  After several months breaking the ice and building friendly relationships with the aged at the Nursing Home for the Mothers, our Brothers have now felt good to spare their Saturday afternoons visiting them and offering them some spiritual comforts. As of today, the weekly Mass celebrated by Fr. Lancelot will be even uplifted with some music and, afterwards, many more.
This Nursing Home for the Mothers offers services to approximately fifty residents, of whom the youngest is already over seventy years old and the eldest far exceeds a century. Most of them are already frail. About one-fifth of them are Catholics, who, though mainly speak Cantonese daily, say Mass in Portuguese. Different human languages seem to be a barrier that may not allow  the brothers communication with them.
Working with senior citizens, especially with those not sharing the same cultural background and language with them, is definitely a both challenging and rewarding experience. The brothers know that it requires them being generous, patient and, more importantly, “always listening, always understanding!†Yet, what could make the missionaries happier than the happiness of those who receive them and regard their presence as “glad tidings� Indeed, just with a piece of out-of-tune music already the brothers made them stand up and dance with their wheelchair; listening to their nostalgic memories, or simply sitting with them for a while in silence already the brothers brought some comfort or feeling released to them. “I have been living here for seventeen years,†gratefully said Mary Johnson – a 99-year-old lady who is simply known as “Lulu,†“but no one comes visit me.†Such moving words may have touched the brothers! More thrilling for them is Mimi – a 98-year-old Portuguese lady whose real name is Maria – who always looks forwards to seeing the brothers coming back and, of course, sadly says goodbye when they have to go home.
Language is any longer a barrier in our communication if we have a heart for each other. It is the language of the human heart rather than human language itself that communicates and connects common human concerns and unites human beings. If we realize that what we are given by God today is to give back those who have given back to God in their due time, our baptism into one body of Christ begins to take in us. If we are able to see the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among those lonely aged, it is the time when the Good News of our Lord becomes fulfilled. May this be true in our hearing today (cf. Luke 4:14-21)! Amen.
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