Pengalaman Malam NATAL

By: Rev. P. Segundo Llorente, SJ

Seorang Pastor menceritakan kepadaku apa yang terjadi padanya sekali, di dalam gerejanya yang pertama.

Setelah Misa tengah malam pada hari Natal, ia sendirian mengunci gerejanya. Dengan kunci yang berada di dalam kantongnya ia menuhu ke kamarnya dan tidur nyenyak..

Pada jam 07.30 pagi, ia bangun dan menuju ke gereja bermaksud untuk berdoa satu jam untuk dirinya. Ia membuka pintu samping yang menuju ke Sakristi, menyalakan lampu dan kemudian menyalakan sepasang lilin di dalam gereja.

Saat ia membuka pintu Sakristi dan berjalan menuju gereja, ia diam terpaku. Sebagian bangku-bangku gereja dipenuhi oleh orang asing mengenakan pakaian-pakaian yang paling miskin dan semuanya dalam keheningan yang dalam. Tak ada satupun yang bergeming dan tak ada orang yang peduli untuk melihat dia. Suatu kelompok kecil sedang berdiri di samping (sebuah miniatur kelahiran Yesus) memandang palungan dalam kehenigan yang dalam.

Pastor tersebut tersadar dengan segera dan dengan suara yang keras bertanya kepada mereka bagaimana mereka dapat masuk?
Tak seorangpun menjawab!
Dia berjalan medekati mereka dan bertanya lagi siapa yang telah mengizinkan mereka masuk?

Seorang perempuan menjawab, dengan sangat tak memperdulikan, "Hal-hal yang aneh terjadi pada malam Natal!" dan kemudian kembali ke keheningan yang dalam.

Pastor itu pergi memeriksa pintu utama dan menemukan bahwa pintu tersebut terkunci, seperti waktu ia meninggalkannya kemarin. Ia sekarang memutuskan untuk mencari bukti-bukti dan dipalingkan mukanya ke arah bangku-bangku tersebut kosong. Orang-orang itu telah hilang.

Ia menyimpan kejadian itu untuk dirinya sendiri dalam beberapa waktu..
Tak sanggup untuk menyimpannya lebih lama, ia menceritakan kepadaku seperti apa yang telah kuceritakan padamu.

Dapatkan saya membantu dengan penjelasan yang masuk akal? Biarkan saya segera mengatakan, bahwa pastor dalam cerita tersebut adalah model jiwa dan dididik secara akademi seperti sebagian besar pastor yang saya kenal, jika bukan lebih baik.

Penjelasan saya masih berlanjut, sebagai berikut:
Orang-orang yang berada di bangku-bangku gereja tersebut adalah orang-orang yang meninggal yang sedang menjalankan penyucian diri mereka dan sebagian dari mereka, di dalam gereja. Adalah aman untuk mengandaikan bahwa kita bertobat atas dosa-dosa kita pada suatu tempat dimana kita melakukan dosa tersebut. Orang-orang tersebut dibenamkan dalam keheningan yang sangat dalam. Mengapa?

Pertimbangkan sikap kurang sopan yang dilakukan di hadapan Sakramen Terberkati, beberapa banyak orang bertingkah di dalam gereja, ngobrol, tertawa (cekikikan), menoleh sekeliling. Setelah Misa beberapa orang berkumpul dalam satu kelompok sekitar bangku gereja dan mengubah gereja menjadi suatu pasar dengan tidak menyapa kehadiran nyata Kristus dalam tabernakel.

Mengapa mereka menghilang?
Mereka tidak menghilang. Mereka dengan muda menjadi tidak terlihat, namun mereka tetap berada pada bangku mereka, tak dapat mengungkapkan sepatah katapun, untuk menebus obrolan mereka yang tidak sopan waktu mereka hidup.
Sakramen Maha Kudus bukan merupakan hal yang patut ditertawakan. Ada sebuah harga yang harus kita bayar terhadap apa yang kita katakan dan lakukan. Pada akhirnya hanyalah Tuhan yang akan tertawa juga berbicara. Orang-orang itu harus memberikan Adorasi dan rasa hormat pada jasa Kristus terhadap Sakramen Maha Kudus. Untuk berapa lama? Hanya Tuhan yang dapat menjawabnya.

