Bday Wish

It's been few months since my last post..
I've been thinking to encourage myself to write daily on God's blessings to me. But laziness always covers that up. :|
And this time, while I am not busy at work and I have the courage.. I shall post something here!

The Month of August has finally come again, which means that I am soon going to be 23 this year!
I often see people when it comes to their birthdays, they will have a list of birthday's wishes, mostly on goods / stuff that they can't (don't want to) get on their own. So by having it listed, they wish that someone somehow will give it to them as the bday gift. No offense, this is interesting, isn't it? :)

So then I was tempted to do the same. You can imagine, there are lots of good stuffs out there right now. IPhone! Big Digital Camera with higher quality zoom! Fashion!
But then again, this thought always comes into mind..
which is I shouldn't expect for goods as my bday presents. If I were to do that, I'd be a person who focuses on worldly things. "Do not love the world or the things of the world" - 1 John 2:15
For the world is not-conserved while God is eternal and everlasting.

And now my wishes shall also be eternal, that is to follow Him and be open to His calling, Amen.
Not to forget on this beautiful and courageous verse as well: "Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up" - Gal 6:9

God bless.

I got a job!

Praise God! Alleluia!

Friends! Thanks a lot for your prayers all the while. I am finally getting to work for real soon!
As I posted before that I was going through interview and test. Yesterday, the company [Batavia Air] called me and confirmed my eligibility to work with them. Although the salary is comparatively low, but I take this as my first experience. (much better than me being jobless).
I still can't stop thanking God and mostly Mother Mary. Friends, tell ya, Novena really works! No matter how bad/difficult your situation is, always pray! and I recommend you to pray Novena. Mother Mary does listen to every prayer we ask her to intercede for us. Such an amazing Mother, isn't she? :) Why am I so sure about that? Cos this isn't the first time my prayer through Novena is answered. I believe it, do you? ^^

I was praying what should I be doing and where, to God, cos I know, no matter how I plan it, only His will that will happen. I was also praying if I could go to France with some scholarship, or if I could get accepted in VOA to work in the US for some time. But now I think He wants me to stay, and so I will. But more than that, of course, I still have long term plans after. Keep on praying ^^.

Oiala, I feel much relieved now, I will have some income to save for 2011 Plan :)
I hope to see some of you in Madrid 2011! hehe.. If I do go there :)

That's all for now.
Take care all!
God bless!

Prayer of the Rosary

Just now we had a Rosary Prayer together in my University. Finally, we could pray the Rosary together! I am so glad!
I've been wanting to do it with everyone else, but there was always something came up and thus, I prayed it by myself, and there are times when I didn't pray on Rosary.. my bad.

Anyways, although there were just 5 of us, it was still great. We had our French friend joining us. However, due to language barrier, she shared with us that she wasn't concentrating because (I guess) it is her first time to say the Rosary Prayer in English. Therefore, she couldn't really feel it (the prayer). But I still hope that she still could feel the spirit of togetherness, when we prayed together just now. =D
- I believe that God will make a way for us to be able to share the good news with everyone else from different languages - Somehow.

Like one of my friends, she's Catholic but she has only been to the Church here few times throughout her stay in Taiwan. She is not Taiwanese. She shared to me that she has language barrier whenever she attends the mass here, that is why she doesn't go to mass nowadays. And it's not easy for me to give her some advices, although some may work.. because I do have the same problem with her, in the case that the mass is held in Chinese. :P But I am trying to get myself used to it. Slowly but surely. =D

Let's pray for our friends out there who are longing to seek Him and yet, may not realize about His presence with them.. And even for ourselves, who sometimes tend to drag ourselves away from Him.. Amen.

God bless!

A day of Pilgrimage trip

I went for a Pilgrimage trip today to Miaoli (about 2 hours from Taipei) with my fellow Indonesian Catholic friends. There were about 30 of us. We visited a place called The Holy House of Loreto, a branch from Loreto, Italy.

Love this one so much. It looks like the one in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Only this is the smaller version of it ^^,

Admire this so much!

This statue of Mother Mary and Jesus was brought all the way from Loreto.
The story why it's black is because in the old days, the first statue of its kind which was originally not black, but turned to black as many people were praying with the candles and from those candles, the statue turned its color..
There's also a larger version of this in the other building [refer to the first picture]. And surrounding it is gold, that is why for some reason we're not allowed to take any pictures. And for your information, it's the only one of its kind in Taiwan!

There, we had a mass in English. The mass was planned to be held in Indonesian language, since all of us are Indonesians, but plan was changed as we had 2 foreign friends, one is a missionary from France [oui, elle est Française! =D] and another one is a Father from the Philippines. Well, it was more of a mixed-languages though, we had English, Indonesian, and Chinese, too! Awesome! ^^,

Some struck me during the Homily by Father Pras.. According to the Gospel Reading today, from John 14:7-14. Especially in Verse 14, where it says that for Everything that you ask in His name, it'll be done to you.. And Father also relates this to Matthew 7:7, where it says: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you".

