Faith Sharing for the Reflection
of the Holy Week

I was introduced to Mrs. Annie Liem through email. She was born on January 1st, 1941 (75 years at the time this was written). Mrs. Annie currently lives in Canada. I knew her through Mrs. Yohana, one of the participant of "Bina Lanjut Kitab Suci" (BLKS) (ed: roughly translated to "Further Learning of the Bible"), where I teach her and Mr. Agus, in the Community of Emmaus Journey – Serpong.

I was very surprised when I found out that Mrs. Annie had helped in the development of a Prayer House and the Grotto of Mary in Solear – Parish of St. Odilia – Tangerang in the suburb of Archdiocese of Jakarta. I thought to myself, she must lead a very faithful spiritual life. I find that to be true from the fact that she had offered the development of the Grotto of Mary in memory of Eka, her only son, who had been called to His side, our Lord God Father Almighty.

Eka was suffering from Leukemia before he passed away. Before he was called by the Father, he had oftentimes felt the presence of God. God gave him a message, "you will be healed." The real meaning of that message was understood by Mrs. Annie after Eka had passed away, which was total healing. Total Healing is the eternal happiness. The Eternal Happiness that he received by following the teaching of the Gospels.

God showed him the way to Eternal Happiness through a dream where God gave him four books. Mrs. Annie interpreted those books as the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Development of the Prayer House and Grotto of Mary in Solear, Banten, Java, Indonesia

The center of the Gospels is living your life full of love. Love is the new commandment, as a gift from Jesus Christ, as He had said on His way to Mount Calvary:

This commandment of Jesus Christ is renewed because love comes alive when it is done wholeheartedly according to His examples. Eka kept on telling the people who prayed for him to follow God's commandment to love one another shortly before he passed away: "Please help Kevin." Kevin is Eka's childhood friend.

Friday morning after saying that, Eka told Daisy, his wife, "I'm going home tonight." He passed away that day, Friday June 28, 1996 at 19:45, at 33 years old, the same age as Jesus Christ when He was crucified. He died at the exact time as he had told Mrs. Annie on Tuesday June 25, 1996, "Mom, I'm going home on Friday." The next day (Saturday), Norton, Eka's close friend, went looking for Kevin and true enough, he found Kevin in a troubled state.

Mrs. Annie's heart must have crumbled in pieces with Eka's departure, especially from the fact that Eka is her only son. However, her spiritual director kept empowering her in accepting Eka's death, "Annie, you should be happy that Eka knows that he is going home to the Father."

Eka must have had a very pure heart such that he was allowed to meet God before he passed away and now he must have gone to His side in His Kingdom:

Mrs. Annie's close relationship to God had granted her the vision of a peaceful place for Eka when he was sick. The vision was of Eka in a white robe, lying on the green grass surrounded by lilies. The grass and lilies are like what were described in Psalms 23, especially chapter 2:

Eka in the Tranquil Sea

What made Mrs. Annie happy after Eka's death was the fact that there are many of his friends who changed their way of life and became close to God. Eka was like a root that sacrificed itself by burrowing deep into the ground so that the seed can grow into a plant on the surface, enjoying the warmth of the sun. A real example of this was Kevin, who was very touched with the warmth of God's love through Eka, "I was really touched by Eka's love who still remembered me in his last few seconds on earth."

Thanks to her closeness to God, Mrs. Annie was able to treat Eka's death as a beautiful spiritual experience: "Mother Mary had Jesus Christ for only 33 years and had to give Him up to save mankind. I also have Eka for thirty three years, and I have to sacrifice my only son so that more people who will become close to Him." Her deep faith really touched my heart: "A lot of people grew apart from God when their only child had been called by Him, but Mrs. Annie grew even closer to God and became the channel of His blessings."

The moral message that we can reflect on from Mrs. Annie's testimony about Eka is etched on these wise words:

Blessing ceremony at the Prayer House in Solear

Community gathering at the Prayer House dedicated to Eka's memory