Happy New Year

New Year Mass at Notre Dame

 Happy New Year! It was very low key for us here. With the lockdown and pandemic, we've been reduced to 5 chinese-speaking religious. Still we celebrated a Vigil Mass at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem chapel ... a huge place for 5 people ... lots of social distancing.

After Mass we went to the chinese sisters' convent for a simple Reunion dinner. They cooked up a lovely meal, mostly vegetarian. But what was good was we had a good chat. The chinese religious have not met since the last Reunion dinner a year ago due to the pandemic.

Reunion dinner

Early this morning, I had to prep and cook lunch for the New Year gathering with Vietnamese and Thai seminarians and sisters. Their pater familias an elderly jesuit vietnamese is ill and their community does not allow outsiders to enter their compound, so they were left wit no New Year Mass or celebration. I decided to invite for a simple lunch so they can meet up - they haven't met for a year too due to the pandemic - and catch up. I cooked noodles and fried some fishballs ... typical SE Asian streetfood; the vietnamese sister made a delicious dessert of pomelo peel and coconut milk; the Thai seminarian made tom yam soup; and I bought some vietnamese Spring rolls.

There were still lots of leftover noodles as I made enough for 30 people, and there were only 10 of us. So I bought it to M. Teresa's convent so they can share it with the poor.

I guess it was a good start to the New Year ... a bit of charity. And by the way, today is 12/02/2021 which is the same if you write it backwards!!!