Marco Carvalho
The Church of St. Joseph the Worker in the Hac Sa Wan neighborhood will once again host a program of summer activities for children and youth. The program organized by the Catholic Diocese of Macau aims at fulfilling the needs of dozens of local families.
The summer camp was usually organized by the now defunct Diocesan Pastoral Youth Center. Starting from the current year, the venture will be instead fostered by the recently established Diocesan Youth Commission, and it is just one of the pastoral activities that the parish of St. Joseph the Worker will receive in the coming months, parish priest Father Carlos Malásquez Quispe, who is a native of Peru, tells O Clarim.
In addition to the summer camp activities aimed at the younger generation, the parish will also pay greater attention to the spiritual formation of the lay faithful that contribute the most to the vitality of the Catholic faith in northern Macau, the Peruvian priest discloses.
“We are planning to promote, in conjunction with the Diocesan Youth Commission, the same kind of activity that was usually organized by the Diocesan Pastoral Youth Center. The Pastoral Youth Center no longer exists, but in any case, we are planning, with some of the members of the new Diocesan Youth Commission, to organize what we call summer activities. It attracts around a hundred children every year, most of them from around this area,” the parish priest of St. Joseph the Worker explains.
Father Malásquez continues, explaining, “We will develop another activity which is, in a certain sense, more directed towards spiritual formation. This activity will be aimed, in particular, at our acolytes. We are planning to organize a two or three day retreat. It will be an opportunity for them to get to know themselves and their own spirituality better, and for them to spend some time together.”
In the coming months, the parish also promises to pay a particular attention to those that are sick. During the entire month of August, Father Malásquez intends to administer the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick during the Eucharist, so that the faithful may feel that God has not forgotten about them.
He says, “We are also planning that in August, during the Mass, to have the Anointing of the Sick, taking into account what has happened over the last few months with the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, some specific situations are becoming increasingly frequent in our midst. We have seen some people struggling with depression, and we will try to address this issue by offering this sacrament, in particular to the local Catholics. It is a way of offering them the opportunity to feel the presence of God through the Anointing of the Sick.”
Although it did not leave far-reaching consequences in the way faith is experienced in the Hac Sa Wan neighborhood, the Covid-19 pandemic left indelible marks on the community. The specter of unemployment and the restlessness associated with it is one of the issues that the parish priest of St. Joseph the Worker has been encountering more often lately. “The direct impact of the pandemic on the pastoral mission we carry out or on the experience developed with the faithful was not as drastic as one might imagine. I am well aware that some members of our community have lost their jobs, and I know that this is something they are still dealing with. The despair of not being able to provide for their family is something they are still struggling with. But despite this, they continue to come to the Church and remain close to God. At least their faith is still alive,” Father Malásquez stresses.
Space in short supply
The catechetical year will come to an end in St. Joseph the Worker Church on the first Sunday of June. Almost nine dozen children were enrolled this year in the spiritual formation efforts undertaken by the parish. Interest in learning and understanding the word of God in the Hac Sa Wan neighborhood, one of the most populous in Macau, has been growing steadily. The number of children attending catechesis could, nevertheless, be even greater, the Peruvian priest recognizes. Father Malásquez, a Comboni Missionary, emphasizes, “This year, we had 85 children enrolled in catechesis. We will end the year with 85 children, and we know already that most of them will continue, because many have recently received their Holy Communion. These kids will stay with us until they make their Confirmation. We believe that this is what will happen, so the number of children enrolled in catechesis is not only stable, but we also expect it to be reinforced with new enrollments.”
He adds “The number of enrollments are increasing, but because our facilities are limited, there have been situations where we had to refuse new registrations. Last year we had to establish a fixed number because we didn’t have enough space to place new groups. Last Sunday I had a conversation with the person in charge of catechesis with the purpose of preparing for the upcoming year, and we came to the conclusion that we will need to free up other spaces which are not being put to use at the moment, so that we can use them to accommodate the children.”
Most of the new Catholics in Macau’s northernmost neighborhood are the result of the investment made by the parish in the spiritual formation of the younger generation. In St. Joseph the Worker’s Church – the only church in which the Eucharist is celebrated in Mandarin at the moment – there are some exceptions to the rule. “There are some catechumens. Not as many as I wish there were, but there are some. Right now, we have two groups to prepare. Well, actually, there are four groups. But for two of them, their preparation journey is coming to an end. They were baptized at Easter, and this preparation period normally extends until Pentecost. We will open new classes to receive new catechumens in September,” Father Malásquez announces.
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