Mengapa Pastor melihat mereka?
Sehingga ia dapat berdoa bagi mereka dan bagi semua jiwa-jiwa malang yang lain yang ditahan di dalam gereja yang lain. Mengapa Pastor lain tidak melihat orang-orang tersebut? Baiklah mungkin mereka telah tahu dalam teori bahwa jiwa-jiwa dapat ditahan di dalam gereja sebagaimana di tempat lain, jadi mereka tidak perlu suatu mujizat.

Mengapa mereka mengenakan pakaian yang sangat miskin?
Untuk menebus kelahiran mereka saat masih hidup. Orang-orang sering memakai pakaian yang tidak banyak menutupi ketelanjangan mereka namun sebagai simbol status untuk menarik perhatian ke orang lain. Namun Tuhan tidak tertarik dengan, katakanlah, sebuah contoh pakaian: jaket dari bulu binatang. Juga orang berjalan masuk ke gereja dengan pakaian-pakaian yang sangat ketat. Dalam Komuni Kudus dengan pakaian yang tidak senonoh. Pastor boleh dan tidak boleh melarang hal itu; namun Tuhan akan mengupas tentang hal ini pada saat hari-Nya dalam persidangan. Pakaian compang-camping akan merupakan hukuman yang sangat cocok untuk perbuatan yang keterlaluan itu.

Seorang biarawati dalam api penyucian menampakkan diri kepada biarawati yang lain pada tahun 1880-an. "Bukan pada hari semua jiwa-jiwa malang. Bagaimanapun, sebagian besar jiwa-jiwa diangkat ke surga justru pada Malam Natal, ribuan jiwa-jiwa meninggalkan tempat-tempat penyucian mereka menuju surga.."

Dalam tulisan Santa Margaret Mary kita menemukan nasehat sebagai berikuta:
"Dalam persatuan dengan Hati Ilahi Yesus, lakukan Jalan Salib singkat bagi jiwa di api penyucian pada malam hari. Persembahkanlah kepada-Nya semua aktivitasmu sehari-hari dan mintalah pada-Nya untuk memberikan kebaikan-Nya kepada jiwa-jiwa yang menderita. Pada saat yang sama, mohonkanlah kepada mereka guna mendapatkan bagimu rahmat untuk hidup dan mati dalam cinta dan persahabatan dari Hati-Nya yang Ilahi.

Barangkali Dia tidak menemukan di dalam dirimu kekuatan melawan Kehendak-Nya yang kudus, ataupun juga keinginan untuk menghalangi ciptaan-Nya dalam pandanganmu. Beruntunglah kamu, jika kamu berhasil mengantarkan beberapa jiwa yang terpenjara ke surga, bagimu akan mendapat sebanyak mungkin teman di surga.

Dan lagi: "Terbangun dari pagi hari ini, pada hari Minggu Gembala Baikm tulis Santa Margaret Mary 200 tahun yang lalu, dua temanku yang malang datang untuk mengucapkan selamat tinggal padaku, hari ini Gembala Baik menerima mereka ke dalam rumah kekal-Nya. Mereka pergi dengan kegembiraan dan kebahagiaan yang tak terucapkan. Saat kuminta kepadanya untuk mengingatku, mereka menjawab: "Rasa tak berterima kasih tidak pernah masuk surga."

O kalian semua, teman-teman kristianiku yang membaca tulisan ini. Para Pastor, Religius, atau orang-orang yang taat, bantulah untuk menyebarkan dengan devosi ini. Ini sangatlah mudah dan membutuhkan sedikit usaha, terlebih lagi kamu akan mendapat upahnya untuk hal itu.


Sumber: AVE MARIA Australia, Jan '09.
Penerjemah: Gloria Nadie M.

God bless.

Happy Birthday Mom Mary!

