HONG KONG (SE): “The church may be vacant, however our hearts are not saddened,” Wong Lai-king said after participating in the first Mission Sunday activity at the restored historical St. Peter’s Chapel in Tan Ka Wan, Sai Kung on June 4. She noted that the faith had expanded across Hong Kong and that the small number of Catholics at the time the chapel was set up had grown to 400,000 today. “We thank Bishop [Giovanni Timoleone] Raimondi, who spread the seed of the gospel in the rural areas of Hong Kong,” she continued.
The theme for Mission Sunday, which falls on October 22, is “Come and follow me, go and give witness.” The series of activities encouraged lay people to live out the spirit of the early missionaries by drawing inspiration from how they evangelised.
The activity began with a spiritual drama workshop, bringing back historical scenes from Bishop Raimondi’s visit to Sai Kung in 1875, a year after he became the first vicar apostolic of Hong Kong. Participants were asked to play the role of villagers who decorated the chapel to welcome the bishop.
The vicar general and chairperson of the Diocesan Mission Sunday Celebration Committee, Father Paul Kam Po-wai, celebrated a Mass to kick off the event in which he related the story of the young bishop who came to Hong Kong in 1858 and evangelised in Sai Kung.
In a promotional video for all Mission Sunday activities uploaded on May 28, Father Kam said it is important for participants to invite non-Catholics to join in. “A simple invitation is already the start of evangelisation,” he said.
On June 25, the Epiphany of Our Lord Chapel in Sham Chung hosted the second pilgrimage activity in Sai Kung, which commemorated the death of an Italian missionary, Father Emilio Teruzzi of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, who was murdered by bandits in Sai Kung in 1942. Participants were invited to play the role of the villagers waiting for the missionary to visit them in a drama and imagine how Father Teruzzi would react upon seeing the bandits.
A member of the Diocesan Working Committee for “Following Thy Way”, Alice Ong Kwan-fung, commented that by reliving Bishop Raimondi’s visit as well as Father Terruzzi’s interaction with the bandits, the audience could gain a better understanding of the difficulties early missionaries faced and feel their courage.
According to her, the committee for the Mission Sunday activities had been looking for innovative ways to engage both mature lay people and young people, and she was pleased that people of different generations were equally involved in the historical drama that day.
A pilgrimage to Yim Tin Tsai was scheduled for July 1. Two talks will be conducted on July 9 and 16 to introduce lay people to the work of missionaries in the present day. Sisters from the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute, priests of Paris Foreign Missions, and representatives of Mercy Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Catholic Lay Missionary Association will share their experiences.
Participants have also been invited to witness at their own parishes. “Action cards” and “Good will cards” were distributed in different parishes after May 28. The “Action Card” reminds everyone to take action to evangelise, while the “Good will card” is an invitation to write some thoughts to others, such as patients, homeless people, cleaners, etc.
On October 22, fun fairs and performances will take place at St. Paul’s Convent School, Causeway Bay, culminating this year’s Mission Sunday Celebration. A thanksgiving Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, sj, at 4:30pm at Christ the King Chapel to conclude the celebration. The Mass will end with participants being commissioned to spread God’s love.
