Easter Letter 2015

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Love always involves responsibility, and love always involves sacrifice. And we do not really love Christ unless we are prepared to face His task

and to take up His Cross. ~ William Barclay

Happy Easter! Selamat Hari Raya Paskah! 复活节快乐!

May the Risen Christ continue to bless us with joy and peace!

           There was long procession from ground floor to Holy Family Church at third floor of the building on Palm Sunday morning mass.  I sat outside of the front Church as there were no more seats inside the Church.  All the statues were covered with purple garments after Sunday evening Mass.  There was movie “Passion of Christ” on Monday evening followed by a short reflection. 

            The Church was full for the Holy Thursday Mass.  After the Mass, there was time for private adoration in the Church for a while then the Blessed Sacrament was reserved at the temporary small chapel.  It was the office which was cleared up and decorated to reserve the Blessed Sacrament.  Several parishioners, young and old, stayed till the next morning.  A young woman and I talked and prayed together before I left almost midnight. 

            Several other parishioners come and go for adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament since early Friday morning.  It is a customs in mainland not to eat breakfast for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  The stations of the Cross was held at 3.00 p.m. followed by Liturgy of the Word, veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.  The Blessed Sacrament was returned to the temporary small chapel after Holy Communion and the altar was stripped again.  Several parishioners still come and go for adoration till Saturday afternoon.  I just realized that several parishioners don’t eat meat on Holy Saturday.

            Twelve persons, adults and babies, were baptized during Easter Vigil Mass. When the Fr. Lu sprinkled the holy water, the parishioners hold the snacks or fruits or candies up to get the blessing.  Everyone got an Easter egg and every family can get a bottle of holy water as it’s the time to get a new holy water. It’s a solemn celebration even though the Church was very full including in front of the TV at the first floor. 

            The parishioners got another Easter egg during Easter Sunday Mass.  The Church: inside, outside, the stairs to 4^th floor and back sections were full.   

            Ten parishioners and I went to Xiao Du – Chaoyang, Guangdong after Easter Sunday Mass.  It’s around 4 hours drive from Shenzhen.  Ms. Lin invited me to attend the sacrament of matrimony of Ms. Zhuo.  Both of them are the volunteers of our youth gatherings.  Later on I knew that Ms. Lin didn’t tell Ms. Zhuo that I would go with them.  We had delicious牛肉丸汤(=meat ball soup) which is one of their specialty.  I stayed at Ms. Zhuo’s home while the rest stayed at the other two parishioners.  The house is similar to 岭南(=Lingnan) architecture, with 6 rooms, front

parlor, back parlor, part of the roof is open, 3D colorful paintings on the upper part of the room doors, long altar, bathroom outside the house next to the place of their two pigs, sign on the front door as a Catholics’ home.  We decorated the Holy Family Church Xiao Du on Monday morning followed by lunch.  There were 18 parishioners of Holy Family Shenzhen attended the Sacrament of Matrimony besides the local parishioners. After dinner, we went to Ms. Lin’s home around 30-45 minutes drive as we wanted to go back to Shenzhen around midnight to avoid the traffic jam at highway due to Qing Ming Festival.  We had 莲藕汤(=lotus root soup) and 肠粉(rice noodle roll), both are specialties of this area, before leaving for Shenzhen.  We arrived at Shenzhen around 6 a.m.   Fr. Lu, Fr. Shi, Sr. Qin, Sr. Guo, three parishioners, four non Catholics and I had lunch together and then I went back to Hong Kong.   Here is the link of the pictures of trip to Chaoyang:   share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EbuWrFm4ZM2Pi             

            That’s all about my Easter with parishioners of Holy Family Church Shenzhen.  It was a moving, peaceful and joyful Easter celebration.

            Now, short updates about the last four months of 2015.

            Several parishioners and I attended the sacrament of Matrimony of Ms. Yue at Kuitan - Jieyang, Guangdong.  Here is the link:  http://anastasialindawatimm.blogspot.hk/2015/01/sharing-trip-to-jieyang-and-shanwei.html

            There were two youth gatherings at Holy Family Church on January – March, here are the links: http://anastasialindawatimm.blogspot.hk/2015/01/sharing-fifth-youth-gathering-of-holy.html and http://anastasialindawatimm.blogspot.hk/2015/03/sharing-sixth-youth-gathering-of-holy.html

            I initiated a Lenten Campaign at Holy Family Church Shenzhen by inviting the parishioners to donate their Lent saving money in a plastic folder for our charity works.  I also translated several of Free Daily Lent Reflections by Fr. Robert Barron to Indonesian language and uploaded to my blog with their permission. 

