for cancer treatments. We take turn to lead the prayer and will be added by whoever is moved by the Spirit to pray. Ten students, Fr. Peter and I visited a leprosy center at Foshan.
I set up a prayer line through yahoo messenger on March 2. Here is the link about it: http://anastasialindawatimm.blogspot.com/2011/03/sharing-school-of-love-and-prayer.html
On the third week end of March, I went to Hong Kong for our regional meeting but I also had a chance to attend the English Sunday mass at Catholic Center, met several Indonesians, and went to Hong Kong Flower Show 2011 http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/green/hkfs/2011/en/index.php.
My family in Quanzhou asked me to attend the wedding of one of my second cousins. I decided not to attend as it takes 10 hours (in fact 14 hours from dormitory to their house) and I try not to absent from classes. Fortunately, there was holiday for Qing Ming Jie (=the sweeping of the tomb festival) so I decided to visit them by sleeper bus. The bus left from Tianhe Coach Terminal on Apr 1 around 7.45 p.m. and arrived at Jinjiang station the next morning. We went to Quanzhou by small van. I got off the van upon arrived in Quanzhou station and my family waited in the other Quanzhou station as the bus driver’s information. I was not sure, I got off the wrong station or the bus driver gave the wrong information. I visited 4 houses at Da Xia Mei and one house in Xia Mei that day. My second cousin Hong accompanied me to attend the Sunday mass in Quanzhou. There was a screen to show the Chinese characters and English of the order of the mass. We visited the new couple and her parents’ house and then went to one of the ten famous mosques in China which was built in 1009. I stayed overnight at Xia Mei, cooked fried rice noodle, ate a homemade hei guo (black sticky rice with lentil inside, wrapped in dried corn leaf) and watched the video of the wedding on Apr 4. In the evening, I visited one of my cousin’s house and back to Da Xia Mei to watch Minju (A Chinese opera in Min Nan dialect, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujian). On the day of the sweeping of tomb Apr 5, I brought fruits and snacks to 黄 (=Huang, my Chinese family name) ancestor hall where my paternal grandparents used to live and lighted a long firecracker which was bought by Bo, one of my 黄relatives. I visited his house and then walked to another 黄ancestor hall with his wife and daughter. They brought 2 rattan baskets of meal for two 黄 ancestor halls so I also went again to the 黄ancestor hall that I visited in the morning. After that I ate lumpia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumpia) for the second time, it’s wrapped in different way with the Indonesian lumpia. In the afternoon, I visited my auntie’s grave and another Chen’s grave as my cousins’ family name is 陈 (=Chen). On the way back home, Hong and I picked up and ate strawberries in the farm. I left Da Xia Mei by a car and then changed to a sleeper bus in the evening and arrived the next morning in Guangzhou. My family gave a Qing Ming Jie snack, white sticky rice with lentil inside.
There was tug a war competition in the school. There were six students who willing to participate so we joined another class plus two volunteers. We were the fifth winner and got RMB 100.00 so we had lunch together after the competition. As I remembered, it’s my first time to play tug a war and I had bruises in arm.
I only can thank and wonder on God’s providence through so many people and experiences during my fourteen months in mission. Thank you very much for your support, love, donation, and especially your prayers and wish you: HAPPY EASTER 2011

With love and prayer,


Sr. Anastasia B. Lindawati, M.M./黄 莉 莉
Let’s do simple things with simple love to make God’s love visible