Week of Consolation
About promoting first proclamation evangelism, I tell everyone there are two truths: it is very difficult; but it can be done. Today I would like to share with you not the difficulties, but a recent "week of consolation."
On evening of Monday, May 3, I went with our newest lay evangelist, Ms. Lwo Sywen and a young student from our Evangelism Department (they are both Hakka) to visit the Pastoral Council for a Hakka parish in Kuan-si. We prayed together three complete rosaries on the way there, asking for Our Lady's help. Ms. Lwo explains the background of this parish and our experiences in this newsletter, but I would also like to share with you what the young man told the pastoral council about his own experience. This young man recently converted five years ago. Growing up, his grandfather had spent much time explaining to him what it means to be a Hakka. He shared with us that in becoming a Catholic, he felt no conflict with being Hakka and that his relationship to Jesus complimented his ethnic identity. He wanted to share his Catholic faith with the Hakka people so they too could have experience the same closeness to God and to their own culture. The acceptance we received from the Hakka Catholics of the pastoral council to jointly start parish evangelism was the first consolation of the week.
On Thursday, I went with a teacher from our Evangelism Department, Mr. Lee, to visit our Center in Taichung. Recently, we transferred Grace Huang to Taichung working in an area call Nan-twun. The parish priest there is a missionary from Africa and he was very happy with the work Grace has been doing. He told me about the 1-0-1 Saturday catechumen course, "Our only problem is that we don't have room for all those who are coming." Grace has already started six catechumen courses in the Taichung diocese. This successful collaboration of a foreign missionary and our local, lay evangelist was my second consolation of the week. (There are more details about Grace's work in this newsletter).
On Saturday, Teacher Lee, lay evangelist Hsu Jr-syung and I were invited by Bishop of Jiayi to give a day of instruction to the volunteer teachers who run the catechumen programs in his diocese. The bishopcompletely affirmed the mission of Chinese Lay Missionaries (to form and support local, lay evangelists). He also invited these volunteer teachers to go through three years formation to become full-time lay evangelists. The bishop also asked us to open an Evangelism Center in his diocese; unfortunately we are not ready for this now, but will send someone there as soon as possible. The welcoming of the local bishop was the third consolation of the week.
Now I can offer a better explanation about promoting first proclamation evangelism: it is very difficult, but it can be done…and in doing it, there is much consolation from God
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