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Our Gratitude for and Remembrance of

the Most Beloved Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-Cheung

Introduction to Morning Prayer (for schools’ reference)

Dear teachers and classmates, our most respected Bishop of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, the Most Reverend Michael Yeung Ming-Cheung, peacefully passed away at the age of 73 on the afternoon of January 3 at 1:30 pm. People from all walks of life deeply regretted the passing of Bishop Yeung, and the Church was deeply saddened by the loss of a most respected and beloved pastor. We gather together today to express our reminiscence of and gratitude to him.

Born in Shanghai in 1945 and growing up in Hong Kong, Bishop Yeung was ordained a priest in Hong Kong in 1978. He dedicated himself to shepherding the flock of Christ. He once served as the President of Caritas-Hong Kong, and led the institute to “love in the service of hope” in different social welfare fields, providing assistance and services to the “Last, the Least and the Lost”, benefitting the community and witnessing God’s love.

To uphold family values, Bishop Yeung expressed audaciously to society at large his reproof for surrogacy and homosexual behavior. In order to solicit financial resources to maintain and develop services to the poor and the marginalized, he endured the criticism and ridicule of the alleged “clamping onto those with power” and willingly turned his endurance into sacrifices to the Lord*. He would not hesitate but would righteously humble himself before the tycoons for the sake of those in need.

Bishop Yeung was a learned pastor holding a Bachelor degree in Theology, Master degrees in Communication and in Education, respectively, and a Doctoral degree in Social Sciences. He had been a Parish Priest, a Vicar General, an Auxiliary Bishop and the Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese. He became the Bishop of Hong Kong in 2017 and actively led the Church to move forward and care for the underprivileged. He had contributed a lot to the education of Hong Kong. Over the years, he had been striving to establish the first Catholic University in Hong Kong to render a more comprehensive Catholic education in Hong Kong to serve the next generations, ranging from young children of pre-schools to undergraduates of tertiary institutes. Under his leadership, the Church adhered to the spirit of providing quality education and continued to promote the five core values of Catholic education in order to actualize its vision and mission.

Bishop Yeung had great concern for youngsters. He soon established for the Diocese the “Year of Youth” after taking office, paying special attention to the development of youth pastoral work. In the meantime, he actively participated in youth activities from time to time, listening to young people’s requests and attending to their developmental needs. In recent months, Bishop Yeung took a step further to establish 2019 as the Year of “Practice, Belief, Youth” as a continuation of the previous focus so as to inspire young people to step out from the virtual world and to live in the authentic interpersonal relationships, with mutual help and love being established at each present moment.

Bishop Yeung often cared about the poor and charity work. He loved the Church, taking her to his heart. Just as the bible verse on his Episcopal Coat of Arms “Arise, let us go forth from here!”, which is the last sentence of Jesus’ encouragement and comfort to the apostles after the Last Supper before setting off for the Garden of Gethsemane, Bishop Yeung knew it well that the road ahead was tough and winding. Yet he still embraced God’s will with “the tranquility, the peacefulness and the composure”** of Christ. Another clue is from the Great Wall and the Lion Rock on his emblem, indicating that though he was in Hong Kong, the Church in mainland China was always on his mind. In his homily during the past Christmas Mid-night Mass, a public Mass at which he presided for the last time, he earnestly requested all of us to pray for the Catholic communities in mainland China, because they are among the persecuted and the victims. He pointed out that while we have the High-speed Rail, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Greater Bay Area, many poor people, who have names and identities, and who have the same Creator as we do, are suffering and are waiting for rescue or relief. They are like Jesus, who has been rejected because “there is no place for him in the inn”; and who “has come to his own place, but his own people have not accepted him”. Bishop Yeung guided us to reflect on the persecution and suffering of the poor. Is this the result of our indifference and unconcern in our daily lives?

Today, our most beloved Bishop Yeung has returned to the Lord. We should keep in mind the teachings of Bishop Yeung, adhering to his will to follow Christ and join with others in building God’s Kingdom on earth.

感謝及緬懷最敬愛的楊鳴章主教

早禱導言 (供學校參考用)

各位老師與同學，我們最敬愛的天主教香港教區楊鳴章主教，因肝衰竭於一月三日下午一時三十分安息主懷，享年七十三歲。各界人士對楊主教離世深表惋惜，教會更因失去一位最敬愛的牧者而深切悲痛。我們今日聚集一起，對他表達懷念及感恩之情。

楊主教於1945年出生於上海，在香港成長，1978年於香港晉鐸(晉升成為神父)，致力牧養基督的羊群，曾擔任香港明愛總裁一職，帶領明愛機構在不同的社會福利領域中「以愛服務，締造希望」(Love in the service of hope)，為最微末、最弱小及迷失了的弟兄姊妹(the Last, the Least and the Lost)提供協助與服務，惠澤社群，彰顯主愛。

楊主教為維護家庭價值，無畏向社會表達不認同代母產子與同性戀行為。他為維持與發展對貧苦弱小者的服務，甘願因受苦的弱者而「為五斗米折腰」，義不容辭地忍受著被指「攀附權勢」的批評與嘲諷，並悉力化之為對上主的無私奉獻^*。

楊主教學識淵博，是神學學士、傳理學及教育學碩士、社會科學博士，曾任堂區主任司鐸、天主教教區副主教、輔理主教、助理主教，至2017年就任香港教區主教，積極帶領教會向前邁進，關懷弱小，對香港的教育貢獻良多。他多年來致力籌辦香港第一所天主教大學，讓教會辦學更趨完備，為本港提供從幼兒至專上的教育服務。他任內秉承教會優質辦學的精神，持續推展天主教教育的五大核心價值。

楊主教心繫青年，上任不久便為教區訂立「青年年」作為周年主題，關注青年的牧民發展方向。其間，不時主動參與青年活動，聆聽訴求，關顧青年人成長需要。及至近月仍為鼓勵青年實踐信仰，而將2019年訂立為「實踐‧信仰‧青年年」，推動青年走出虛擬世界，活在當下所建立的真實而互助的人際關係中實踐信仰、彰顯主愛、關懷貧困、維護弱小。

楊主教常關顧貧弱，力行仁愛，心懷教會。就如他牧徽上的「起行伊始」，是耶穌在最後晚餐後往革責瑪尼園前臨別依依時，鼓勵及安慰宗徒話語的最後一句，楊主教是明知前路荊棘滿途，仍能懷著基督的「寧靜、平安與詳和」^**去承行主旨。又如牧徽上有萬里長城與獅子山，正表明他雖身在香港竭誠事奉，卻仍不忘惦念著神州大地的教會；當他最後一次主持公開彌撒，即聖誕子夜彌撒的講道中，他懇切地特別請求所有的人，為國內的天主教團體祈禱，因為他們是受難者的一份子。楊主教指出我們有高鐵、港珠澳大橋、大灣區的同時，不少「有名有姓」而同屬上主創造的窮人，仍受生活煎熬正待救援。恰如耶穌竟因客店中為他們沒有地方，而被拒絕於門外，以致出現耶穌「來到自己的領域，但他自己的人卻沒有接受他」的情境。楊主教引導我們反省，貧困者所受的迫害是否都來自我們日常生活中的冷漠與無動於衷？

今天，最敬愛的楊鳴章主教已息勞歸主，我們應謹記楊主教的教誨，秉承其遺志，展開雙臂，接納及擁抱窮苦大眾，藉以步武基督，共建地上天國。