Charles Laudia’s Blog

Some of us from Indonesian Catholic Youth in Singapore were planning to join the WYD 2008 in Sydney. We had made our preparations ahead, such as meetings to discuss which events we wanted to join, what things to bring, where we would be staying, etc. But, honestly speaking, we really didn’t quite know how it actually was (until we experienced it).

First day reaching Sydney, we were welcomed by a group of people making a big circle, dancing and singing ‘Alleluia’ with guitars. I was really amazed. For the 1st time I saw people who showing their faith in front of others so openly. Let’s count how many of us really showing ourselves as a christian outside church? (I really put the word with small letter, not a typo, as I meant the building, not the community) As the event had not started yet, we rented a room downtown for us to rest. On Sunday, we just went to Sunday mass and out for dinner.

On 2nd day, we headed to St Aquinas School, this was where we should stay during WYD 2008. We had already prepared ourselves to sleep anywhere, classroom, hall, etc. But, God gave us another chance to experience a homestay. Each 2 of us were placed with an Catholic Australian family. I was staying with The Celis. We were picked up by Margherita, the mother. When we were heading to her house, we had small talks, and I heard she said she had 6 children. I thought I must hear that incorrectly, she must have said 6-years-old child. But, OMG, it was correct, she had 6 children, 3 girls and 3 boys, from 10 years old to 21 years old. I felt so blessed to be able to meet them. Such a lovely and warm family who welcomed us, strangers, as if we were ones of their family members.

On the 3rd day, we gathered at the station to leave for Indonesian gathering. They had praise and worship, drama, and preaching. We met so many Indonesian youth there from all over the world. Also, some priests we had met in Singapore. The event was arranged nicely, as our 1st event in WYD 08. After this event, we thought of distinguishing our group with others, so we put Indonesia flag. However, when we went out, so many Indonesian flags (we forgot that we just left Indonesian gathering). Thanks God, we brought Singapore flag as well. So, we raised this flag as well.

When we were heading the opening mass, we saw more and more people with different flags joining the crowd. It was really amazing to see so many youth from all over the world spilled out to the city to gather just to glorify His name. When we reached the place, it was so huge, and it was filled with sons and daughters of God. You could see sea of human. So, we celebrate the opening mass with Sydney’s Archbishop before going home to our host family’s place.

On the 4th day, we started our day to hear the preach from one of the Cardinals regarding Catholic faith. Then, we planned to visit St Mary Church. Unfortunately, the queue was so long, we might not have the chance to enter the gate before it is closed. So, we changed our plan to attend the Asia gathering.

When we reached the place, we had not had our dinner yet, and it was 7pm already. The place was quite remote too, but they had only 1 food stall selling only hotdogs. Worse, it was almost sold out. So, we shared the meal together. Also, they had only big tent with a stage to perform. The audiences are left to stand all the way during that event. I could see that they were not well-prepared for this event. It might be the 1st for them. Hopefully they can have better one in the future, as it was really too bad, for so many Asian Catholics to gather. We could not hold our hunger any longer, so we headed to town to grab some food a long the way before going home.

On the 5th day, this is the day we were waiting for. Pope is coming to town to celebrate WYD 08 in Sydyney with us. I could not believe myself, we got the “front seats”! Our group leader said that because we submitted the application very early, so we could have the front line. You could hear people chanting “Be~nedicto” and “Benny, Benny, Benny - Oi, oi, oi!” He is loved by us not for nothing, but because he is indeed a man of God. During his speech, he mentioned how Catholic Youth, being Church’s future, to be able to stand firm to face the challenges ahead, and be the witnesses of God. Also, he asked and welcomed all people who was once a Catholic to “come home”. I could see that people who came was not only Catholics, but also others who want to know our Pope. I believe these people were touched by Holy Spirit as well, and I pray for them to come home, together builiding His Kingdom. So, that day, we went home with a very sweet memory, to meet our beloved Pope toghether with about 250,000 people.

On the 6th day, we went to Mother Mary of The Cross, where the tomb of one of our saints, St MacKillop lied. She was an ordinary sister with a great vision. She started her mission to educate poor kids during that time, facing all hardships with God by her side. We could see how obedience she was to the Holy See when they asked her to stop her mission, and after some investigations, she was allowed to continue the mission. It is so true when we say that everything is judged from its fruit. St MacKillop’s effort to educate kids in Australia provided current Australia to be one of the well developed country in term of education.

