2nd letter of December 2005

2) 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 11, 2005

Monday, December 05, 2005.
I attended the last class of presiding in which we had funeral rites as the practicum of group three. At 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. I attended a lecture by Anthony Gittins. At night I printed out 30-page of my EMP course.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005.
From 8.45 a.m. to 10 a.m. I met three formators in my community. In the afternoon I cooked two chickens that I put on the oven. It’s quite simple and easy to prepare it. In the evening I attended EMP class, the last class at this semester and I submitted the final paper.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005.
This morning is very cold, the temperature is 1 degrees Fahrenheit (-17 degrees Celsius). I attended the last class of Amos in the morning. In the afternoon I attended the Pana Maria Mass at CTU presided by Father Gilberto, OFM. At night I printed out the final paper of Inculturation and Dialogue class as my MA paper.

Thursday, December 08, 2005.
In the morning I attended the last class of Inculturation and Dialogue and submitted the final paper. I borrowed 5 DVD’s from CTU’s library and booked in focus multimedia projector from December 22 to January 3 for the kaleidoscope of my community on December 31 night. Today is heavily snowing in Chicago. In the afternoon Father Victor led the Holy hour with rosary of luminous mystery. In the evening we had community meeting only for one hour.

Friday, December 09, 2005.
In the morning I typed some events I recorded on my journal this year for the community’s kaleidoscope. At noon to one p.m. I went to CTU to meet Father Fragomeni to review my last Indonesian Mass I did at Saint Therese Chinatown but he did not watch it, instead he treated us (4 students: Peter, svd, Michael, svd, Long Phi, svd and me) to have lunch at CTU’s cafeteria and informally talking about our second Mass we taped personally. At the end of the review, he gave me grade of Pass plus and the rest of the students (11 seminarians) only got Pass. It doesn’t effect on the grade, anyhow. From Father Victor, I got two sandisks of memory card for my camera bought by Darwin. Each has 512 MB and costs $ 13 each. It’s good deal. With this one 512 MB, I could take 600 pictures.

Saturday, December 10, 2005.
I worked at the kitchen in the morning as usual. It is a good day to rest and watch DVD’s. This noon, the friend of Angelina, namely, Shirly Sylviana, left for Indonesia after having training at Saint Charles, Illinois for 5 days. She works at IT of Accenture. Have a safe trip and we are glad to meet you. Success for you and keep in touch.

Sunday, December 11, 2005.
In the morning I went to Saint Therese Chinatown with Valery by CTA bus and train. I attended the 9.30 Mass and shared the communion. 10.45 a.m. to noon together with Cesare, I was teaching the confirmation class. All 6 students came this time and I took pictures with them before they have long vacation till next year. We meet again on January 8, 2006. I have made a list for them to serve at the altar as alter servers starting on January 8. There’s Indonesian Mass presided by Father Edi, osc. Bu Imelda this time cooked rawon. A poetry written by Ibu Imelda Palmas, I read it passionately to say farewell words to Nick, the musician/guitarist and singer at the Indonesian Catholic group in Chicago. He returns to Indonesia next week.
This afternoon Father Michael left for Franklin for his personal retreat, so I did meditation only with Edi Liang at the church. Only both of us attended this weekly prayer. Afterward, I went to Edi’s house to cut my hair. With the kindness of Edi, I could do my own vow to cut all of my hair as soon as my fall semester 2005 ends and all of my assignment and paper done. This the third time I am bald in the USA. I am glad to finish this semester earlier so I can do the power point for the community kaleidoscope.