            Ms. Dawn Araujo interviewed me for “Q&A of Global Sisters Report” regarding my cyber ministry last January, here is the link: http://anastasialindawatimm.blogspot.hk/2015/01/q-with-sr-anastasia-lindawati-global.html

            Our Maryknoll Family gathering was held on March 18.  It’s an annual gathering for all Maryknoll Sisters and Society members in China region.  Fr. Charlie, Fr. Isaac, Fr. Jude, Seminarian Andrew and 11 Maryknoll Society members attended the gathering.  

            I helped two workshops at Maryknoll Society House Stanley including accompanying one of the groups to Trappist Monastery and the other group to Holy Cross Church besides continuing to visit inmates both in Lowu Correctional Institution and Tailam Center for Women in Hong Kong.   

            While in Hong Kong, I also attended the New Year Mass and Barbeque with the Indonesian Community, open lecture on Pastoral Care of Persons with Same Sex Attraction in the Catholic Church, seminar on Consecrated Life, Final Profession of two Sisters of Congregation of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres, Synod Questionnaire Q&A Sessions, Mass of 90^th Anniversary of MCS, SVD Mission Day, Lunar New Year celebration with the Indonesian Community, and Farewell party of Jane.

   

Hong Kong, April 8, 2015
with love and prayer,

Sr. Anastasia B. Lindawati, M.M.

Let’s do simple things with simple love to make God’s love visible

Renungan 2015: Kamis Putih

Renungan di bawah ini merupakan terjemahan dari "FREE daily Lent Reflections from Fr. Robert Barron" ( http://www.lentreflections.com/)

Tubuh dan Darah Kristus

Pusat dan pengakuan yang masih mengejutkan dalam Gereja Katolik adalah bahwa Yesus hadir secara real and substansial dalam rupa roti dan anggur.  KehadiranNya tidak hanya sekedar evokatif dan simbolik, tidak hanya sekedar hasil pemikiran ataupengharapan kita, tetapi real dan substansial.

Kalau Anda ingin membuktikan hal ini secara Biblis, cobalah melihat pada kisah Perjamuan Terakhir dalam Injil Matius, Markus dan Lukas – dan juga dalam surat St. Paulus.  Cobalah melihat secara khusus pada Injil Yohanes bab VI.  Yesus mengidentifikasikan diriNya sebagai “roti hidup yang telah turun dari Surga,” (Yoh 6: 51) dan kemudian Dia mengatakan, “Sesungguhnya jikalau kamu tidak makan daging Anak Manusia dan minum darahNya, kamu tidak mempunyai hidup di dalam dirimu.” (Yoh 6: 53).  

Ini adalah ungkapan yang sangat tidak bisa diterima orang Yahudi di masa Yesus.  Makan daging seseorang adalah istilah yang sangat tidak dapat diterima.  Lebih dari itu, minum darah binatang dilarang dalam Perjanjian Lama – apalagi minum darah manusia.  Tetapi ketika mereka menyampaikan keberatannya, Yesus tidak menghaluskan bahasaNya, Dia lebih menekankannya.  “DagingKu adalah benar-benar makanan dan darahKu adalah benar-benar minuman.” (Yoh 6: 55).

Bagaimana kita membuatnya masuk akal?  Semuanya ada hubungannya dengan siapa Yesus itu.  Kalau Dia hanya orang biasa, kata-katanya hanya merupakan kata-kata simbolik.  Saya dapat mengatakan, “Cincin ini adalah lambang cintaku kepadamu.”  Tetapi Yesus adalah Tuhan, dan apa yang dikatakan Tuhan, demikianlah adanya.

Sabda Tuhan mempengaruhi kenyataan pada level yang paling fundamental.  Jadi, ketika kata-kata Yesus atas roti dan anggur diucapkan, mereka berubah sesuai kata-kata itu.  Mereka menjadi tubuh dan darah Tuhan secara real dan susbstansial. 

Kenyataan dari sakramen ini sangat penting karena, “Barangsiapa makan dagingKu dan minum darahKu, ia mempunyai hidup yang kekal.” (Yoh 6: 54a)  Sakramen Ekaristi, sebagai kehadiran Allah yang kekal, mengekalkan siapa yang memakannya, membuat kita siap untuk kekekalan.  Kita berpartisipasi dalam Yesus Kristus melalui sakramen ini.

Itulah sebabnya kita harus sangat hati-hati, bahkan sedikit waspada, ketika kita menuju meja perjamuan.  Apakah kita mengetahui apa yang kita masuki?

Kutipan: Kita disatukan dengan Yesus Kristus, menjadi serupa dengan Kristus