Then, we head for Father Stanley’s concert. He is a priest who preaches by rapping. You can try to search in YouTube to hear his raps. It was really amazing, and I believe, it is one of good ways to preach to the youngs (but, o yea, I saw some aunties also during the concert).

In the evening, we went to attend Christopher West seminar regarding Theology of The Body. It is based on a book named Theology of The Body, written by our last Pope John Paul II. The message is clear, how to understand man and woman’s relationship in term of sex as an imagination of God’s love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Man and woman are so different in many parts, but they are created to complement each other for this purpose, as a reflection of God’s love in this world. It is a revolutionary in seeing our body from very different perspective. I read the book as well, and it is a very brilliant vision. I would like to suggest you to read this book, whether you are a Catholic or non-Catholic, as this book is meant for anyone, it is universal.

And finally, the eve of WYD 08. We had prepared ourselves to camp out at night. So, we gathered at the start point, and walk along the decided route. This was a really amazing experience. As we walked down the road, there were so many other Catholic Youths from other country. We walked without knowing where the end would be. We just knew it is a place called Randwick. This could represent us, as Sons and Daughters of God, walking our lives to head for one goal, to meet Him, face by face, having eternal life. We do not know where it is, but we know the road to it, and that we are not all alone during the journey, we have our brothers and sisters to support each other.

During the journey, we made couple brief stops to read some phrases from Bible and pray. This is to remind us that in our journey of life, we need to have a brief stop to hear His words and pray. It will give us strength to continue our journey.

Also, in some places, we were challenged by our brothers and sisters from other demoninations, and also offered condoms, atheism, satanism, etc. Also, there were some people protesting Catholic to interfere government, showing displeased on Catholic’s stand against abortion, etc. Well, this is not happening during the walk only, but in our daily life as well. We are tempted every time by this world, to join this world, even though it is against God’s will. Can we stand firm and walk with Him as we had done during our walk to Randwick, to reject all the offers which are against God’s will, during our daily life? Are we willing to practice our believe during our daily activities, keep on singing, praising Him, no matter what kind of challenge we have?

AND, before we enter Randwick, we were provided our meals for that night’s dinner, next day’s breakfast and lunch. The food was aplenty that we won’t be able to finish them actually. This reminded me of the 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread story, where Jesus provide food for 5,000 men.

Finally, we entered Randwick, which was a horse-racing place. The place was so huge, and you could see people everywhere. Estimated people who attended that final mass was 450,000, a very amazing number. The whole night, you could see anywhere, people were singing, dancing, praising, and worshiping our God. Also, there were tents where you could have sacrament of reconciliation and also adorations. We could see the full moon hanging in the sky with its light beaming clouds, making a huge circle like a halo. It was so beautiful, as if God wanted to proclaim that His Sons and Daughters are sleeping under His wings.

Sunday morning was the WYD 08, celebrated with Pope Benedict XVI. During his homily, he mentioned that just like the day of Pentecost, 2000 years ago, he, as the Successor of Saint Peter, come to confirm the great assembly, which unites young people “from every nation under heaven” (cf. Acts 2:5), to be a new Upper Room, so the fire of God’s love descend to fill each of our hearts, unite us ever more fully to the Lord and His Church, and send us forth, a new generation of apostles, to bring the world to Christ!

Pope also describes the urgent need for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit for those already baptized and confirmed. For the Pope, every Mass, every Eucharist is a New Pentecost. Every Mass is charismatic.

Pope also reminded that grace of the Spirit, is not something we can merit or achieve, but only receive as pure gift. God’s love can only unleash its power when it is allowed to change us from within. We have to let it break through the hard crust of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age. Only then can we let it ignite our imagination and shape our deepest desires. That is why prayer is so important: daily prayer, private prayer in the quiet of our hearts and before the Blessed Sacrament, and liturgical prayer in the heart of the Church. Prayer is pure receptivity to God’s grace, love in action, communion with the Spirit who dwells within us, leading us, through Jesus, to our heavenly Father. The Pope affirms Catholic teaching that we receive new outpourings or “sendings” of the Holy Spirit not just through the sacraments but also through prayer (compare Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium 12).

Pope also left us with questions for each us to answer:

Dear young people, let me now ask you a question. What will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations, building something that will endure? Are you living your lives in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name of a falsely-conceived freedom? How are you using the gifts you have been given, the “power” which the Holy Spirit is even now prepared to release within you? What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make?

We went back to Singapore with dozens of experiences which enriched our faith, and also the messages Pope had given towards us. Last but not the least, to answer the questions/calls from Pope Benedict XVI ourselves through our lives.

