By Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-Thing, OFM
The communitarian life of the Church came to a halt during the fifth wave of the Covids-19 pandemic. My otherwise packed schedule suddenly became empty. Of course, I was not looking for something to do to pass the time! Since the diocese had assigned my two fellow vicars general and me to be in charge of parish matters, I wanted to visit every parish on Hong Kong Island to get to know my brother priests, hear about their specific pastoral work and speak with them. The relaxed period during the pandemic was an excellent opportunity for me.
Indeed, priests often meet with each other, but they meet primarily for work, meetings, etc. There are very few chances for casual conversation. However, priests are also human beings and their lives are not all about work. My visits to them enabled me to understand the personal lives of many of them.
For example, one priest is a good cook and enjoys serving his fellow priests, living together, and creating fellowship opportunities. Another priest is a keen gardener, planting exotic flowers and plants in the church made an ecologically rich environment for the parish, while gardening proved an excellent stress reliever for him.
The pastoral heart of priests was clearly on display as we discussed pastoral work all the time when I visited. One shared with me how he arranged the distribution of supplies transferred from the diocese to the parishioners, and then mobilised them to give these to the needy in the area.
A second priest told me that when he learned that a parishioner had been infected, he immediately called to find out what he needed. Sometimes, he would send supplies and even go to the market to buy food for him when it was necessary!
It is not surprising that most priests in the parishes I visited have met online with their parishioners. Before the epidemic, most of them were reluctant to hold virtual meetings. Nevertheless, they have found handling online activities easy in recent months with a pastoral heart. In addition, there are self-recorded devotional meditations, bible sharings, and reflections on life, which are regularly sent to parishioners to keep them well-nourished, even when the churches were closed, and their spirituality was extremely dry.
One might ask: do priests complain, grumble, or express negative emotions while they talk to one another? Of course, they do! After all, priests are also human! These moments, however, can be a time of grace when brothers can support and comfort each other in the name of the Lord. Although I cannot be of help to them, God still shows himself to us in our weakness.
I was grateful to see the brotherhood displayed by the priests during my visits to their parishes. When this article was written, the church had been reopened for a week.
