CHICAGO (OSV News) ─ A small Taiwan-based online prayer group is making some headway in spreading the good news to international Chinese-speakers using St. Therese of Lisieux's "little way" as its model for evangelization.
The idea was sparked by Jesuit Father Augustine Tsang's doctoral thesis. He teaches at the Fu Jen Faculty of Theology of St. Robert Bellarmine in Taipei. In an interview with OSV News in Chicago Aug. 3, Father Tsang described the work of his ministry.
Father Tsang said some friends read his thesis and asked if they could start the group in 2020 with him as chaplain. He said the "little group," called "Friends in Evangelization of St. Therese of Lisieux" is made up of all laypeople.
Father Tsang, 71, said that a three-pronged evangelization effort sprung out of this movement, which has more than 700 people involved. All of it is carried out in Mandarin with participants mainly from Taiwan and Malaysia, some from the Philippines, U.S. and Canada and a tiny number from mainland China.
"I think evangelization has to be taken up by the laypeople," he said. "Because in daily life they encounter all those neighbors, co-workers and people like that. First of all they make friends with them, and they try to bring Jesus to them. … Perhaps, in a little way."
Father Tsang's group follows the example of St. Therese who showed her love for Jesus in the smallest of ways, such as living a life centered on prayer, offering all sufferings (both small and tremendous) to God and sharing her faith with others, especially those who suffered. He said they bring Jesus to their new friends in little ways including giving them small religious items: medals, rosaries and prayer cards, "if feasible." They invite them, especially the non-Catholics, or fallen-away Catholics, to come and pray or study the faith online.
"A lot of these people … are depressed. They have difficulties in family life and they need God. They need God. That's why we bring Jesus to them," said Father Tsang.
He also said particularly in Taiwan, people "are very materialistic, so they don't feel that need for God. But I'm sure somehow when they encounter the difficulties and challenges of sufferings, they may feel the need of God."
Every evening about 70 to 80 people hop online for a half hour of live-streamed Eucharistic adoration from the chapel on campus at Fu Jen Faculty, followed by the rosary led by members of the group. He said the number of attendees could be bigger because entire families could be participating in a single Zoom window. Then, they share their personal reflections on the Gospel readings of the day.
Two years ago, Father Tsang also started to give religion lessons online. They begin first with the catechism, "and then the second part we study the spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux. … And then the third part of our get-together is to share our experiences of evangelization."
Father Tsang said from these lessons, 23 people were baptized into the faith in the first year, and last year, 31 were baptized. The growing course was split into a Thursday class and a Sunday class with a combined attendance of about 170 people. He said so far this year 20 people are on track for baptism.
The priest said his catechism courses meet the criteria for RCIA, or the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults -- now called the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, or OCIA -- in the U.S., and are approved by the dioceses of the countries where some participants are based.
Father Tsang also sends out his daily reading reflections online to 700 recipients. He said all of these recipients and participants are among the people he is directly involved with. Beyond those he has contact with, he said, others forward his daily reflections to further groups.
"I try to bring new members in, if possible, but more important is that lay people bring new members in," said Father Tsang. "Friends of the Little Flower (the nickname of St. Therese) emphasize the participation of laypeople in evangelization."
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Simone Orendain writes for OSV News from Chicago.
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