Alternative Evangelization

Recently, I attended the funeral of Jeremy, a boy of eight years of age. Two months before he passed away, I was invited to his home for prayers. That was my first encounter with him. Since his state of health was very fragile that day, he could only be attended by family members but could not even be visited by friends and relatives. Understanding his parents’ wish, I only stayed for a short period of time. Later, I found out that his parents’ actually hoped that I had stayed longer. This child had been in and out of hospitals on countless occasions, but I did not notice a trace of suffering on his face.

The moment Jeremy departed the world, a priest invited from his home parish was praying for him. For the sake of their grandson, his grandparents have taken up catechism lessons in preparation of becoming members of the Church.

This incident reminded me of another child named Ka Hei who also passed away at eight. It happened over ten years ago in Hong Kong. At the time, I was serving at a parish in Happy Valley. One morning, soon after mass, a woman came into my office and cried. She told me that her son had just passed away. They were not Catholics, but her son had studied at a Catholic school. Her son often mentioned the name of God the Father at home, and that was how she came to know about our faith and later decided to join the Catholic family with her daughter.

Even though these two children never evangelized publicly, they had already brought home the message of the Gospel. How amazing therefore is God’s plan for each and every one of us.