God bless us all,

-C.L.-

Pernahkah saudara berpikir, Tuhan itu sungguh-sungguh mengasihi saudara dan saya? Tuhan itu adalah sumber kasih. Ini adalah sebuah fakta.

Mari kita coba anda berdiam diri, memejamkan mata, dan ambil nafas dalam-dalam. Rasakan betapa segarnya udara yang boleh kita gunakan setiap saat. Ini adalah pemberian dariNya yang cuma-cuma. Terlebih lagi, siapa pun kita, Tuhan itu memberikannya. Benar-benar tanpa memandang siapa pun kita, apa pun latar belakang kita.

Matahari yang boleh menyinari Bumi setiap hari, hujan yang membasahi tanah agar bisa menghasilkan tanaman-tanaman segar dan menyediakan sumber air, dan segalanya itu Ia berikan untuk kita semua tanpa terkecuali.

Dan terlebih lagi, Tuhan memberikan hadiah yang paling berharga, yaitu AnakNya yang tunggal, menderita dan mati di kayu salib, untuk menebus dosa kita. Dan Ia telah menang atas kematian dengan bangkit dari alam maut. Masih Ia memberikan tubuhNya kepada kita dalam rupa roti dan anggur, mau menyertai kita selalu, ingin selalu menyapa kita secara pribadi, agar suatu hari, kita juga bisa kembali kepada Bapa di Surga.

Inilah cinta Tuhan, yang “agape”, yaitu cinta yang tak bersyarat. Ia yang mengajarkan kita, ketika seseorang menampar pipi kiri kita, berikanlah juga pipi kanan kita. Ia yang bukan hanya mengasihi orang-orang yang mengasihiNya, tetapi juga mengasihi musuhNya, dan berdoa bagi mereka.

Bagaimana dengan kita? Mari kita coba merenungkan, bagaimana kita sudah melewati hidup kita selama ini. Apakah selama ini kita mengasihi sesama kita tanpa terkecuali, termasuk musuh-musuh kita, orang-orang yang memfitnah kita, orang-orang yang memeras kita, orang-orang yang mendiskriminasikan kita? Bahkan terhadap orang yang kita kasihi sekalipun, orang tua kita, anak kita, saudara saudari kita, teman-teman kita, guru kita, murid kita, dsb,… apakah kita sudah mengasihi mereka tanpa syarat, tanpa memandang apa yang mereka lakukan, apa latar belakang mereka, apa kedudukan mereka, dsb?

Kita adalah manusia yang sungguh-sungguh “philia”. Cinta kita selalu penuh dengan persyaratan.

Akan tetapi, Tuhan itu sungguh baik kepada saudara dan saya. Melalui hubungan dengan sesama, Ia ingin mendidik kita untuk belajar menjadi lebih memiliki sifat-sifat “agape” dalam hidup kita ini.

Sebagai seorang anak, kita tidak bisa memilih ingin dilahirkan dalam keluarga yang seperti apa, sebagai orang tua, kita tidak bisa memilih ingin melahirkan anak yang seperti apa, sebagai seorang teman, seringkali kita merasakan gesekan-gesekan karena perbedaan-perbedaan di antara kita, terlebih lagi bagi hubungan dengan teman hidup, yang sudah diberkati oleh sakramen perkawinan itu. Betapa kita harus belajar untuk menerima dia apa adanya, saling bekerja sama untuk membangun sebuah keluarga. Juga dalam lingkungan pekerjaan, seringkali kita berinteraksi dengan kolega, klien, dsb.

Bisa kita lihat, betapa banyak sekali kesempatan untuk timbulnya pergesekan-pergesekan dengan sesama kita. Disinilah Tuhan mau memberikan kepada kita, salib-salib kecil, untuk belajar berkorban bagi sesama. Belajar untuk mengalah, mengasihi sesama dengan terlebih tulus. Jadi, marilah kita mempergunakan setiap kesempatan itu untuk belajar mengasihi (agapao) sesama, dan menyenangkan hatiNya, yang terlebih dahulu mengasihi (agapao) kita.

Seperti St Therese Lisieux yang berkata bahwa setiap perbuatan yang dilakukannya, ketika ia menyapu halaman, ketika ia tersenyum kepada sesama, ketika ia menyulam, dsb, ia selalu melakukannya dengan penuh sukacita, walau apapun rintangan yang dihadapinya, karena ia melakukannya untuk kekasihnya, yaitu Yesus.

Tuhan memberkati

Hi everyone,

One of my fave saint, St Augustine who was once a sinner, but God called him in person. He heard a voice of a boy, asking him to open his bible. As he opened it randomly, he found this verse: “Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences.” (Rm 13:13-14).

