I have not written the Pastor’s Corner for a while. I was attending an annual Focolare Movement meeting for diocesan priests in Bex (near St. Maurice) in Switzerland in August. We chose a young German priest, Hubertus Blaumeiser as our head. He had been in charge of the coordinating centre for seminarians for the past 20 years. Now the centre is run by Fr. Victor Agius. Fr. Victor has served in the Philippines for 20 some years and has worked in parishes in Macau and Toronto for four years, so many Catholics in Hong Kong know him.<br/><br/>
Something funny happened on the way to St. Maurice. I landed in Zurich and went to take the train. The train should get to my destination in three hours; however, the journey turned out to be eight hours long. At first, I took the wrong train. It was partly because of the misleading information from the ticket counter and partly because of my fault not reading the destination display on the train. Then, I took another wrong train and this time it had to do with language. I needed to go to St. Maurice in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. However, maybe because my pronunciation was not good, people showed me the train to go to St. Moritz, which is in the German-speaking region.<br/><br/>
What’s my thinking in all these? The journey of life sometimes can get us walk in circles. However, it is still better be late than absent.<br/><br/>
Today (Sept. 16), I attended an event celebrating the 59th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The event was organized by many religious groups. Catholics are represented by the Diocesan Commission for Interreligious Dialogue.<br/><br/>
I have included greetings from the representatives of some religions here:<br/><br/>
Taoism:
The force running against a movement and the softness of elements allow the universe to expand and contract the way it is supposed to be.
Everything becomes stable; stability comes from the dissolution and blending of elements.<br/><br/>
Buddhism:
Q: Who is kind? Who is the greatest?
A: Those who follow the path of truth are kind. Those whose desire unites with the truth are the greatest.<br/><br/>
Q: Who is strong? Who is the wisest?
A: Those who withstand insults, without bad intentions and with good maintenance of their bodies, are respected by others. Those who have conquered the heart’s weaknesses and have maintained no dark spot in their lives are the wisest…There was no world in the past but today there is everything in the universe. People who know are wise.<br/><br/>
Confucius School:
The way to live is to treat all fairly. Use good workers, fulfill one’s promises, and maintain a good relationship with neighbours. People should not take care of their relatives and their children only. All the elderly can have a good end; all the strong can use their talents; all the young can grow in a good environment. All people – widowed, orphaned, single, disabled – can have enough to live on. Men and women have their families. No one hides commodities; no one abuses powers. When people do not do bad things and when people do not need to worry about others’ bad intentions, then the world is united.<br/><br/>
Islam:
Time can prove everything. Except for those who have faith, perform kind acts and use truth to encourage and strengthen others, humankind is in a state of loss.<br/><br/>
Protestantism:
Beautiful mountains and rivers, hardworking people: God’s blessings flow like water.
Achievements of every generation benefitting all men: Glory be to God!