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,

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!

Lately..

Recently, I've been always sleepy during class hours..
Two weeks left to go for classes and home is welcoming me.. =D
I decided to go back on May 22nd, since my Visa is expired on that day. Can't stay overnight in Jakarta as daddy doesn't allow me to.. :|

Other than that, my current updates..

Korean BBQ

Had this on last Sunday. I finally got to taste it! It was delicious. Though we didn't order that much, cos it was also expensive, but the meat really made us full! =D

Another type of SUSHI. Original! Made by my Japanese friend. =D

Left to right: Eriko (my current housemate), Axiang (Vietnamese), me and Ai (the cook of the day!)

Bread with Pâté
Had this during BK's Birthday Party.
Originally planned to have French cuisine, yet in the end turned into Japanese cuisine.. The curry was still good though! =D

Spaghetti with Tuna and Tomato sauce.
Had this just yesterday, when I had lunch with some friends from the LC.
The lunch was supposed to be a gathering with my fellow Drama members, but some couldn't make it. The food was good and TOO much. But since I was not really in the mood due to something, I still finished it, for the sake of finishing it, no waste. And it was expensive, too.
I think I wouldn't wanna eat Spaghetti anymore til I am home.

The final performance of the Choir!
It was an Easter celebration, held for the Fu Jen's staff - Teachers, officers, etc.
The singing was beautiful, love it.
and after that, we had a Chi Dao Bao lunch, meaning Free Buffet Lunch.
So full til now. Just like yesterday. I've been eating a lot lately!! -_-"

Other than that, there was a Football tournament today. And my tong xue were playing.
Updates will be coming soon..

Til the next post, take care peeps,
God bless! ^^,

Persekutuan Doa Bersama - Indonesian group

Pada hari Sabtu kemarin, sebagian dari kita mengadakan Persekutuan Doa bersama, bertempat di rumah Selvi. Lagu pujian dipimpin oleh saudara kita, Nia bersama dengan Ko Yohanes dan keyboardnya.

Acara dimulai sekitar pukul 17.30, diawali dengan menyanyikan lagu-lagu pujian dan diikuti dengan sharing bertemakan arti Paskah bagi kita semua oleh Romo Wawan.
Persekutuan Doa kali ini boleh dikatakan berbeda dengan yang sebelumnya, karena pada hari itu, 3 Romo dan 1 suster semua hadir ditengah-tengah kita. Dan total semua kita ada 14 orang berkumpul bersama.
Paskah bagi masing-masing dari kita tentu mempunyai arti yang spesial, tetapi tentunya ada satu arti utama dari Paskah itu bagi seluruh umat manusia, yaitu Paskah adalah awal dari dimulainya Kristianiti di dunia ini. Dimana umat manusia diteguhkan imannya oleh kebangkitan Yesus Kristus.
Semua yang tertulis dalam kitab suci terbukti sudah, di mana pada hari ke-3 Putra Tunggal Allah akan bangkit kembali dan kebangkitannya inilah yang menjadi awal dari iman kita, bahwa Allah itu benar adanya dan Yesus adalah Putra Tunggal Allah yang datang ke dunia untuk menyelamatkan seluruh umat manusia. Bacaan tentang sharing ini diambil dari 1 Korintus 15:1-23.

Walaupun ada beberapa perbedaan didalam kitab suci tentang siapakah yang pertama ditemui oleh Yesus dan bagaimanakah proses kebangkitannya, tetapi seperti yang Romo Wawan sampaikan, bahwa itu semua tidaklah penting. Yang penting bagi kita adalah Yesus benar telah bangkit kembali. Dan sejak itu, semua murid-muridnya dipenuhi oleh Roh Kudus untuk memberitakan tentang kerajaan Allah dan orang-orang yang percaya kepada-Nya dianugerahi rahmat yang sangat amat berlimpah.

Setelah sharing oleh Romo Wawan, beberapa dari kita juga turut ambil bagian dalam sharing bagaimana Tuhan telah bekerja didalam hidup kita dan tak terkecuali keajaiban-keajaiban yang telah Ia buat untuk kita.
[Hayo, rugi yang tidak datang pada PD kali ini! hehe..]

Sebelum kita menutup dengan menyanyikan lagu Pujian, kita juga berdoa Rosario bersama berkaitan dengan bulan Mei ini adalah Bulan Bunda Maria.

Tuhan memberkati.

Selamat Ulang Tahun, Gaby!

Selamat ulang tahun little sista!
Here's for you..

May His abundant blessings be with you always, today and forevermore..
God bless!

Everlasting Love

Yeap, the skit that we did is called Everlasting Love. [We changed the title].

Everything went well. In fact, many people were touched by it. Praise God!
Some said they almost cried, even the Lao Shi said they wanted to cry but they we're still at work, so.. hehe..
I keep on asking the people whom I met after the event whether or not they get the message / understand the things that we were doing, and they said they do. Thanks to the Power Point, too! =) Because we put some pictures (just for additional effect purpose) and some wordings, too on it (both English and Chinese).

And we.. won! xoxo. We get the Best Costume Award - NT 2000 minus the tax.
And the prize will go for Charity. We're going to give it to the victims of Human Traffic.. HT means that those workers who initially came to work legally, but they are bullied by some irresponsible agents or even their own friends. So now, they're basically in prison. Can you imagine that? Ta men hen ke lian.. T_T Although this amount is not so much compared to the price of the airticket for them to go home, but at least, it does contribute something to help them..

Not to forget I wanna thank you, yes you, for your prayer =)

I managed to get the video of the skit, it's been uploaded in Youtube by one of the teachers.
Here it is..


God bless.

French course

Some of my coursemates.
Many didn't turn up since it was the last day of class and it was just checking our exam papers.

I've finished my French course in Shida [Taiwan National Normal University] last Friday.
I am happy in the sense that I'll have more 'free time' to rest or even travel around Taipei, since I am now counting down my days being in Taiwan.. a month left.

The exam's result was not bad. I didn't expect a lot this time due to my peak schedule that I didn't study as much as how I should.. -_-".

About the course, la professeur est Française. My classmates are all Taiwanese! I am the only Indonesian [foreign student]. I hardly communicate with them though, due to language barrier! French is so poor, neither my Chinese. O well. But they're still nice people to be with! ^^, And it was also an experience for me..