HONG KONG (SE): “Sometimes we need to invite people back to the Church, and they will come back when they feel they are appreciated in a community,” Bishop Chow Sau Yan, SJ, explained to young people at St. Benedict’s Church, Shatin.
He was addressing parish youth during a dialogue session in an online programme, Fun Parish Visitations with Bishop Chow. The programme is an initiative of Boiling Point, the youth online platform co-hosted by the Diocesan Audio-visual Centre and the Diocesan Youth Commission.
In its episode posted on July 29, the bishop paid a visit to St. Benedict’s, under the theme of Looking for the Lost Sheep and joined the young people of the parish playing games designed by them. When they sat to rest, the bishop discussed faith, community and life issues that puzzled the young people.
One youth group member pointed out that the culture of quick reaction has made life stressful. “Do not be too quick to react as it will cause mistakes. We need to respond instead of reacting; the former needs more reflections and data. We need to fight against the present culture of quick reactions,” the bishop replied.
…the young people from different parishes had the chance to talk with the bishop and express their views. The bishop was open and eager to get in touch with them and understand their perspectives
In turn, representatives from youth groups told Bishop Chow that parish life helps keep them from making hasty reactions in everyday life, as the church provides them with a place to calm down. They told the bishop that faith in Jesus Christ is the centre of their community, which has helped them to overcome problems and arguments.
In the programme, the young people from different parishes had the chance to talk with the bishop and express their views. The bishop was open and eager to get in touch with them and understand their perspectives.
The programme’s first episode, featuring a visit to St. Margaret’s Church, Happy Valley, was released on July 7 on Boiling Point’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. In this episode, Bishop Chow gladly accepted challenges from young people. He played table tennis with them and answered questions about city trends while playing. The young people also took Bishop Chow to the sacristy, the band room and their youth corner, where he had his handprint in paint as proof of his visit.
According to Teresa Tse Ting-ting and Terry Leung Chui-shan, youth pastoral officer of the Diocesan Youth Commission, Bishop Chow approached Boiling Point seeking a chance to meet with young people after Mass resumed in April this year. Boiling Point then came up with the idea of featuring visits with the young people in different parishes to draw inspiration through games and talks, to which the bishop agreed.
We do not want a casual chat between the bishop and young people but a sincere dialogue. That is why we tend to invite more mature representatives from youth groups to participate in the sharing sessions
Terry Leung Chui-shan
Boiling Point and members of the youth groups of different parishes jointly designed the programme. There are two parts to each 12-minute episode: the first involves games played by the young people and Bishop Chow, which can help the bishop understand what the young people do in the parish. The second consists of a dialogue between the youth representatives and Bishop Chow.
“We do not want a casual chat between the bishop and young people but a sincere dialogue. That is why we tend to invite more mature representatives from youth groups to participate in the sharing sessions,” Leung said.
According to her, each episode takes around two to three hours to film. And after filming, the bishop will stay in the parish for half an hour to 45 minutes to further communicate with the young people to learn more about them.
“The young people were touched as they could feel the bishop’s willingness to listen,” Tse said.
Leung noted that the bishop is unaware of what games the young people have prepared beforehand, as one of the highlights is the bishop’s surprise when he realises what to do!
“The bishop is very open and gives a lot of room for young people to do what they want in the programme. He was happy to accept arrangements to make the programme more relaxing and fun,” she said.
