My life is my witness… my action, my evangelization

By Angel Cabuga

This article first appeared in the Mabuhay section of Sunday Examiner, the English-language weekly of the Diocese of Hong Kong, and is used with permission. Angel is from Philippines.

‘Daughter, are you still a Catholic? . . . You are a Catholic? . . .’ This is what my father and some other people asked me during my holiday at home. I found it awesome.

At a young age, when I was just learning to read, I was fond of borrowing a golden, yellowy book belonging to a relative. It contained Bible stories: the creation, Samson, Solomon and many others from the Old Testament.

Its owner, my father’s cousin, taught me how to follow Bible verses and chapters. My heart was open to that new learning, so I easily got caught up. I grew up with the joy of knowing stories from the Bible.

Even now, I am not fond of just quoting biblical quotes. I would rather read the entire story. They are truly interesting.

Sometimes, people who notice me doing this say I am very religious. I don’t truly understand why, but I find this highly irritating.
I came to Hong Kong in May 2004 without even thinking of where my walk in faith would end up. In the car with my agent on the way to their office, I saw St Francis Church in Ma On Shan. I was delighted. Later, my first employer, who was not Christian, taught me how to get to the church.

When I changed jobs, the first thing that caught my eye and captured my heart was the illuminated cross rising from the church of St Thomas the Apostle in Tsing Yi. Yes, it is just seven minutes walk from home and I can hear the bell when it rings at 12 noon and 7pm.

There are times when I meet others who show an amazing zeal for their faith. I see many of them in the underground railway stations or in the market. Sometimes I notice them while I am picking up the children. Mostly, they have left the Church and joined some evangelical group. And that pains my heart. Most of them, it seems, joined their new groups in Hong Kong.

I remember saying to a catechist once, ‘The problem is not in Catholicism, but the believers!’ I remembered this when someone I knew, who had joined one of these groups, said to me that Jesus is not God. This is truly opposed to everything I believe in and to every scrap of faith I have.

I accept that Jesus is God as the truth and, in my experience, it makes me free. However, prudently, I answered the person by saying that believing and accepting God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as one and equal, is the key to my freedom.

There are things in Catholicism that should be known and treasured before anyone moves to another group. Otherwise, we could easily lose what is real and true. We should consider what comforts us. I learned that standing up as a Catholic in Hong Kong is not easy and, I think, impossible, without an encounter with the Triune God.

But how can we do this? Being open to the teaching of the Church and not being a so-so or wishy-washy type of Catholic is a beginning. I mean, I don’t think just going to Mass and then partying Sunday after Sunday and not even remembering what we heard in the homily is enough. I sometimes think it is natural for someone with religious zeal to wander off if all we do is go to Mass and then spend hours putting on makeup and dressing up, just for a few minutes on the stage.

This May is my fifth one in Hong Kong. What I learned when I was young has been nurtured in the communities I have and currently do belong to. They have helped me stand up in my faith. I have never thought of moving to another religion and when I hear someone is going in that direction, if I get the chance, I happily try to minister to them.

If another group approaches me telling me about faith I run away. I may not have much inside of me, but the inspired words of a Pharisee named Gamaliel in the Sanhedrin, a teacher of the law and a man respected by all the people, give me great courage. They are recorded in Acts 5:33-42 and convince me to stay a Catholic. Reading the Bible is still my joy. In doing so, I encounter Jesus. Nothing compares with it.

This is the same faith I want to hand on to my family. It is not easy to convince those close to my heart by mere words, even less friends in our community, let alone strangers just passing by.

I consider my life to be my witness and my actions my evangelization. I am a Catholic. I am a Christian. Jesus is my model. He is my God. He is my Lord.