FINAL VOWS COUNTDOWN – SEVENTEEN DAYS TO GO!

On Thursday evening our two communities in Yogya came together in order to check how the preparations for the final vows are going.  All seems to be going well and every one of us is doing her part to get things ready.  At a time like this many people are willing to help us.  The people who are helping us are students, neighbours and members of our basic ecclesial community.  Not only does this make the preparations easier but it also gives a “community” feel to the whole celebration.

Interestingly, the part of our meeting that took the most time was discussing the menu! You can imagine how many opinions the eleven of us at the meeting were able to generate – it seemed like at least twenty two!  Happily, the whole meeting went well and in a good spirit.

Please keep up the prayers and thank you for your support.

Advent, a time of becoming

I spend a lot of my time at work dealing with teenagers who for one reason or another are in trouble!  Some people wonder how I can do it – they think that teenagers can be awkward, difficult etc.

The thing I love about my job though, is that it reminds me almost every day that basically most people are trying their best and want to be liked, popular, clever and good! There are very few teenagers that I have dealt with, who I could say want to fail or be considered rude or cheeky!

Generally each one of us WANTS to become a better person, each one of us WANTS to succeed.  Maybe Advent is partly about that call inside each of us to grow more and more into the best person we can be… perhaps our teenage years are simply a time when that growth first becomes our personal responsibility!

FINAL VOWS COUNTDOWN (I) – THREE WEEKS TO GO!

As you can imagine we are in a state of high excitement here with only three weeks to go to the vows.  When it comes to vows we have a pretty good system worked out – we have our list of everything that needs to be done and we share out all the tasks between us.  The Church and the priest are booked and we are in process of sending out the invitations.  The service is planned and the choir is already practicing the hymns.  We have booked the caterer and are still finalising the menu.  A little nearer the date we’ll be making sure that our two houses are clean from top to bottom and we’ll be making beds for a good number of visitors.  As for Beta, Inez and Wina who will be making final vows – they are looking just great.  You could say they are glowing!

So far, everything is going well…No doubt there will a few crises before January 3^rd comes but I am sure that we’ll cope! Join us…in heart and in spirit…and keep up the prayers.

PREPARING FOR FINAL VOWS III

On Saturday 5th December all of the FCJ sisters living in Yogyakarta gathered in Soropadan for a special prayer to welcome our five sisters who had just finished the course in preparation for final vows.  We met them at the front door with a prayer and then we all sang and danced our way into the middle of our house where we continued the prayer.  At one point in the prayer our sisters shared on some of the blessings they had received from the course and that was both moving and inspiring.  It was so good to see how “on fire” they are after their course – I think we all caught a bit of their “fire” on Saturday evening!   The prayer was followed by a meal together at which there was much laughter!

Our five sisters are now going their separate ways…Marion is on her way back to Myanmar and Yuni to Manila.  Meanwhile, Beta, Inez and Wina are with us here as we work together on the final preparations for their vow ceremony on January 3rd 2010.  For me as an FCJ one of the things I love is getting ready for a vow ceremony…It is so great to hear one of our sisters say “yes” to God as an FCJ…I say my own “yes’ all over again along with her!

Please continue to keep our five sisters in your prayers and pray too that everything will be ready for the final vows long before January 3rd…

Advent

There was a lovely phrase in Sunday’s liturgy which spoke to me of my own journey so far this Advent,  it was this; “to discern what is of value”.

Often, I think, we can see what is of value in someone else’s life, and it can make us restless, wanting things to be different… the challenge for me today is to have the courage to really be open to see and appreciate what is of value in my life – not simply the things I like or enjoy, but what really is of value.

NOT LOVING IS NOT AN OPTION!

On Saturday 28th November, I attended the wedding of two friends of the FCJs. I was very impressed to read an addition they had made to the usual Mass booklet. They had written a reflection on some important principles of their relationship and of their married life together. In addition to reflecting on the importance of communication, patience and understanding they made the following point: “Not loving is not an option. Loving is the cross itself. Although it is not easy, it must be done wholeheartedly.” (Cecil and Fajar, Mass Booklet, p3) What powerful words…To me they are valid for every walk of life. It seems to me that Cecil and Fajar are beginning their married life on sound principles – and they have given me something to base my own life on also.

The Lord-our-integrity

For the last couple of days the phrase “the-Lord-our-integrity” has been going round in my mind… it came from the liturgy for the first Sunday of Advent.