Lately, I felt so troubled,… I have my worries on so many things, but seek what I got from Him in his love letter: “And Jesus saith to them: “Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?” Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm.” (Mat 8:26). It is so true. Why should I worry about my life? Where is my faith? Isn’t it said that “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”(Mat 6:33)

I felt ashame of myself…. I prayed to Him, I wanted to believe in Him. I do believe that He will always give the best for us. It is just we the one who never be patient, want everything to be in express….

I remembered a talk telling about what are the impacts of impatience. Instead of relying on His power, we try to do everything by our own. The best example of this is King Asa (2 Chronicles 16). Actually God had intention to make his kingdom prosperous, but instead of waiting for God’s will be done, he decided to act by his own. In the end, he was digging his own tomb (And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the city of David: and they]aid him on his bed full of spices and odoriferous ointments, which were made by the art of the perfumers, and they burnt them over him with very great pomp. 2 Chronicles 16 )

So, we can conclude that if we do not follow Christ, it is only death waiting for us. Anyway, I am also trying to do my best to follow Him. It is not by our strength that we can follow Him nor it is because we want to follow Him, but because of His grace that we are allowed to be redeemed and follow Him.

Okay, that is all for today folks, wanna go to my bed, it is late already, hehehe…..

GBU all,

-C.L.-

Hi all,

Back with me and my blog. I was a little bit lost  what to write this week, but finally I decided to write about Forgive and Forget.

Have you ever heard this story. There was a boy who came home and told his dad how he hated his friend and didn’t wanna befriend with him anymore. His father was just smiling and took the boy to the yard and ask him to get a board. His father took a nail  and hammer it to the board. After that, the father took away the nail, there was a hole on it. His father told the boy, that the board was like our heart. When we hated each other, we would hurt one another and eventhough we tried to forget it, by taking the nail and threw it away, the hole was still there. It is the same thing here, when we hate people, we might try to forget about it, we throw away the nail, but the hole is still there….

For many times, I had already heard how forgiving others is very important, moreover as a Christian, we are ordered by our Lord himself to forgive others, before we asked for his forgiveness (Mat 18: 21-35). But practically, it is very hard. Why? Because basically, we are a sinner. In every aspect of our life, we tend to do sin. It is because of God’s grace and love that we, human, can understand what is love, what is forgiveness, and through the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are redeemed from sin, and we learned what the true love is. What is an “uncoditional love” means. Before we asked Him for forgiveness, He had already given us forgiveness for our sins. Now, HE who never fail us, who is the Holy One, wanted to come down, as a human, to redeem us, for us to be saved, and our sins to be forgiven. We, who are sinners, do not want to forgive others. Who are we? But, eventhough we want to forgive and forget what people had done to us, it is still the hole left there. This is why I told just now, it is because of God’s grace, we can really know how to forgive and forget the painful caused by people who hurt us. And it is so simple actually, as it is already said for us for so many times, eventhough we never realize it. It is written obviously in “Our Father” prayer -> “Forgive us, as we forgive those who sin against us.” Here, we asked for God’s forgiveness, but we also asked Him to help us forgive others.

Well, it is indeed very hard to forgive others. Escpecially when the case is rooted deep inside already. But, my dear friends, there are nothing impossible for our God, as He is a living God. It is because we have already fallen deeply inside the sin, that we cannot reach Him. We need to open ourselves to receive Him in us. We can also ask for others to help us praying for us, as it is said, when 2 or 3 people gathers in His name, He will be there.

I also had this experience. I hated that someone so bad that sometime in my sleep, I might have a dream, having a fight with him, and I would wake up in the middle of the night angrily. So deep that I did not want to pray for him. For me, he is dead already. But thanks to my Lord, He gave me a fresh life. Now, I have already forgiven him, and I keep praying for him, so that God will also soften his heart and take this lost sheep back.

By knowing that we have to forgive others as many as he do anything wrong to us, we understand that we do not need to be angry. We have to always remember that He had already forgiven us, before we asked for it, He suffered for us, the sinners. Why do we, the sinners, are so arrogant to be angry? We have to remember that He is the source of LOVE. There are no LOVE that is not coming from Him, but we, human, because of our sins, hard for us to fully understand that LOVE.

For me, I am still in the middle of struggle to understand what unconditional love is. From theory perspective, it can be said easily. But, in practice, there are so many aspects, which are ambigous because our world is full of sins already. I keep on praying to God, so that He shows me the way.

