Asia
Sunday: Biblical Reflection by Rev. Phyllis Wong
1
King 8:37-40 ; Mark 1:29-34
Today is the
first day we resume physical worship in church after 8 weeks’ suspension. I am
very glad to see many of you.
Our worship
service is designated as ‘Asia Sunday’. It is a special day suggested by an
ecumenical organization named Christian Conference of Asia, to celebrate every
year in church to demonstrate solidarity with people, churches and countries in
Asia, and to embrace the gifts of diversity in this continent. The theme of
Asia Sunday this year is “God, heal us as we are vulnerable”.
We would like
to open the pulpit to our church friends to share their reflection with the
theme of today. We are glad to have Carl, Norma and Jenet to share with us generously
this morning of their experiences and reflection during this COVID 19 pandemic.
They are of different background, age, gender and nationality.
After their
sharing…..
In here, I
would like to highlight some of my biblical reflections generated from the
gospel reading we heard today.
The gospel
reading is about story of healing.
My first point
of reflection is:
1 Healing in
a mutual relationship as a community
When the
disciples realized Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with fever, they told Jesus
and she was healed immediately. After Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law, many
people brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the
whole city was gathered around the door.
When people
are sick physically and psychologically (deep depression), they may be too weak
to seek help. We need someone else to help. It is the disciples who asked Jesus
to heal Simon’s mother-in-law. After that miracle healing, many other people
brought the sick or possessed with demons to Jesus. For those who are ill,
don’t be afraid, God will send angels to you so that you can be healed. What
you need to do is to open up and receive healing from God. Sometimes, those who
are sick may have lost confidence and faith that they can be healed.
Sisters and
brothers, do trust in God and in yourself that healing is possible by God’s
power and grace. Having said that, we need to bear in mind the ways Jesus heals
us may be different from what we expect. We have to be open and patient to go
through God’s healing process. For those who are healthy and have capacity to
help others, please always open our eyes and hearts to see who are in need and
bring them to God for healing through prayers and concrete actions. Carl’s
sharing on their healing is our healing. Their health is our health touches me
a lot!
Deep and
effective healing happens in a relationship of love with God, with each other
and with ourselves in a godly family.
2 The power
of the vulnerable
My second reflection
is: the sick have made people come together. The power of the vulnerable
The text
speaks about “many people brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with
demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door.” The whole city was
gathered around the door. The sick, the weak and vulnerability can bring forth
such power of connection and solidarity. Can you imagine these people who don’t
have to do anything make this great impact? This is a very radical paradigm
shift for those who have been trained to believe that only the strong and
powerful in society can make great impact and change. The story enlightens us
to think otherwise. The power of the vulnerable.
Both Carl
& Jenet shared with us how the COVID-19 helped us to be connected with
families overseas and the mother earth. We then see how vulnerability brings
people to Love and Care of others, that is the essence of God and the beauty of Life.
3 The
transformation of the sick & vulnerable
The third
reflection on this healing story about Simon’s mother-in-law is sickness and
vulnerability bring transformation
When the
fever left Simon’s mother-in-law, she began to serve Jesus and the disciples
immediately.
How do we
know we are healed? When we are able to stand up on our own feet and serve
others. There are people who have been sick for a long time or who love the
feeling of being cared when they were sick, (I am sorry to say that) they
become addicted to a kind of “sick role”. They always feel they are not well
and require other’s attention and care. These people become dependent on others
and always victimized themselves.
God loves the
vulnerable, the sick and the little one who are not visible and even neglected
by society. We see from the text, these sick people don’t even have a name to
be recorded. Not even Simon’s mother-in-law. However, they are not only healed
by Jesus, they are empowered and called to be Christ’s witness to bring love,
joy and hope to others. Today, our sister Norma and our children, friend Jenet
have given us this powerful witness. When we pray to God for healing and admit
that we are vulnerable, we are reminded that God who came to the world in the
form of human being is also vulnerable like us. The life of Jesus, who lived,
suffered, died and rose up again enlightened us to know whenever we are
vulnerable, God is there to be with us to heal and save. At the same time, we
are called to live out God’s healing grace as Christ’s disciples.
