HOME, A HOUSE OF MEMORY EMBRACED

We, novices, when we arrived were welcomed to this Asian Continental Novitiate. I read again “Welcome Home!” Then I question: Is this my home? Will it be my home? This was the feeling and wonder in me one year ago.

Home is a place where we live and where we love. It is the place where we most feel comfortable, happy, and loved even when it is not well-off nor sufficient. And for me, home is the best school where we learn about and practice love. God is Love and we are created for nothing else other than love. We are not just to exist, but to live in order to love and to be loved. We are called “to love one another because love is from God” (1John 4:7).

We are no robots. We begin each day by dawn with an excitement to encounter God in the Eucharistic celebration, in nature and in others. We receive grace and share its fruits. We share the same meals, share tasks, and share the same faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, we contemplate, we study, we have mission exposure, a time with the children and the poor in Kalookan, we learn, we work, we cook, we clean, we do gardening, we plant, we harvest, we sing, we dance, we make fun, and we enjoy life. In everything, we do with a spirit of joy, learning, and sharing. For we know that it is no matter how many things we do but how much joys we put in doing. Indeed, under the roof of ACN, we LIVE and we remain ALIVE.

Second, home is where we love. “We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We usually both tease and encourage each other by singing “to live is to die, and to laugh is to cry, to live is to love with all your heart … and … in the Lord.” Truly, “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend” (John 15:13). Undeniably, we have seen each other really died for the others. There are times we keep silent to listen for the others; we acknowledge that “your ideas are better than my ideas”; we humbly thank God for all the successes; we sincerely say sorry for mistakes; and we bend low to push others up. Beyond a bowl of congee, a cup of coffee, a glass of milk, a bottle of Coca-Cola, a pack of nuts, a help, a smile, a short-silent moment accompaniment, and a word of greeting is tender care, gratitude, reconciling and loving expression. We have died of our indifferences for diversity, we have died our contradictions for unity, we have died of our arrogance for peace, and of our self-centeredness for community. Our Dear Formators and my fellow sisters in ACN, we have DIED for LOVE.

I am now a newly professed; I am no longer a novice. I am not allowed to stay in the novitiate. Yet, the sense of belonging is still there. Honestly, I never cried much when I left a place, even my hometown, except on this ACN. Why? Because of love. It is in this house where I have those whom I love dearly. In this house, I lived freely. In this house, I learned to be the best version of myself. In this house, we begin and end up a day together with Him Who calls us. In this house, we share one dream, one goal, and one love; we recite one prayer, and sing one praise. This house has taught me, and motivated me to move forward on the journey as an MDR.

Many sisters, who visited ACN, said, “I remember those days when we were juniors….” or “In this place, my companions and I were…” or “I miss all the memories when our group was here.” My Ten Companions Maria Duc, Teresa, Tessa, Isabel, Camelia, Guilhermina, Teresinha, Domingas, Misila, Radhika, and the team of beloved Formators Sr. Fatima Pui, Sr. Pushpa Macwan, and Sr. Rosa Maria Angeles, we have made our memories so loving, valuable, cherishable and unforgettable. We did built a spiritual H.O.M.E – a house of memory, lived. Thank you for the gift of who you are with me and thank you for letting me love you dearly. If there will be one day going back to this house, let us say, “I love this house because it is our home where we lived and where we loved.”

Special words of thanks from Maria Đức, Teresa, Tessa and Mary to our Formators for you have been there, see all the coming and going of how many batches, and witnessed all the ups and downs of the novices’ growing process. Thank you for letting us taste the goodness of God so real and for making us experience a true home for each one.

Thank you, Asian Continental Novitiate for being A LIVING WITNESS, A FAITHFUL FRIEND, A HOUSE OF MEMORY, and A HOME!

Mary Nguyễn Thị Thủy