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Columban Sister Patricia Byrne from County Wicklow in Ireland has been on
mission in Hong Hong for 28 years. During her time there she
has worked as a teacher in Leung Shek Chee College
and as a pastoral worker in the parish of Star of the Sea in Chaiwan.
She is at present engaged in the ministry of Spiritual Direction in a
holistic
centre, a place of prayer and retreat in Skek O, Hong Kong. |
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Patricia is from Co. Wicklow in Ireland. One of three sisters, she
grew up in the pleasant seaside town of Greystones. There she
was educated by the Holy Faith Sisters at St. Brigid's Primary School and
St. David's Secondary School. She recalls that when she was about to
leave school, she felt an attraction to serve God as a religious sister.
She worked for two years, but the desire to answer the call to follow
Jesus seemed to grow stronger. However she was unsure which Congregation
would be suitable for her. ‘I felt a strong call to be a missionary,’ she
says, ‘especially to work among the poor of Asia or Latin America. Having
looked at various congregations, what attracted me to the Columbans was the
warmth of the sisters I met, as well as a down-to-earth kind of enthusiasm
to serve God and God’s people.’ |
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She joined the Columban Sisters in
1966. Following her Novitiate formation
she
studied for a BA and Higher Diploma in Education in Maynooth College in
Ireland.
Patricia was very happy to be assigned to Hong Kong, where the Sisters
were beginning a new secondary school. But first she had to learn the
Chinese language. ‘Those first years in Hong Kong,’ she recalls, ‘were a
time of amazement at being in such a different and extraordinary culture,
a time to look up in wonder at the towering buildings all over the city,
and a time of struggle to come to grips with the mysteries of the Chinese
language. Everywhere there were crowds, the streets seemed to be full of
people day and night. Things never seemed to quieten down.’
For seven years, Patricia taught at Leung
Shek Chee College, a secondary school for girls situated in the large,
housing estate of Sau Mau Ping. ‘While I loved working with young people',
she says, ',I felt the need to move more deeply into the culture and to
experience to some extent what life was like for the working people around
me. This led to moving with two other sisters into a small apartment, and
taking part in parish work. Life was simple, and the people were
wonderful, welcoming us into their homes, when we called to visit, or for
meetings of the small Christian communities. The homes of our parishioners
mostly consisted of a single room, and we gathered for our meeting there.
Often, while we sat
and talked, sharing the gospel or drinking tea together, one of
the family might be sleeping (or trying to) on the upper bunk of the bed.
During her years in Hong Kong Patricia has been able to visit the mentally
and physically ill as a hospital chaplain, and to get to know some
prisoners serving life sentences. These have no friends or family to visit, so they
appreciate having a friend on the ‘outside.’
‘The best thing about being a missionary,’ Sister Patricia says, ‘is that you can experience the love
of God in all sorts of extraordinary places. The most important thing, as I
see it, is not what you do but how you are with people – how you relate to
others and to God. In Hong Kong, as in many places, life has become a rat
race for people. They work long hours, have little time to relax, and
little time to spend with their families. Somehow we all need to get in
touch with what life is all about, the meaning of our existence. Now in my
work as a spiritual director I am privileged to be with people as they
explore the spiritual dimension of their lives, and come into deeper
relationship with their God.’
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