By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
I grew up in Shun Lee Estate, in Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish, and volunteered with Fu Hong Society and Helping Hand Group. The former helps the mentally disadvantaged and the latter, the elderly people. During my pastoral training at the Holy Spirit Seminary, I also served in a home for the elderly and in groups that reached out to the hearing and speech-impaired people. After being ordained a priest, I also had the chance to visit or serve some marginalised groups as part of my pastoral work. My experience had always been to visit and serve them, but I never thought about the possibility of working or having meetings with them.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting of the Diocesan Commission for Pastoral Services to the Disabled. Due to restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, some members chose to attend the physical meeting, while some preferred joining online. Among those who met us face-to-face, there were visually-impaired, wheelchair-bound or hearing-impaired people, while among those meeting online were visually- or hearing-impaired people. So in addition to speaking, there was also a need to use sign language,
The visually-impaired brothers and sisters only listened, no minutes or documents were needed. On the other hand, the hearing-impaired brothers and sisters had to read the sign language and mouth shapes, so the interpreters could not wear masks, which was quite a blessing during the pandemic.
At the meeting, I was reminded of this passage: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” [Luke 4:18-21].
The Diocesan Commission for Pastoral Services to the Disabled has been established in the diocese for 30 years, while the Diocesan Pastoral Centre for the Disabled, the Eucharistic Oblates for the Vulnerable, Faith and Light Community, and the pastoral group for the hearing-impaired are all very active.
In the meeting, while listening to their work report, I did not think about the mission to serve “the marginalised.” Instead, I only thought about the community life of brothers and sisters, their life testimonies, and the importance to serve, work and have meetings with them. I was also reminded of the heavenly feast mentioned by Jesus “…when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” [Luke 14:13]. In them I saw the banquet in heaven and the work of God.