It suddenly reminded me of my Masters application in one of the Universities in Taiwan. I could say that I kinda give up to hoping that I'll get that acceptance letter from the University. Considering the Course that I am applying, which is really not my expertise at all. Well, I am just a beginner, just feel that this will not work for me.. BUT, after Father Pras said these verses.. I felt something told me that there's still Hope. As Father said, God will always fulfill the prayer of one who is trusting Him with all his/her heart.

This thought then suddenly came into my mind, that I should continue praying about it, not just letting it be.. If God really plans for me to continue my education here in Taiwan. I will be back. =D But if not, I believe that He has other better plans for me. Just like what He had done to me after I finished my studies in Malaysia. I have never planned to learn Chinese, especially in Taiwan! Neither I've ever thought of coming to Taiwan.

But things just happened and so here I am now. And I am glad for that. He gave me another opportunity to serve Him in the used-to-be odd place for me, yet, in the end turned to be the place where I now belong. But as time flies, my call to serve here has come to a certain point where I have to leave and continue the works somewhere else.. [I pray for His continuous guidance].

It is now two weeks left for me to living in Taiwan.
Wish me luck! :D
God bless!

The call to evangelization

Waw! Today's readings meditation just so exactly strikes me.
It talks about the three characters in the readings, that are Hot [Jesus' disciples,, trying to convince everyone, esp. the Israelites that Jesus had risen!], Cold [the Chief Priests who were 'working hard' to wipe out any hint that Jesus may have risen], and the Lukewarm [the guards at the tomb-everyday men with families who were just trying to survive and who didn’t seem to care one way or the other what happened to Jesus].

And it says that these days many tend to have the Lukewarm character, who may think highly of Jesus, but whose convictions about him are not strong enough to make them want to dedicate their lives to serving him and his church. Besides, it also talks about the healings, the miracles, and the conversions that would happen if everyone were to answer the call to evangelization. And not to forget that so many people are trying hard but just haven’t come to know Jesus for who he truly is. So many are waiting to hear the good news.

It really strikes me. Especially now, when few of us are trying to spread the Good news to our friends here..

This coming Thursday we're gonna have an Easter celebration, so-called, in order to get together with them and to share this moment of Joy to one another. I could say that this event is the Biggest we've ever planned so far. Invitation was sent out through email yesterday and today. And tomorrow we're gonna give out the invitation by hand, meaning paper invitation. Til now, we're expecting about 20 people. More would be great.
There are a few concerns about this event though, like about the cost (cos we're gonna provide the Lunchboxes), the programmes-how we're gonna do this, who's gonna do this and that. But Praise God, everything is going well til now. We're blessed with the people around us who are willingly offering themselves to help us [You know who you are ^^,]. Thank you!

Yesterday, I spent almost the whole day at Nia's place. Both of us were putting words for the email, choosing songs as well as practising them. Thanks Nia for playing da keyboard! =P Tomorrow we're gonna have another last practise with Brother John (Indonesian brother who's gonna do the guitar part. =P).

Ok, that's about this Thursday. I am afraid if I continue typing, one night wouldn't be enough! lol.=p

Another thing is that we're having another 'Project' that is a Drama/Skit. (fyi, the idea is taken from My Everything skit. Song by Lifehouse). Today we had another practise. A problem did rise up, but again, Praise Praise God, for He made everything alright. We found the solution and the practise went well. Oh Okay, it went very well. =) I am excited for this, too!
This is to be performed on this 28th. And the prize [money] that we'll get (loose/win still gets a prize) is going for Charity. ^^,

On another note, I am also joining the Choir with my "Tong xue men" and this is also a form of evangelization [as said by the Father (Dean Officer) himself =).

And so, I am requesting a prayer request from you all.
I hope what we're all doing here is according to what He wants us to do. For it is Your will be done, not us(ours).

Thank you. God bless!

Blessed Easter

Nia, Ester, Me, and Tika. The Batik girls of the night ^^,

I am blessed.
Had Indonesian mass today, for Easter Vigil. I am glad that I could at least attend an Indonesian mass. [Thanks also to Brother John for giving us a lift ^^,]. Father Prasetyo led today's mass.
Yesterday, imagining how I was in the Chinese mass .. Even during the way of the Cross.. It was pretty hard..

But tomorrow I am still going for the Chinese mass, because it's a combined mass for the Chinese, English, and Philippines community. There's gonna be a huge Easter celebration tomorrow, I suppose. =)

Besides, today I finally went for Sacrament of Reconciliation.
I am blessed.
Thank You Lord.
Thank You for the cross.
I am cleansed by Your mercy and love.
Let my hearts rejoice, today and forevermore.
Amen.

Retreat [Lent]

Last weekend, Saturday til Sunday (28-29 March) I went for a Retreat [Indonesian]. I could say that it was a last minute decision, cos at first I didn't plan to go for it. But God somehow invited me to go, so I took this opportunity to get closer to him as I spent more time with Him there and with someone guiding me (us).
The retreat was held in Taishan - nearby my university and Fr. Wawan was the one guiding us.
They were [I think] 27 of us in total, 2 Priests, 1 Sister, 1 Brother, and the rest is us, the students and working ones.