Anyway, I believe, each of us have our own cross. Let’s keep our journey to fight along with Him.

As a close for today, one of my fav, Mat 6:33 ““Seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness,” said the carpenter from Nazareth, “and all these things will be given you besides” (Matthew 6:33).”

GBU,

-C.L.-

Hi all (^^)/

This is my first blog. Sorry for my broken English Anyway, the language is not the issue here, but the message, hehehe (trying to cherish myself :P). I did not have any writing habit, but apparently (as some of my friends said), I am more talkative when chatting (thanks to YM and MSN) and email than talking in person, so I was thinking, hey, maybe I’ve a talent in writing anyway. It is always a beginning for everything. Bear with me people ^_^ (Anyway, I am opened for critics,… ^ ^)d

A few days ago, an old friend of mine sent me a book “Your Best Life NOW”, (thanks mate!!!!) telling about how we live our life to the fullest in every moment of our life. I found an interesting phrase inside the book: “Today is the only day we have. We can’t do anything about the past, and we don’t know what the future holds. BUT we can live at our potential right now”. And, today I went to my cell gathering, Lisieux. The theme was “God’s Promise and Will”. It was about, how do we know what God’s promise is and what God’s will in our life and the obstacles we need to overcome.

Actually I realized that, instead of being grateful for what I had, I complained to God most of the time. I always asked God, why I have to face all these hardships, why I have to bring all the burdens on my shoulder, and some other why-s. Do I have faith? Do I believe in God? If people asked me, I would say, yes, I believe in Him. But, deep inside, do I REALLY believe in Him? If I do have faith, why do I keep on complaining to Him? Why do I still have doubts deep inside about lot of things, such as my future, my family, etc.

Seeing from how I do now, I should be grateful to God, as I have a great job, family who love me, good health, and so on. But, why am I still complaining to Him instead of praising and worshiping Him for everything He provided for me in my life?

Honestly, these few days, I felt so desperate, like the whole world turned against me. It was just as I was alone in this world without anyone who could understand me, to share the burden on my shoulder. Slowly but sure, I was losing faith in Him. I started complaining and complaining. But, as I walk away from Him, I was called by Him. It might be true that noone in this world can understand what I feel, but there is someone who will always be there for me, my best friend, Jesus.

I recalled a talk which held a few months ago. It was my first time joining the KKIHS, about how the disciples was so panic that when they went ahead of Him to the other side, the boat was in the middle of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. So panic that when they saw Jesus, they thought that He was a ghost. (Mat 14:22-33) Most of us are like the disciples. When we are encountered with problems, we tend to get panic. And, when we are panic, we cannot think clearly anymore. Everything does not make any sense anymore to us.

The question is, what we should do when we are faced by problems. Actually, the answer is simple. Just see what Jesus was doing all the time. We can see that Jesus is always praying before and after he do something. So, that is the first thing to do. Our God is alive, communicate with Him. Pray to Him in any occassions, before you go to work, after you finish your job, when you are in the middle of some problems, etc. Share your burden with Him.

But, by complaining, we are also praying, aren’t we? In a way, yes, but 1 question arise. Do we have faith in Him? If we keep on complaining, we are not having any faith in Him. It is alright to share “curhat” with Him, but we also have to learn to surrender in Him. (This is still very difficult for me, as it is said that it is easier to say than to do it ) There is a “hero” in the Bible who I want to set as an example for this issue. She is Mary, Jesus’ mother. When she was asked by God to give birth to Jesus, she did not complain at all. I am sure, as a human, she must be struggling with her own feeling. But, in spite of asking God, complaining to God, she answered faithfully, “‘I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)

Now, is it enough just by praying and surrendering to Him? No,… we need ACTION. It does not mean that God need us to do His work. Not at all. But He wants us to do our own part. He wants us to work, to grow our talent. “You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things.” (Mat 25:21) So, remember the motto “Ora et Labora”.

Well, honestly, until now, it is very hard for me to apply all of these in my life. As I said earlier, there are always times when I fall down again and again, but I believe that He will always be my side, to help me get through any hardships. Now, I am very grateful that He called me to be one with Him. Beside things above, there are still lot of things I have to learn and apply in my life. It is true that learn to be a good christian has no end. There are always new things for every aspects of our life. I will write some other experiences, but for the mean time, it is my homework to work harder, to have my life to the fullest for every single time He gives me, and also stop complaining, and be more grateful for everything.

See you in another episode of Charles Laudia’s blog….. I will be waiting for your comments.

GBU,

-C.L.-