A few days
ago on 21 May, it was the day of Ascension of the Lord according to the church
liturgical year calendar. Being on earth forty days after his resurrection,
Jesus left his disciples on earth and went back to the Father in Heaven. When
we are feeling lost and painful in our illness and vulnerability, suffering
from the absence of God, let us remember, in our vulnerability, we are meeting
face to face of God, and to receive Christ’s deep healing grace. Jesus Christ, reveals
the God who was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen! it was
Asia
Sunday: Reflection by Carl Catedral
On the
morning of April 9, I woke up to a text message from my mom telling me she had
tested positive for COVID-19. In some ways, I knew the news was coming. She
told me the day before that she had symptoms and was going to get tested. But
the news was still shocking. I guess in part because even though Hong Kong is
connected by rail from the epicenter of the virus, the first person I
personally knew who was infected was my mom – someone living an ocean apart and
thousands of miles away from me.
My mom is a
nurse at a local hospital less than 10 minutes from my family’s home in
Phoenix, Arizona - where she lives with my dad, my brother, and my brother’s
fiancé. She got sick around the same time several other nurses on her floor
were also infected – what now seems to have been the peak of the pandemic in
the U.S. The news of her sickness created a deep sense of sadness,
apprehensiveness, and frustration in me. I was sad because I love my mom, and I
didn’t want her to be sick or in pain. I was apprehensive because my dad had
several underlying health issues (earlier this year he had a stroke and has had
other heart-related complications), so he was at a higher risk of further
health complications if he contracted the virus. I was frustrated because
health workers like my mom shouldn’t be getting sick as a result of a lack of
protective equipment and preparation on the part of her employers and the
government as a whole.
Despite
taking special precautions like staying in their own rooms and avoiding contact
with one another, my dad and brother also ended up testing positive. My dad
experienced the worst of it. He experienced severe body aches and low oxygen
levels, so he was taken to the hospital - which meant he was separated from
seeing the rest of my family. He ended up being put on oxygen and staying in
the hospital for 11 days to recover from pneumonia caused by the virus.
Thankfully,
my family is doing much better now. My mom and brother have mostly recovered
though my brother still has a slight cough. My dad has been out of the hospital
over a week now and is slowly gaining strength. But they are all still a little
bit weak and have lost a lot of weight. My dad is still being monitored because
he seems to still have some minor complications from being sick. My mom is also
trying to regain strength because her hospital is asking her to come back to
work soon. They will be getting tested again this week to make sure they are
officially cleared of the virus and will be checked for antibodies as
well. So I’m praying that things will continue to progress for
them.
Throughout
this whole process, my family has received so much support from friends and
family who provided meals, dropped off supplies, and of course prayed. I am so
thankful to all of you who have prayed for my family and checked in with me. It
has been a great encouragement both to them and to me. I think one silver
lining of the situation is I now call my parents every day to check in on them
and tell them I love them. They always used to complain that I didn't call
enough. But I don’t know - maybe now they are annoyed that I keep calling them
every day. But I am thankful for the opportunity to grow closer to them through
this experience as it has been something I have always wanted but struggled to
do.
Overall, I am
immensely grateful that my family is doing better and steadily recovering. But
what I have also learned in the process is God reminding me to not only look
inward at the pain affecting me and my family but to also see the pain and
grief experienced by others. To some degree or another, we have all been
impacted by the trauma of COVID-19, and we are all in need of God’s healing
touch. Still at another level, we also see that those on the margins of society
– those already lacking basic protections and necessities – are the ones most
severely impacted by the pandemic.
So part of
what has been helpful and healing for me in this process has been Lydia and I
being involved in giving both our time and resources to those in need. Even
though I’m far from my family and unable to see them, I have been thankful for
the opportunity to be able to serve at KUC while also being involved in
supporting some of the work of Filipina domestic workers here in Hong Kong. It
has helped me to get a bigger picture of what is happening in the world and to
find solace and healing through serving others.
