INTERVIEW WITH PRE-NOVICE BEN FROM MACAU

 

Ben John Bosco Lei Chi Hang is living in our Dominican Priory of St. Dominic. In a few days, he will go to Hong Kong to make with nine other pre-novices a spiritual retreat in preparation for his Novitiate in the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary at St. Albert’s Convent in Rosaryhill, Hong Kong. Before he leaves us, we interviewed him. Ben is a teacher at the Dominican-run St. Paul School. He will be the first inhabitant of Macau to enter the Dominicans.

Question: Please, Ben, kindly introduce yourself to our readers

Answer:  My Chinese name is 李志恆 and was baptized with a Christian name John Bosco because I studied in a Salesian school for seven years but people usually called me Ben because I was using that name since elementary/primary school.  I was born in a traditionally normal Cantonese family in Macau in 1978 when it was still under Portugal.  I have two younger sisters.  My father is retired.  All my grandparents and mother have passed away.  Nobody in my family is religious or Buddhist but my grandmother and father sometimes offered incenses to the ancestors, departed souls and the natural environment according to the civil tradition.  My grandparents and parents have no particular religious faith but just follow the Cantonese tradition to this or that during the festivals and special times.  I’m the first and the only Christian in my family.

I studied engineering in high school and in university but after graduation, and due to the opportunities presented to me and personal interest, I started to work in the field of education in different institutions, mainly in schools, for more than ten years, and from kindergarten to university.

I have heard that you are a convert to the Catholic faith. Could you tell us how it happened? 

I was baptized in March, 2005, in Macau.  My sisters and I were all sent to the same Catholic kindergarten and primary school which is next to Saint Anthony Parish and managed by religious sisters. The school was near our home and therefore very convenient for us children: just five minutes walking from home. Another reason, perhaps, was the well-known reputation of Catholic schools in Macau after 1945.

The school campus is packed but still beautiful.  There are a few big banyan trees and a well decorated cave for Our Lady of Fatima at the corner of the school playground.  The pupils were organized to have some prayers before the statue of Our Lady every May and October.  The religious sisters brought us to the parish church at least a few times a year to pray or to attend the Holy Eucharist even though most of the pupils were non-believers.  The church is small but beautiful.  It is one of the three old parish churches in the Macau Diocese.  When I was a child, I had a strong feeling that Saint Anthony church is big, gorgeous and, of course, sacred.

There was in primary/elementary school one religious sister who gave me a good impression.  She taught us arts and craft when I was around grade four.  She was very kind but asked the pupils to draw a self-portrait for assignment.  I did a very bad job and had a very hard time to finish that painful task.  This is one of the first memories about handcraft and visual arts.  From that time on, I don’t like to draw and paint.

I also don’t know why I wanted to join catechism classes when I was around grade four. I think that was the first time that I wanted to know more about Jesus for unknown reasons, and the whole school did a good job as a sower of God to plant a seed in my heart even though I think the soil inside me was not that good.

There is no secondary school in that primary/elementary school so my sisters and I had to look for another school for further education.  If my memory is correct, I applied and took the entrance examination by myself in three different schools. I passed the entrance tests of the three schools, and I chose Instituto Salesiano which is a vocational based grammar school even though many of my boy friends went to another Salesian school for boys.  My mother wanted me to go to another Salesian boy school because this one is nearer our home than the Instituto, but she didn’t stop me.  I picked Instituto Salesiano for another reason: it was said that the school ethos of Instituto Salesiano is better than the other two choices of mine.

During my time in Salesian School the foundation of my faith was fostered because of the frequent festive celebrations.  Students in Salesian Schools are entitled to skip the compulsory self-study class if they join catechism.  I’m not sure whether I went to the catechism because of the above reason or something else.  Anyway, I was there.  The class-time for catechism was a happy time because the Brother-teacher tried his best to teach us as if the class was a talk show.  Now, he must be having a talk show in the Heaven for all the Angels and Saints.

After that I don’t know why I left the catechism class. By around 1994, I went back again.  This time, the teacher assigned originally was a Salesian priest, the head teacher of Instituto Salesiano, but for some reason he was substituted by a very new music teacher that had just come back from Italy.  He sang some meaningful original Cantonese songs with his guitar during the classes and catechism.  I thought that was cool, and after that he taught me and a few other students in private to play the guitar in the Cathedral.

Later on, that teacher invited me to go to the youth activities of the Church, voluntary work for poor children with the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and also summer Catholic camp in Hong Kong.  I realized that he was a consecrated lay Catholic at that time and little by little we became very good friends until now.  I was asked around the end of 1994 if I wished to receive baptism, but I rejected then because I told myself that “one day I’ll become a Roman Catholic, and now it’s not the time.”

I went back to Macau to look for a paid job after the summer of 2001, before the university graduation.  With the kind and sincere help of Father Peter Chung, I worked as a junior coordinator in the Macau Diocesan Pastoral Youth Centre where I had known the staff and some people there.  I learned and witnessed a lot: on what and how things are being done in the Catholic way and in a humane way.  I was touched, so I looked for opportunities to have catechism in Macau.  I took a long time to think whether I should receive baptism in 2005.  I like to think a lot and for a long time before making big decisions, for I don’t want to do something that I don’t have confidence to perform well.

In short, I think God planed everything before my birth, and little by little, step by step led me to become a Catholic.

You have been living in our Studentate for a few months in preparation for your Novitiate in the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. Explain to us the birth of your Dominican vocation

 A few years after my baptism, I thought of different possibilities about my vocation.  I spent some time with different congregations and communities but couldn’t find a way that is suitable for me.  On the other hand, I spent a lot of time discerning because I don’t like to make commitment until I can be sure that I can commit my life and take that responsibility to commit myself.