Hello!

First of all,
Let it be according to Your will...

As usual, I have only 1 day off in a week. So that one day is generally always packed. ;p and no wonder if there's at least a thing or two that I miss out.

Anyway, as for yesterday, morning was reserved for Gym. And then it was Mother Mary's birthday. Honestly, I didn't plan for this.. And I even already had a schedule for the day.
But while I was at the gym, this idea came up, that I wanted to get roses for Her bday. And so I texted a friend of mine. And she was interested to do the same, so we met up and bought 4 Roses and 2 Polianthes Tuberosas. So 2 roses and 1 Polianthes Tuberosa for Mother Mary's at St. Clement and another couple of flowers for the one at St. Theresa.. Prayed Rosary as well for each place.. And before this, I asked another friend of mine, what shall we do to celebrate Mother's bday and he said it's good to pray the Rosary and to attend daily mass. And I said to myself, "But I have an appointment already for a reunion with my friends.. What am I supposed to do? I don't have many days off and they're here for just a week maybe.." But I asked Him that He'd give me what's best. :)

Next, heading back home, had a quick lunch and moved on to E-Walk. There, got an appointment with another friend for T-shirt design. We met up at Starbucks. (Rp.43,000 gone just for a cup of Hot Green Tea latte with soya..). The design looks cool so far. It's still on a paper, so I have to draw it on computer, print, and bring it to the meeting of Legion of Mary on Sunday.

The day didn't end yet.. finished with that, I went back home and turned the computer on to be able to get in touch with my friends whom I was supposed to meet up afterwards. (Worst of all, I didn't have the no. of some friends in my phone!). Okay, so i was trying to call Lina, couldn't reach her since afternoon.. And at 5.30pm she finally called me and said that she was not feeling well. Another friend, Renny, she was like, having another appointment at 7pm; Nisa, she didn't get back to me (until night time, was busy); and voila, there were me and Ricka.. So I thought I'd be better if we just postponed it.. So it was postponed, til I don't know when but I hope to visit each of them tomorrow :)
And in the end, it was God that I headed to. I went for Mass! :) I made it!
And after it finished, I was invited to pray for Rosary with some Legioners. And that was my 4th Rosary of the day. Felt sooo blessed :)

Not finished yet, after the Rosary, I moved on back to E-Walk! haha. Meeting up with Tomas again and we went for a movie "the Expendables". We finally made it for the movie! ;p It's almost been a month when we planned to watch it. lol.

Felt bad to my bro though, cos I was using the car (as usual) for the entire day. My bad, but then, he should have told me earlier if he wanted to use the car, instead of getting angry at me and my parents.

I guess I'll have no vehicle tomorrow for Lebaran visitation.. well, there's always a way - Angkot! yeay! =D

Happy Raya to all of you who celebrate it! ^^,
Mohon maaf lahir dan bathin..
Have a super awesome one!!!

God bless.

Blessed Sunday

What a blessed day.. I am not working today. =D

So today, as usual, my family and I went for morning mass and then, we walked out separately as I continued with some church activities while my family went home.
Praise God that I've been used as His instrument to reach out..

Anywho, after the meeting of Legion of Mary, I went for a talk/sharing on being single and following God's calling in our lives. However, it wasn't as much as I was expecting it to be, but in terms of sharing, it was okay.. Spent almost a day at Church today. Supposed to come home at 3PM, but the talk went on til 4PM ++ so I decided to go home at 4PM. And I supposed to accompany my mom for swimming but I was so tired and sleepy that I slept til 6PM and it made her not wanna go to swim anymore.. *My bad..*

At night time, at first wanted to meet up with some friends from Junior High School, but since I didn't make it for my mom, so I decided not to go for this reunion as well. I feel bad to mommy..
So here I am now, just sitting in front of the computer, and typing this post..
Planning to pay a visit to a friend in the hospital though.. he's having a diarrhea..

You know when you're used to working all day, and when u're not, you feel something's empty.. hoho..

