A reflection on religion of all kinds

A reflection on religion of all kinds

Indonesia is what is called an archipelago nation, which is a fancy way of saying it is made up of many islands formed from volcanoes.  It is actually 17,508 islands, though the people only live on 6000 of them.  Like many countries in the world, they are also divided into many tribes.  Sometimes it is only one tribe on an island, and sometimes with the larger islands, there are many tribes.  In recent years, the Catholic Church has tried to support the Catholics in their tribal identity and where

4Jun2013
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Lent and Holy Week in Indonesia

Lent and Holy Week in Indonesia

In this The Lenten/Holy Week time I have experienced a real sense of the Indonesian Church (specifically in Timor Island where I am in mission).  Certainly, they share similar traditions with our universal Church, like Stations of the Cross on Fridays, fasting, and abstaining from meat, but in this time, I experienced moments unlike anywhere else I have been.  For example, on the Friday before Good Friday, they celebrate the “thematic stations of the cross.”  In it, they do a variation of the stations where t

2May2013
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What makes a missionary

What makes a missionary

There is a saying that goes, the clothes don’t make the man, the man makes the clothes.  We are more than what we wear, our identity, our dignity comes from who we are, not what we wear.   With missionaries, there is a similar saying.  Traveling does not make a missionary, but a missionary does some traveling.   

27Mar2013
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God has been so kind to me

God has been so kind to me

So it’s the beginning of my mission and before I settle into life in Indonesia, I am stopping in Japan to meet the English Camp director, Br Sid Ching, C.M.F., with whom I will be working with for the first two months of my year mission.  Having worked in the travel/airline industry for 10 years prior to joining the Claretians, I was ready for a long flight and I chose to fly on Christmas partly by the request of Claretian brothers in Japan and partly because traditionally, the flights are nearly empty on Christmas.  I

19Mar2013
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Preparing to go on mission

Preparing to go on mission

In the old days, going on mission was simpler…you got a letter from your provincial and that night you packed your bag (usually just one bag) and the next day you were given a ticket (typically by boat not by plane) to your new home.  Today, the call to mission is quite different. 

15Feb2013
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I have some packing to do

I have some packing to do

Nama Saya Ray, which means “my name is Ray” in Indonesian.  I am Claretian Missionary seminarian presently living in Chicago, IL and have been chosen to go on mission to Indonesia for the next year.

I would like to invite you to join me on this mission, through this blog, as I share the experiences of missionary life from the moment I got the call-invitation (this month) to the moment I come home in January 2014.

18Dec2012
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