This Sunday is the Sunday of the Word of God and also happens to be the first day of the Chinese New Year. Therefore I would like to send New Year blessings to everyone: Gone is the Tiger with the plague, the Lord’s beloved Rabbit is raised.
We see off the Year of the Tiger and welcome the Year of the Rabbit. In Chinese, the character “tiger” shares the same pronunciation of the Chinese word for “bitterness”. We can’t wait to send away the bitterness, especially Covid-19, and hope the pandemic will be gone as soon as possible. I also sincerely hope that we will be free from all bitterness in the new year. The war between Russia and Ukraine will stop and the world will be peaceful again when all the pain will come to an end.
The people of Hong Kong suffered a lot over the past three years of the pandemic. More than 12,000 people died from Covid-19. Fortunately, the pandemic seems to be subsiding and the government has substantially relaxed social distancing measures. The inbound entry arrangements had been simplified and quarantine measures, the vaccine pass, and the gathering restriction order have been lifted. Only the mask mandate is still in effect but our social lives have been gradually returning to normal.
Some people have already travelled abroad to enjoy a long-anticipated vacation. Even for those who choose to stay in the city, they are more willing to resume their social activities as the streets and shopping malls become crowded again.
Many parishes as well jumped like rabbits actively planning pastoral activities for the new year. Some have taken advantage of the Chinese New Year to bring new year greetings and food to the minorities in the city, including the pest control workers and cleaners, the elderly who are living alone, the homeless and the disadvantaged. They hoped to bring the joy of the festive season to our brothers and sisters and share God’s love. Some parishes also held a New Year’s flower sale to raise money for maintenance. Our diocese had held the Thy Kingdom Come 2.0 online charity bidding for art pieces and literature by some of our talented priests and nuns. All the donations will spent on the church building and the needs of the diocese.
Indeed, a parish is like the home of the faithful and the diocese is the big family. This family cannot be run by priests or nuns alone, but it also needs the support from all of us. It takes everyone’s effort to maintain this family, to make contributions and even sacrifice for the family.
The Synod of Bishops has encouraged the spirit of deliberation of the local churches. Pope Francis also invited us to embark on a journey to build a “communal Church”, which is characterised by communion, participation and mission. In order to build the communal Church, we should listen to one another and equip ourselves with abilities to fulfill the mission of evangelisation. SE