I knew very little about the Dominicans before working for Escola Sao Paulo which is a Diocesan school managed by the Order of Preachers.  Little by little, the Dominican Fathers working in the school invited me to the Sunday Mass in Saint Dominic’s Priory and the Fathers told me about the community life of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, which is a special Province devoted to missionary work in the Far East for the Order and for the Universal Church.  I was attracted by a community life which is full of sense of family while at the same time there is an equilibrium that respects the individual freedom of each friar to study and to preach in an active way.  The common praying of the Liturgy of the Hours is another fascinating element which is also a part of community life.  At the same time, my curiosity makes me want to know and understand more about different cultures and different people from all over the world.  Therefore, I started to join and learn more about the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary.

You are well aware of the specifically missionary character of our Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. Do you think that it will be easy for you to be assigned by your superiors to different Asian or European countries?

This is a tough question.  I think it is a bit casual if I tell you that it will be easy for me because no matter how there are challenges in dealing with and facing different people from different cultures and religions.  My hats off to those martyrs and missionaries especially those in the Province of Our Lady of Rosary.  They spent a lot of time learning a new language, adapting to a new climate, different kinds of food and drinks, to new cultures and new people that they may not have encountered before.

No matter how, I’m spiritually ready to be sent to different countries all over the world because it is the spirit and essence of this Province even though I’m not sure if I can really get along with my unknown future.  I really wish that God can grant us sufficient grace and faith towards the coming challenges.

I have heard you are a good teacher and love teaching.  

I love teaching and spending time with young people because I was touched by the missionaries and priests when I was in high school and catechism classes after university.  Young people and children are like a clean sheet of paper on which we can offer them a better foundation about values and hope.  I spent more than 12 years in formal and informal education in the different institutions, including schools, the university, a prison and the Church.  It is one of the ways to preach the truth and values.

I don’t think I’m a good teacher because I have my own weaknesses and laziness but I am really grateful that during these years of teaching, there are many people to give me words of wisdom, encouragement and support especially during the time of hardship.  Many people gave me love and caring concern.  I learnt a lot from the others.  Of course, Jesus Christ is always the only perfect model for educators and teachers.  I’m still learning from the Good Teacher.

I understand you love sports. Do you think you will be able to use your athletic skills in the Novitiate in Hong Kong and later on in the studentate in Macau?

 It is surprising that I’m a good athlete.  I remember that I was very weak when I was a child.  Until now, I’m not strong but I love sports including running, basketball, swimming, cycling, hiking, sport climbing, rowing, orienteering and football under the encouragement of my mother.  During these seven years working in administrative positions, there is lack of time and motivation for me to do exercises and as a result I accumulated more fat.  It will be a right time for me to lose my fat in Hong Kong.

Talking about my athletic skills, I think I will not be of much use for the Order.  However, like many forms of arts and music, sport is one of the universal languages that can break through barriers and nurture fraternity under a fair and funny playing environment.  For example, we can organize ball games, hiking and cycling with the young people in this region.  Isn’t it the same literal spirit of the Olympic Games?

 

You have being living with us at St. Dominic’s Priory, Macau, for a few months. How do you find the Dominican life you have come to know here? What is easier and what is harder, and what is more enjoyable – for you – in this new life?

Let me talk about the hard part that is obedience and regular time table.  I used to do anything I want according to my schedule as a professional in Macau.  I earn my living so I can spend in a luxury way of life.  However, religious life requires obedience and regularity.  It’s not very easy.  Because every time I need to do something outside the community time table and the way of the community life, I have to get approval from the superior or master.  At first, it’s a bit annoying for me; but little by little, I am learning the good side of the regular life, which can make me healthier spiritually and physically.

Besides the above, I learned to treasure more the free time I have every day to study while I enjoy a lot the community time every night especially on Saturdays.  Last but not least, I love to recite and sing the Divine Office and Mass with the brothers, too.

How would you invite other men to follow the path of Saint Dominic you wish to follow?

 The first thing I have to do is to imitate the good examples of Jesus and Saint Dominic because I believe a good deed wins more than a thousand words.  On the other hand, inviting people to join our daily Mass, Sunday Mass or any other related activities are possible ways to invite others to the Dominican way of life.

June 22, 2014, you go to Hong Kong for your Spiritual Retreat with the other postulants in preparation for your vestition with the Dominican habit which will take place in July 4, 2014 at St. Albert Convent in Rosaryhill, Hong Kong. What are your feelings and expectations?

I’m a little excited, nervous and anxious.  I’m excited because I can have the opportunity to wear the habit which is a kind of recognition of joining the Dominic family which gives me a sense of belonging.  I’m nervous and anxious about the unknown future and obstacles ahead of me because I don’t know what the future will be and I love to have a plan, which I had during these years of working on administrative positions in the university and schools.

In the meantime, I’m a bit stressful because people have different positive and/or negative expectations on me even though cognitively, I know that I am what I am.  However, I sincerely wish God can be with me and all Dominican brothers can help me to pass every single day in the future.  I really need your prayers for my future and vocation as I pray for you and the others.

Thank you very much, Ben. Congratulations. Good luck and may Our Lady of the Rosary accompany you and St. Dominic guide you!  May you come back with us one year later for your philosophical and theological studies and formation! God bless you and your future co-novices. (FGB)

St. Dominic’s Priory,

Macau, June 2014)