By Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, OFM
On Sunday mornings in general, parishes are crowded and swarming with people in the the five hours between 7:00am and noon. Most of the parishioners, if they go to the church, will be there during this time. Therefore, in order to renew the parish, we must seriously look at these five golden hours and ask ourselves: What do parishioners who come to the church experience every Sunday morning?
This experience can be roughly divided into three parts: before the Mass, during the Mass itself and after the Mass. There are always some who arrive early, before Mass. The moment they step into the church, it is heart-warming to know that they are already being received by attentive brothers and sisters.
Sometimes they are people with special needs, such as those in wheelchairs, those who want to talk to a priest or those who want an accessible place to sit down. For these people, the ushering team can play a part and help. I also know that some priests will stand at the entrance to welcome parishioners for some time before Mass to make them feel welcome. In this way, the priest is no longer a person one has to make an appointment to see, nor is he a person who can only talk about official matters. As long as one arrives early before Mass, they can have a little chat with him. Isn’t this how a sense of closeness between people is cultivated?
Being in the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, I believe that most of the early bird Catholics would like to have a few moments of peace and quiet before Mass so that they can prepare their hearts and minds properly. How disappointing it would be if we are still practising songs, testing microphones and rehearsing at this time!
In addition, I am glad to know that some parishes have arranged for priests to hear confessions before and after Masses for the convenience of the parishioners. This is not easy nowadays when there is a shortage of manpower, and I believe that parishioners will appreciate it very much and will take the opportunity to do so.
Mass has begun! By all accounts, this must be the most important of the five golden hours. How can the faithful have a good experience of Sunday Mass? There is only one key: the homily! A homily that resonates, illuminates, and uplifts the heart! How can this be done? It’s simple—preparation. As long as a priest prepares his homily seriously, the faithful will surely understand it and accept it even if there are flaws. A weekly habit of serious preparation will surely lead to good skills in preaching. I would like to express my encouragement to all my brothers in the priesthood!
It’s time for the last session before the end of the Mass: the parish report. How many items are there? Can it be more concise? Who can listen to so many things? What will the parishioners think of the parish if this is a weekly ritual that is time-consuming and unproductive?
Most of the pastoral staff will see parishioners off at the door at the end of Sunday Mass and exchange greetings, which is worthy of recognition. In some parishes, even members of the pastoral council join in and share the responsibility of reaching out to the parishioners, which is indeed a realisation of synodality. In this way, the distance between the pastoral council and parishioners in general can certainly be narrowed, and a sense of belonging to the parish community can be built up.
By noon, pastoral staff should feel exhausted and out of steam. However, I believe that their hearts and minds will be very joyful. It is because they have seized the moment of encounter with the majority of the parishioners, so that they can experience the closeness of the parish community and the closeness of God. Therefore, how can parish renewal ignore these five golden hours?
