HONG KONG (KKP): Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan SJ, hosted a gathering with 120 people baptised between 2019 and 2022, their godparents, and catechists on May 6 at the auditorium of the Catholic Diocese Centre.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, diocesan institutions and parishes had extended the mystagogy period and strengthened ongoing formation. Mystagogy is the process of leading, training or initiation into the mystery which is not yet fully revealed.
Usually, it is understood as the final period of the catechumenate process, occurring in the 50 days after the Easter Triduum. It is, however, a much broader reality, mystagogy should be constantly practiced, not just for the 50 days.
The Diocesan Liturgy Commission and the Diocesan Catechetical Centre jointly organised a series of formation activities for newly baptised in the past six months, including talks on evangelisation and liturgy, pilgrimages, a retreat and visits to the homeless, and concluded with the gathering with the bishop.
The gathering started with a prayer led by Bishop Chow and a praise and worship session led by the charismatic community. Afterwards, representatives of the newly baptised shared their conversion experiences.
“My husband, who shared the gospel with me, passed away three years ago. He had been visiting the old and the prisoners for years. He had a high status in his career, but he smiled more happily while serving than when he was at work,” said Cheung Wai-chu, a newly-baptised parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Pok Fu Lam, who retired three years ago. She recounted that she was encouraged to become a catechumen by her husband, who had been a devout Catholic for many years. She was grateful to him for setting an example of evangelisation and inspiring her to share her faith with more people.
The best way to evangelise is through the lay people themselves. Their true self and struggles are enough to bring out the beauty of faith … Christianity is a community of faith… we have to return to the faith community
Bishop Chow
On the other hand, Chow Leung Suk-yi, a newly-baptised parishioner of St. Margaret’s Church, said, “After my husband passed away a few years ago, I thought, ‘What if I can’t see my husband again in the Lord?’” So she followed in his footsteps and is now dedicated to serving the Church.
Kwan Mei-shan, who now serves at the Sunday Children’s Gospel Story Group in St. Margaret’s Church, said she enjoys evangelising children and has found her mission in doing this.
Although the journey of faith inevitably has its ups and downs, Bishop Chow encouraged the lay people to continue to discern and “listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and be led by him”.
Speaking of evangelisation, Bishop Chow said, “If we invite people to get to know the Church, we don’t have to ask them to attend Mass for the first time. The best way to evangelise is through the lay people themselves. Their true self and struggles are enough to bring out the beauty of faith.”
Bishop Chow hopes that the newly-baptised, after participating in spiritual activities and retreats, will be brave enough to step out into the world and live out their faith.
“Christianity is a community of faith. We should not just participate in online Masses at home, and we have to return to the faith community,” he added.
At the end of the event, Connie Chung, director of the Diocesan Catechetical Centre, and the newly-baptised lay people presented gifts to Bishop Chow, one of which was a collage of photographs of the participants that day which formed an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