I have found it really challenging to consider; how do I live with integrity? What choices do I make in my everyday life? Am I really able to see myself as a person with integrity?

But most of all, the challenge has been in asking myself; how do I live out of the call to understand the Lord as my integrity? How do I base my life on that?

PREPARING FOR FINAL VOWS II

Our FCJ sisters who are on the course in preparation for Final Vows are now on retreat.  Several days ago they finished the “input” element of the course and spent some time integrating their learnings over the course of the last month.  They are currently in the middle of an eight day retreat which hopefully will draw each one of them closer to Jesus, their companion and ours.  Please join with us in keeping our sisters in prayer.

Meeting the FCJ Society – Sr Agnes fcJ

Walaupun sudah bertahun-tahun yang lalu, ingatan “jatuh cinta” pada Serikat FCJ masih hangat di benak saya. Saat itu, saya di awal tahun ke- kuliah di IKIP Sanata Dharma (sekarang Universitas Sanata Dharma). Saya sudah tertarik menjadi suster sejak SMA. Saya sudah bertemu berbagai ragam kongregasi tetapi tak satupun yang menggerakkan hati untuk bergabung. Satu hari Minggu di bulan September 1989, saya mengikuti Kursus Panggilan di IKIP itu. Untuk pertama kalinya, di tempat itu saya bertemu seorang fcJ. Beliau memperkenalkan Serikat FCJ yang berkonstitusi sama dengan milik Yesuit. Langsung seketika, hati saya bersorak dan berucap: “Ya!! Inilah Kongregasi yang saya cari!!” Ya, sudah lama saya mencari kongregasi yang berspiritualitas Ignasian. Sebab, seperti banyak di antara Anda, sejak mengenal Spiritualitas ini, saya berubah menjadi lebih bebas dan lebih hidup. Ya, saya sungguh merasa “at home” dengan Spiritualitas ini. Sejak itu, tak satu pun menghalangi saya bergabung dengan Serikat FCJ. Saya teringat detik-detik membuat keputusan untuk bergabung. Ketakutan muncul mengetahui kalau saya akan menjadi angkatan pertama orang Indonesia menjadi fcJ. Saya takut akan “ketidaktahuan” akan masa depan dan keterbatasan dalam bahasa Inggris. Ketakutan semakin bertambah karena tak adanya dukungan dari orangtua. Akan tetapi, perasaan “jatuh Cinta” memampukan saya untuk percaya pada Allah dan pada Cinta-Nya yang abadi. Pada akhirnya, saya mampu berkata,”Ya” pada panggilan Allah untuk selamanya.

 (Agnes’ sharing is in Indonesian – she has included a translation into English below)

Although it was many years ago, but the memory of “falling in love” with FCJ is still warm in my mind. It happened when I was in the beginning of my third year at Sanata Dharma Teacher’s Training Institute (Now Sanata Dharma University). I had been interested in religious life since I was in high school. I had met many sisters from different congregations but none strongly moved me to join in. One Sunday in September 1989, I attended a Vocation Promotion Workshop at the Institute. It happened I met an fcJ for the first time. She introduced the FCJ Society which has the same Constitutions as the Jesuit’s. Straightaway, my heart was lifted up. And my heart said: “Yesss, this is the Congregation I am looking for!!!”.

Yes, I had been looking for a congregation which has Ignatian Spirituality. This is because, like many of you, since I knew the spirituality, I had been changed being freer and more alive…Yes, I felt “at home” with this Spirituality. Since then, nothing could stop me to join the Society. I remember the time of making decision. Fear appeared in the knowledge that I would be one of the first Indonesians to join in. It was fear of Unknown and lack of English. Even the fear was greater experiencing of no support from my parents. And yet, the “falling in Love” empowered me to trust in God and God’s faithful Love. In the end, I was able to say “Yes” to God’s call forever.

Religious Life and Sustainabiity – A Moral Imperative!

Listening to recent news items on the upcoming United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen it seems that National Governments are already hedging their bets and beginning to make only qualified promises when it comes to real action to cut our global carbon usage.  For myself, I know I have a moral obligation to do something about my lifestyle in order to live more truly as part of creation – and consequently I must chose to live in a way that promotes sustainability.  If I want to be true to myself, as a religious and indeed as a Christian, I have no choice.  If I am to honour life in all its forms and honour the life of future generations – I must live less greedily, less selfishly, more thoughtfully…more justly.  What joy to be at peace with less – and know that I am trying in my own small way to live differently for the sake of others.