40 years in Priesthood

Today marks the celebration of 40 years Father Sinnema serves as a Pastor. In addition to memorize the feeling and memory that he felt 40 years ago, he requested the Church choir to sing some Latin songs.. Agnus Dei etc..

Wow man, I cried during the mass. And this reassures me that my Faith is more than anything one can imagine. The Holy mass, especially with Latin version is really a Grandeur mass. It is so splendid and the echo of the liturgical music with the choir simply completes the whole mass process.

I could feel what Pastor felt 40 years ago..

Some people often say that they're not growing in the Catholic church, or even the Catholic is boring, the mass that is monotone etc.. But if you actually feel what I have felt all these 4 years, Catholic is simply awesome! From it's origin, history, traditions, and experience, this totally made up the reason of being a Catholic itself.
Who says Catholic is just being quiet during the mass, follow the order of the mass, and you receive the communion, NO. It is more than that, you want to praise and worship God, you go for it. Lift up your hands to the Lord, sing out loud to Him, praise Him with all your might.. Even this is written in the Bible. And also, the sacrament of reconciliation that makes your life filled of joy for all your sins have been forgiven through it.

Gbu.

Love one another as I have loved you

Today I went for the Sunday mass in my University. It was beautiful as usual. =D I love it when Fr. Filippe giving the homily though, he sounds very clear and his story is always interesting. Like today, he was saying about loving one another as it's written in the Bible [word of God].

He began by telling us the story where there are three men who are about to enter the Heaven. There are a Jewish man, a Protestant man, and a Catholic man. And there is also St. Peter, the gate keeper.

So here it goes, the first man that is the Jewish man, before he can enter into Heaven, St. Peter asks him to prove to him if he's really a Jewish. So then, he tells St. Peter everything he knows based on the Bible from Genesis, Deuteronomy, and so on.. So then, St. Peter says : "Ok, you're really a Jewish, you may go to the Heaven." He then goes into the Heaven..

Next one is the Protestant man, the same question asked by St. Peter and the Protestan man is able to explain everything, any details about his Bible.. And so, St. Peter says: "Ok, you're really a Protestant, have your way to the Heaven.."

Next, the last man, that is the Catholic man, is asked the same question by St. Peter: "So you're a Catholic, prove to me that you're really one.". However, the man couldn't answer the question at all, not even a sentence he says about the faith he believes in. St. Peter even says to just mention anything he knows, not only from Bible, but other sources, too will do, like the Letter of Pope, Vatican II, or any stories in the Bible. The man still has no idea what to say.. And then, St. Peter says: "Ok, I believe that you're a Catholic.. "

Do you see the contrast in this story? How are Catholics known to not knowing their Bible. I remember there's a say: "Catholics do not know their Bible". But it's not so true at some point. We do know our Bible, well, at least some stories in the Gospels or the story of Creation.
Nevertheless, this, of course, a reminder for us that we should take more efforts, in exploring our faith, knowing it deeper..

Another story that's really related to Loving one another is,
There was an old man who just lost one of his family members. And there were a mother and her son who came to give their condolences to the family. At that time, the old man was sitting alone at one corner of the chairs.. Everyone let him be as they think that he just needs some time to be alone. But what happened was that child, the woman's son, went to sit next to him and they saw both of them crying together. They were wondering why both of them were crying, even the mother.

Later on, the child came back to his mom and he was asked what he was saying to the old man til both of them cried. The child then said: "I just asked him: Can I cry with you?"
His mom was really touched by his words..
Here we can see, how one loves another that he wants to share the burdens by crying together. The child keeps the old man accompanied by crying with him..
Now we imagine how God would always do the same to us, whenever we're in troubles, He's there with us, seeing us sad, He feels the pain, too..

So now, what about US? what can we do to show others that we love them?
Through our actions and words, which initially will lead them into Him, for when there's Love, God is there, for God is Love. =D

I've seen how this is really connected. The Love that we have in Christ is really amazing. It can turns our tears, sadness into Joy. The effects are so real and unbelievable!

God bless,