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Dearest Friends

As some of you may know, I received my third calling in Beijing, China before I decided that I should join the RCIA and get into the Catholic faith. Thanks to my year in China, I wanted to receive Jesus so much that my mind conquered its last hurdle - Instead of follow the faith of the one you marry, I decided to follow Jesus and if the someone wants to, follow us. If not, then too bad :-) Up till now, I am happy that I have chosen this route and will never trade it for anything else. God is ever faithful while mortals....well, I got no comments.

Not sure what God wants me to do. Sometimes I wonder if I will become one of the Catholic ambassadors to China. Already, I enjoy sending my Catholic friends there (numbering quite a handful, including priests) stuff that they would find difficulty in getting hold of.....brochures, images, Catholic news snippets, even medals, rosaries, books and bibles....things that may not be available in their bookstores, worse, banned or beyond their financial means. Contrary to what people may think of the above-ground Catholics in China, they are well, our brothers and sisters. Hopefully go back there again...and yes, the best times to be there is Lent. Really heartbreaking yet climatic :-)

I do apologize that you have to read from bottom up for this blog to make sense, so scroll all the way down and happy viewing.

Archbishop Celebrates Mass

Strange pots. Notice that the crucifix is covered? Anyways, this is the Archbishop in Beijing celebrating mass...probably Good Friday or something.

Godparents!

Well, two of the godparents pictured here are regulars of this church. The godparent of the young lady works in the office while the godparent of the young man is a church warden. Hmm...actually, they have no wardens because there is no carpark in the church and everyone comes via bicycle. Anyways, those two are familiar faces though I do not know their names but we say hi :-)

Transcending from Neophyte to a Baptized Catholic

The anointing of oil on this man....See how peaceful the ladies look? Seems like they have some sort of a shawl too....like wings on a butterfly. Ah! Baptized at last!

I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit

What cute dish and jugs they have! After the cleansing, came the blessing :-)

From Caterpillars to Butterflies

Everyone is just eagerly and patiently waiting for 'THE TIME'. Anyways, they allow for Express Baptism in China (2 weeks) BUT the priest will still insist on some kind of instruction. Especially if you don't understand Chinese, the priest will not put you through the Chinese RCIA IF there is even one in the first place. But there is some kind of instruction. Strangely, some people 'fail' and have to re-do the instruction thingy. I got a friend who had to go through the course twice before he could get baptized. The other thing about Chinese baptism is that they will grab any old fella who happened to be wandering around the church grounds. That's a 'godparent' for you. You can also be sure that you won't see much of him or her after that either :-D Ha ha. Which is why I chose to get baptized HERE because my lovely Godparents are already waiting....patiently waiting even before I left Singapore for Beijing :-)

Blessing of the water

Fr John Xiao sprinkled a little salt (Think Fr Luke mentioned) & blessed the holy water...then placed the paschal candle in the water? Not sure cos they were outside when they did this (I was kneeling inside amongst the many hundreds of parishioners!)

Really beautiful & touching!

Canopy over Fr Chen with the Body of Christ, heading towards the back of the Church where the grand Chapel of Repose was set up...imagine how people balanced precariously in their pews the other way. The church was too full to be true!

Maundy Thursday is a Solemn Affair

*Sob* *Sob* but one of the most heartwarming moments I really enjoyed so far is attending Maundy Thursday in Beijing. The way they go about it makes you really want to cry. Their Chapel of Repose is beautiful and they really do it with the mood. Unlike well lit churches here in Singapore, it is possible to really darken the stone churches in China...and its really like a funeral procession, people kneeling on the cold hard stone floors (out of pews), men crying :*-( Yes, MEN! Singing songs to keep the Lord company till really late at night....I could even remember Priest Liu scolding me for not joining in the singing and I told him, "I can't sing in Chinese...."then he realized I was not local :-)

Beijing North Church @ Xishiku 北京北堂，西什库

I am crazy about the churches in China because it never fails to amaze me...How did they get there admist all the persecution? They have two tribes...the Patriotic Church of China and the Underground Church of China. The difference between the two being that one supposedly swears its allegiance to the government while the latter is loyal to the Pope in Rome. However, from what I hear from the people themselves, :D Well, our China counterparts are as real Catholics as we are. Anyways, this is the North Church in Beijing, called Our Saviour's Church. Biggest church in Beijing....and most traditional, located in a hutong!