HONG KONG (SE): “We need to know Jesus the Lord before going out to witness or follow him. It is impossible to witness or follow the Lord passively or ignorantly. We must know and understand the Lord, love the Lord, love Jesus Christ!” Stephen Cardinal Chow said in a video message kicking off the Mission Sunday celebrations at St. Paul’s Convent School, Causeway Bay, on October 22.
In his message, the cardinal welcomed all those attending the event while he was away in Rome for the Synod of Bishops, stressing that love is the central message of the gospel we are spreading, and that the world needs. Participants were encouraged to live out the love first within their own groups, then with those around them and the community at large.
The celebration, themed “Come and follow, go and give witness,” was organised by the ad hoc Committee for the Diocesan Mission Sunday Celebration together with St. Paul’s Convent School, St. Paul’s Secondary School, Tung Chung Catholic School [Secondary] and Tang King Po School.
The day’s programme began at 10:00am after an opening ceremony officiated by the president of the ad hoc committee and vicar general, Father Paul Kam Po-wai, and the representatives of the four schools.
We need to know Jesus the Lord before going out to witness or follow him. It is impossible to witness or follow the Lord passively or ignorantly. We must know and understand the Lord, love the Lord, love Jesus Christ!
Cardinal Chow
Father Kam explained during the ceremony that Mission Sunday is not a series of events that are held annually. “This year, the journey began on Pentecost Sunday and different gatherings were held. The previous ones introduced the lives of missionaries. Their sharings helped us to reflect on our mission to ‘come and follow, go and give witness,’” Father Kam said.
The diocese organised several events in preparation for Mission Sunday. The most recent being on July 9 and 16 in which the Paris Foreign Missions, the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute, MercyHK, and the Hong Kong Catholic Lay Missionary Association shared their missionary activities.
The vicar general expressed gratitude to St. Paul’s Convent School and the people involved in different activities that day, such as booth games, the catwalk show, musical performances, and preparations for the Liturgy.
A member of the ad hoc committee, Sharon Kwan Wing-sze, president of the Hong Kong Catholic Lay Missionary Association, explained that the variety of games and contests on Mission Sunday were designed to appeal to a wide range of people, including Catholics, non-Catholics, primary and secondary school students, their parents, and so on. Some contests were suitable for the young, while the booth games were meant to attract children and others. She told the Sunday Examiner that she hoped all were able to participate in the event and enjoy themselves.
Twenty-six Catholic primary schools participated in the “Saints’ Catwalk Show” to honour the saints through their creative outfits and presentations. Taking part in the competition, Lumbo Ng, a primary five student at Bishop Ford Memorial School, portrayed St. Joseph fleeing to Egypt with the Blessed Virgin Mary, played by primary three student, Chloe Chan. “I am not a Catholic, but I know that God has helped many people. I am happy that I can help spreading the gospel today,” he said.
The diocese organised several events in preparation for Mission Sunday. The most recent being on July 9 and 16 in which the Paris Foreign Missions, the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute, MercyHK, and the Hong Kong Catholic Lay Missionary Association shared their missionary activities
In addition, teachers and students of Tung Chung Catholic School [Secondary Section] designed a series of competitive games for secondary students from 20 schools. A number of hurdles, with the participants having to crawl or climb while holding two buckets of water, were set up to allow participants to experience the hard work of missionaries who walked across cities or travelled across oceans.
Phoenix Fung, a primary six student at St. Francis’ Canossian College, said their team of four tried very hard to transport as much water as possible, but could not manage to splash the ping pong ball out of the destination bucket of water using the water from the smaller buckets they were carrying, the requirement of winning. “It gave us a better understanding of the perseverance of the missionaries, as well as their long-term efforts that may sometimes have been in vain,” she commented.
Following the games, several bands and choirs performed music. They included the choir of the Chinese and English-speaking community of St. Joseph’s Church, Garden Road, and St. Joseph’s Church, Fanling, together with its assistant parish priest, Father Phongphan Wongarsa.
Fifty Catholic schools, diocesan organisations and religious institutes had set up booth games to introduce their work. The Diocesan Vocations Commission invited participants to design the pattern of a fish on wood boards and attracted many children to join.
Sister Josephine Suen, FMM, of the commission said the game is meant to remind people that we are fishers of people and that each fish has its uniqueness to be appreciated.
The day concluded with a Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, Father Kam, and around 20 other priests at Christ the King Chapel. During the Mass, Bishop Ha said Mission Sunday is not an annual programme to be celebrated but a reminder of our mission to make disciples of all nations as commanded by Jesus [Matthew 28:19]. He said that although evangelisation is difficult, we remember that Jesus is with us.
