“Be patient with those who do not understand.” (2Timothy 2:24)

Fr. Joseph Man Yiu Lung died and returned to the home of the Heavenly Father on 4 June 2012, which also happened to be his birthday. He had lived in this earthy world for eighty years. Ordained as a priest when he was 37, his age was considered to be quite old at the time. It is regrettable that after his services to the diocese for 17 years, due to his sickness he had to move to the St. Mary’s Home for the Aged until his death. When he first entered into the Home for the Aged, I was working at the Holy Spirit Seminary. I managed to learn that he spent most of his childhood in Macau. I suggested taking him to visit Macau along with myself. At that time, Fr. Man could barely walk properly. I did not expect to take us almost an hour to walk from the parking lot located at the third floor of the HK-Macau Ferry Terminal to the boarding area!

Both Fr. Man and I possess the same impatient character. Nevertheless during the day trip to Macau, we both didn’t feel restless and impatient at all. I deeply understand that the inherent character can be changed by treating each other with love.

I had been working as a volunteer at a nursing home in the UK. One of my duties was to care and look after the daily needs of an old man. He was a veteran from the Second World War and suffered from acute spinal trauma. Initially, I still had some patience, but as time went on, my quick-tempered character surfaced and I tried to finish my work quickly. Fortunately, whenever I lost my patience taking care of him, the Word of God entered my mind instantly, “Whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.” “Treat others the way you would have them treat you.” I immediately slowed down and served this old brother with immense care. One day when I left the ward, he tried to express his gratitude with heavy effort, “Thank you!”

Actually, innate patience can be trained up. One of the methods I used to train myself is: Every time when I enter the lift, I will press the floor number and wait for a few seconds for the door to close automatically instead of rapidly pressing the “close door” button. Luckily, Heavenly Father knows my character all too well and arranged a priest to work with me and he tends to act half a beat slower than me. This kind of daily life training works much more effectively at building up my patient than the elevator method.
“Love excuses everything, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)

As a pastor myself, I should follow Paul’s teaching as a form of good guidance, “God's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, always teaching and patient with those who do not understand, correct opponents.” (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

It could be due to a generation gap as whenever I communicate with young people, I found myself not able to do it well even though I want to integrate myself with them, yet sometimes I end up feeling impatience with them.

“Trials produce patience, from patience come merit, merit is the source of hope, and hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God.” (Roman 5:3-5) What a great reflection from Paul’s teaching for me.