Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul

The Yuen Long parish is both aged and young. Last evening, they celebrated the Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul, their patron saints. The Mass was conducted in a bilingual manner because there is a huge community of domestic helpers and Yuen Long parish is one of the only two parishes in the north west New Territories that offer Mass in English. The Dean of New Territories (North-West) Deanery, Fr. Ferdinand, the Supervisor of Shung Tak, was the chief celebrant. He was accompanied by Deacon Paul Tam of Jerome Church and Perpetual Deacon Carl Tsang of our parish; and of course, together with the parish priests in Yuen Long. Fourteen youngsters were confirmed in the Mass and afterwards, there was a buffet dinner. Brenda booked a table to treat her colleagues in Shung Tak.
I said the parish is both aged and young. This is what you see in the parish. Among the aged, I found Ms. Pang, the sister of the late Brother Henry Pang, ex-principal of La Salle Primary. There was also the retired nun, Sr. Leung who succeeded Ms. Pauline Cheng to head the Diocesan Catechetical Commission. Now, she conducts instruction classes in Yuen Long. The young are vibrant. I see many students and ex-students of Shung Tak working for the parish. There is also the young nun Cecilia, also an ex-student of Shung Tak. She led the young in a joyous Mexican folk dance around the buffet dinner tables. Last night, I also met an ex-Legionary from La Salle. He moves to Yuen Long and serves there. It was a wonderful and memorable evening.
This morning, Fr. Martin Ip celebrated the Sunday Mass for Ss. Peter & Paul. In the Mass, there was a ceremony of commission of young people to take part in the upcoming World Youth Day in Sydney this July. The first reading was taken from Acts 12:1-11, the story of the miraculous release of Peter awaiting execution. The gospel was taken from Matthew 16:13-19, Peter's Confession of the Messiahship of Jesus. Here we find the famous verses of Jesus' renaming Simon into Peter.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:18-19).
Fr. Martin found it paradoxical that Jesus promised Peter that whatever he binds on earth shall be bound in heaven. Yet, he himself was bound in prison awaiting execution! Of course, divine intervention assured his safety and freedom.
Fr. Martin shared with us that evangelical missions would not be a bed of roses. There would also be rejections and even persecutions. Since the Jews rejected the preaching of the apostles, they had no choice but to turn to Gentiles. In rejecting the gospels, the Jews had given us the chance of hearing the good news. Salvation had the opportunity to become catholic.
Fr. Martin also shared with us the story of a lay lady missionary from the Mother of Good Counsel parish in Cambodia. She did very insignificant menial work among the ghetto, taking care of children. She seemed to have sacrificed a lot of comfortable and convenient life in Hong Kong. Yet, God rewarded her with a faithful husband. They plant their roots in Cambodia, bearing witness to the kindness of God happily there. God works in mysterious ways to help us weather through hardship and troubles. In (not quite) the end, God generously rewards us with spiritual as well as material blessings.

My Advocate, may Your Holy Name be praised from coast to coast, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. We thank the great apostles for laying down the foundation of the Catholic Church. May we build upon this solid bedrock a magnificent Church to bear witness to Your kindness to mankind and praise, in one filial and fraternal voice, Your loving mercy. Amen.