The retreat was about our call to follow Jesus. [c.f. Luke 5:1-11].
Here's one of my point: "For Peter who was always not ready to be Jesus' disciple, who even neglected to admit that Jesus is a Messiah; God still chose Him. Why? It is because of his weaknesses..(which he later realized about) God loved him no matter what.

In 1 Corinthians 1:27, it is mentioned: "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" 29:"so that no one might boast in the presence of God". So that those who are 'more' will not be overwhelmed by what he has, cos everything in him/her, is all given by God, all is coming back to Him..

Therefore, do not be discouraged to come to Him. Now is the best time to do so, during this Lenten season. God is there waiting for you and me, to come back to Him. and here, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the answer.. It's -+ 2weeks before Easter. Let's be like Peter who turned back to Jesus because of His love and merciful grace, Amen.
Have a blessed Lenten season.

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My room, the bed is so comfortable, way much more comfortable than my bed in my own room [in Taiwan].

My roomie [Dessy] during the retreat ^^,
..

God's in control

Reading: Esther C:12,14-16,23-25

How often have you been faced with a challenge that you have tackled through the sheer force of your own will and strength, as if you were a pillar of self-reliance?
From our first years, we are taught to approach life this way, and while that’s a good thing, it can lead us to forget how much we need God. The temptation is to live as if we are in a closed universe, not dependent upon anyone else. Could this be the reason we sometimes fail?

The Book of Esther teaches us that we are not alone, and that we should never feel as if it all depends on us. As her prayer reveals, she believed that God really does guide us and give us wisdom to deal with difficult situations. Sometimes he answers with unmistakable miracles. But at other times, he helps us through more subtle, natural means.

In Esther’s case, God used the love of a husband for his wife to save the Jewish people from extermination. This is one example of how his guidance can come to us in the whisper of a gentle breeze or in the words of a trusted friend. While it is true that God wants to give us good things and to help us as we navigate through life, it is also up to us to entrust our lives to him with complete reliance on his goodness and providence.
Esther humbled herself before God in faithful surrender as she prayed, “Help me, who am alone and have no help but you” (Esther C:14). She did not expect a miracle but knew that God would work through her. She prayed that God would give her courage to speak the words that she would need.

In addition, the next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, take Esther as your model. Stop and pray. Ask God for what you need, and listen to your heart. Take the advice of the writer of Proverbs: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not” (Proverbs 3:5). Expect him to speak to you clearly, truthfully, and peaceably (James 3:17).
Don’t stay stuck in a rut; stand with confidence on his word and move forward. As you follow the path that seems the best to you, you will undoubtedly meet Jesus along the way.

..
This was the reading on last Thursday, 5 March 09. As I was reading this reflection, I was struck by it. It is so relevant to me lately. And I've been asking God for direction and even for his voice. I am always unsure to myself, whether what's in my mind only comes from me, or it is God. Many say that what's in our heart, that is from God. Yet, I am still wondering..
But one thing I believe is that, whatever we pray/ask for, He'll lead us to the way that He wants us to go to. When our thoughts seem to be going on the same way as how our life is going through.. that might be God's answer to our prayer. We just have to pray and be more sensitive to Him..

...
“Lord, I put my life in your hands. Stay by my side always, and help me to trust in your presence, peace, and direction at every step of my journey.”

God bless!

Source of the reflection: www.wau.org

The Lord's prayer

"Our Father"

Matthew 6: 9-13

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. . . .
Lord, you are my King and God. I praise and adore you. I am your child and you are my everlasting Father. Right now, I want to come before your throne to honor You and praise You for your holiness. Father, help me keep my mind fixed on You and my eternal destiny.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. . .
Father, everything in heaven and on earth is Yours. And that includes my heart. I want to do what You want me to do. I want to say only the words You give me to say. I want to go only where You will lead me. Father, fill me with the grace I need to build, brick by brick, the kingdom of God inside the city of man.

Give us this day our daily bread. . . .
Father, you know I need you! I need your Bread of Life to live and to love, to learn and to grow. I cannot take a single breath without Your grace. I hunger and thirst for You. I hunger and thirst, too, for more people to come to know You. Many are thirsty, but don’t even know it. Help me be an icon of Your love for humanity. May my life help create a hunger and thirst for You.

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. . .
Father, I need Your mercy and forgiveness. I also need Your help to forgive the people who have hurt me. Father, set me free from the pain of wounded relationships, especially those wounds that have caused me to develop an unhealthy outlook on life. Widen my heart, Lord! I want to reveal Your mercy to the world.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. . . .
Father, help me to avoid all occasions of sin. Give me the wisdom I need to avoid situations that put me at spiritual and moral risk. Open my eyes to the subtle temptations of the evil one, and give me the strength to say “no” to his deceptions.

“Father, I praise and worship You for Your unfailing love for me! May I never forget Your goodness!”

Source: www.wau.org - daily meditation
God bless!