Part of what COVID-19
has shown us is that if anyone is vulnerable and lacking protection; then we
are all at risk. I think it is a reminder then that when we pray and take
action, we must not forget the most vulnerable of society. Their healing is our
healing. Their health is our health.
My prayer
then is that the testimony of my family’s healing might be a way to ask God to
bring healing again - healing for those of us who have broken or grieving
hearts; healing for sick family members and friends who need it; but also
healing for broken and sick institutions that fail to protect and serve the
needs of the people.
Thank you
again to all of you who have prayed and remembered my family in this difficult
time. May we continue to pray for healing and stand in solidarity together with
all those who continue to grieve and suffer.
Asia Sunday:
Reflection by Norma Diaz
Testimony
of a Migrant Worker
Who is the migrant worker? They, like me, are those who leave
home to find work outside of their home country. Our aim is to provide for our
family, their basic needs of food, education and a little of life’s comforts.
We have faced many challenges during
our times of work here in our host country—the language barrier, social
exclusion, confinement and isolation, to mention a few of the many challenges
that we encounter every day.
We suffer from
discrimination, long working hours and a lack of rest. We work around the
clock. We are very vulnerable to a high level of stress, mental and physical
strain, social isolation and a lower quality of life. We are the most
vulnerable group of workers, and we need help to negotiate the contract we have
to sign so that the employment agencies and our employers are more humane.
The coronavirus has
paralyzed the world and has become a deadly threat to our lives. We, as migrant
workers, felt the fear of infection and death before the virus came, but now we
all have this fear. Quarantine, isolation, tracking and testing seem to be the
remedy for everyone’s protection.
But isolation and confinement
are not new to us, for it’s been our everyday cycle of life due to the inhumane
nature of our employment contract.
Life, however it may be,
is not all about negativity, hardship and injustices though. There is good in
all that we see, that we face, that we experience.
I and other migrant
workers may feel vulnerable and weak, but there is good news: I have found a
shelter and a hiding place, a place of protection and safety, that’s good
enough for me to feel safe and comforted.
The psalmist wrote, “For
in the day of trouble, He will keep me safe in His dwelling, He will hide me in
the shelter of His sanctuary and set me high upon a rock.”
What a wonderful promise
from a loving God! He makes me strong and confident!
It has been such a
blessing that during these hard times of life in isolation and confinement that
I have found in him a loving Father, a shepherd , a comforter, who guides, who
loves, who protects and treats me and my fellow workers as his own. He becomes
a loving father in the absence of my physical father. He sends me a gift of
human love and a best friend and allows me to explore this wonderful life
together in the future.
He supplies me with good
health, nourishes my soul and gives me the desires of my heart. I am grateful
though that, in spite of hardship, I have found satisfaction to receive his
gift that satisfies my soul.
We are welcome to express
our sorrow and pain, but we don’t have to be a victim of our circumstances.
We can overcome fear by
trusting in God for his protection.
He is in control of our
circumstances.
From the Lord comes
deliverance. May your blessing, Lord, be on all your people. Amen.
Asia
Sunday: Reflection by Jenet Chinonso Onwufuju
Good morning
everybody, I am Jenet and I would like to share with you the effects of the
coronavirus in my life. First, I would like to talk about the negative effects.
First, I
feel very bored because we always stay at home. Second, I also feel sad because
many people are getting sick and many have died and many scientists haven’t
been able to find a cure yet. I am also very scared because my mom goes out
almost every day and I’m scared that she might have the virus and what will
happen to me and my siblings.
Now I will
talk about the positive effects. I am very happy because we have more holidays.
We have more free time, and my mom can spend more time with us.
Now that I
told you the positive and negative effects of the coronavirus in my life. I would like to tell what I realized. I
realized that we are becoming closer to God. We now pray more often not only
for ourselves but other people too especially doctors and nurses. I also
realized that we need to have more love instead of fighting and I realized that
we need to value and care for ourselves and nature.
God bless you!
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Tuesday, May 26, 2020
