Visit to Story Bridge...

I was glad I went for the gathering with Salt + Light. Salt + Light is a newly-named group for young Catholics who are studying in UQ or QUT; or young working adults. I joined them since I came here in Feb. Salt + Light is a sub-group of the main group from uni and by chance, I got to know them through emails and attended the first meeting that I knew of. I have been stuck with them so far and it was the 3rd meeting for me.

A group of 7 of us gathered at Fortitude Valley Station and off we set off to Villa Maria Centre first. It has a church, a chapel, an ambulance wing, a convent and an administration wing. Quite big, I must say.


When I entered the church, what struck me most was the statue on the left. It has Jesus with outstretched arms. I felt so comforted looking at it. It's as if Jesus is welcoming me. He's always there to reach out to us and all we have to do is to go forward and be loved by Him.


Next, we went to the chapel for a reflection by PW. It was something related to the Holy Spirit as that would be the Sunday's scriptures. It was beautiful sharing but I thought the ground rules must be set because like me, new in the group is not sure what's the ground rules. Although I have been to many sharings but it's always good to be informed because each group has their own norms and attitudes.

I was mesmerised by the stained glass windows. It took a while for me to realise what's on the stained glass. It's an abstract art. Can you see it? It's an angel. I later told LR about it and she took a while to realise that it's an angel too.


After the reflection, we proceeded to Story Bridge for the morning walk. I had forgotten to put on sunscreen and luckily, LR brought along all kinds. I was the only one in sports attire. I could not imagine myself perspiring in jeans and nice top.

At first, I thought we were going to climb all the way to the top. There are in fact, steps from the bottom to the top and I think a payable fee would be needed and it's opened at certain hours. Anyway, it was a short walk and the bridge connects Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point.

We also talked about organising more social gatherings for the group or for whoever is interested. There are plans for kayaking in winter, picnics and just hanging out. PW also talked about the fireworks festival, either in August or September so I jokingly told him that I would "book" him in advance for the event.


Next, we adjourned to Superbowl for Chinese lunch. I was asked to say grace and I did not feel shy about it. I guess I have been practising sometimes. Food's not too bad although the beef was a bit too salty. We get to try Sizzling Prawn, Beef with Vegetables, 麻婆豆腐, Honey Chicken and Fried Squid for 7 pax. Yum Yum! The cost is about $14 per pax so that's quite reasonable considering there's 5 dishes.


After lunch, we went to have our share of desserts - Bubble Tea, at a place called Kwan Yin. It's a vegetarian restaurant across the road. It's my first cup of Bubble Tea in Brisbane. It's $3.50 for a cup. I am not sure if the cup's bigger here or that I don't drink as much. It was definitely a big cup with many "pearls". It's not too bad for the price. Most opted for milk tea but I still prefer my Passion Fruit red tea. For one other gal, Australian but from Kenya never had Bubble Tea before so that day was her first experience.


Once the drinks were done, we went to the Chinese supermarket to top up our groceries. I found out that PW is a Cantonese during drinks and after that, we were exchanging some tips on cooking. He offered to open up his house so that we could exchange cooking tips and recipes. He would be passing me recipes to make 叉烧 and 烧肉. Yeah!

Since PW stays one train station from me, we took the same train home. During the journey home, we talked about empowering the prayer group with the Holy Spirit. I could not help but think that God is using me as an instrument to reach out to the group. I am not sure if I am one of the oldest there but I felt that I had been sent to the group for a reason.

I would like the group to experience God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Like PW said, one must be mentally and spiritually prepared before such prayer session. I will try to remember what he had said.

I was also sharing with him that I do not mind helping out in the group with facilitation or games since I have been doing that for my job. If the group needs music or PPT, I would be glad to do it as well. I was also telling him that the social events and the prayer events should be separate so that we could bring our non-Catholic friends along for the social events. I felt that the prayer events could be too intense for the non-Cath friends and they could be intimidated.

At dinner, I cooked fried cabbage with bean sauce (since I managed to buy it from Chinatown). I think 1 piece of bean sauce was too much so I got to reduce it for the next round. I also bought 烧肉 from Chinatown so we had that for dinner. It was yummy. At dinner, I suggested to M if I could open our place for prayer meetings. He's agreeable to it, provided it's not monthly. I told him no worries because it's once every few months. He kinda agreed as long as it's not exam periods.


Then M suggested having white wine while we were preparing dinner. I obliged. After dinner, we carried on with the white wine and by the end of it, my head was kinda spinning. I dozed off in the living room while watching TV. After that nap, I felt much better and could carry on with my work.

Dear Lord, thank you for this fun-filled day that I had. I spent it with Your people who loves You so much and adore You. I pray that You will take good care of them and guide them to do what You desired them to do. Teach them to obey You and let them listen to You while You speak to them. Lord, thank you for all that You have done for me. May I continue to have faith and do what You desire me to do. Help me to take time off from my busy schedule to listen to You. Amen.