HONG KONG (SE): St. John the Baptist Parish, Kwun Tong, organised two online gospel presentations and a concert to bring a message of hope and joy to people amids the worries and stress caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and the various problems in Hong Kong society. The events were held on three consecutive Saturdays on November 7, 14 and 21.
A preaching and worship concert was held at the parish on November 21, in which youth bands including FOJP, Zume Music and St John’s Family were invited to perform and express their faith in God through music.
Father Giovanni Giampietro expressed his appreciation of the young people who composed songs to express their feelings.
Father Giampietro said that in his 61 years in Hong Kong, he has never seen people so deeply worried and lacking confidence in the future. He said worries are part of life and a process of growing up. However, he reminded people that Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). He stressed that faith and the support of a community can make it easier for people to face trials.
The first gospel presentation was held on November 7. Parish priest, Father Timothy Wan Kwok-kwong, Father Giampietro and guests were invited to share their experiences of facing unexpected situations, particularly during the pandemic.
Father Wan shared that while the annual gospel presentations of the parish were never meant to be held online, he believes an online activity has its advantage as it can reach more people unencumbered by the limitations of time or space.
With the story in Genesis about Joseph, who was sold to Egypt as a slave but later became God’s instrument to save his people from famine, Father Wan said God can turn a bad situation into opportunities. One example from is that the pandemic has brought the parish closer to low-income families as it organised a few projects to help them with the support of schools and Caritas. Also the fund-raising activities organised by the parish turned out to be successful and could relieve its financial stress in the pandemic.
A teacher shared his difficulties while teaching online and he expected his students had a hard time too, particularly as all school activities were cancelled. He believes it is important to approach the feelings of his students with empathy.
Father Giampietro recounted that he did not expect to be sent to Hong Kong as he wanted to be a missionary in Africa. However, Hong Kong turned out to be his ideal missionary spot as he later found that he was much needed here to bring some cultural input to the city. He said it is natural for humankind to want to know or plan for the future if it is unclear, but the anxiety can come from lack of trust in God.
Willy Wong Chung-hin, a specialist in psychiatry, and one of the speakers in the second gospel presentation on November 14, said that he sleeps less than six hours as he finds it necessary to take better care of his patient’s needs during the present trials. He shared that faith has been his biggest support and when he has spare time he spends time praying at Rosary Church, Tsim Sha Tsui, which is close to his clinic.
“My family members can be asleep when I return home. But God is always there when you need him so faith is an important support of my life,” he shared. He said he believes faith has great healing power so he puts a cross and spiritual books in his clinic to remind his patients not to ignore faith.
