Maryknoll Sisters

For months, she didn't want to tell me the condition of her baby as she didn't want to make me sad, says Sister Anastasia Lindawati. Now she is ready.

A Chinese friend, Vivian, called me one day after several months without any news, as she wanted to see me so badly.  It’s a surprise for me.  She said something happened to her; that’s why she didn’t contact me for almost one year and she would tell the story when we meet.

As I had a supper with friends that evening and she would leave Guangzhou the next day, I decided to accept her invitation to have a second supper with our friends in a restaurant.  She also met her lawyer as she wants to file for a divorce so her baby can have a birth certificate. 

Her baby is being hospitalized for four months and her husband went back to his country.  For months, she didn’t want to tell me the condition of her baby as she didn’t want to make me sad but now she is ready to tell me about it as she heard that there is a good treatment for her baby in Indonesia.   She showed me her baby’s pictures in her cellphone.

I knew her when I attended an activity in the Church.  She was pregnant when we first met.  When her baby was one-month-old, I was invited to come to celebrate with her family and friends; unfortunately I couldn’t come.  Finally, I could visit her in her office on her first day of work after giving birth.

 She brought her baby to work and invited me to have lunch even though I said that I ate already.  She shared her life story, including her difficult financial situation, something that she didn’t share with her others friends.  She promised to treat me to a better meal when her financial situation gets better.  She was optimistic that she would get a better job and she did find a better job in another city.

For months, I couldn’t contact her cellphone number; our two friends also didn’t know about her, and finally another friend gave a cellphone number but it’s a wrong number. 

Amidst all the problems that she has, she still is as optimistic as the last time I met her when she talked about her financial situation. She said she moved to another city for her baby’s treatment and changed her cellphone number. 

When I invited her to pray together in that restaurant, she said she didn’t know how to pray anymore as she prayed a lot already.  I led our prayer together and then after prayer, she said that she has hope now. 

  — Sister Anastasia Lindawati, MM

We had a very special interfaith prayer service in Kamakura, Japan, on April 11, one month since the earthquake.

Over 3,000 people attended. It was held at the main Shinto shrine in our town, which is the third ancient capital of Japan. From 800 years ago, whenever there was a disaster it was the custom for the Shinto and Buddhists to pray together for the well-being of the people. This time the Christians also participated.

There were about 20 Shinto priests, 100 Buddhist monks and about 10 Christian ministers and Catholic priests. Each tradition prayed in
their own way and then we walked to the sea (about a half-hour walk), collecting money for the victims along the way.

On the beach we had a closing prayer service – again each of the three traditions prayed according to their own customs.

It was very deep and meaningful and all could feel the healing energy of our hearts truly united in grief and hope for a new beginning – praying that we can learn from this tragedy the lessons we human beings need to learn in the face of the great power of nature.

— Sister Kathleen Reilly, MM