Diary of the ghetto priest | I belong to Christ

That’s the Lord and God of my life. Once I was baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I was enraptured by Him. I was led along a path that has not stopped to this day.

There were fun times, there were difficult times, there was sin, virtue, hope and despair. But Christ never stopped being with me – He was within me at all times, surprisingly, even after I had sinned. I remember my early days of poverty. I remember hunger, I remember sores on my feet, I remember wearing torn shirts and pants, but I had no shame. I felt loved by the Lord, as well as many Jamaican people.

To be close to the Lord and loved by the Lord made me unaware of my poverty. I also loved the poor, simple people who were also my neighbours at 42 Old Hope Road. We played marbles in the backyard after school at Alvernia Prep. We played hop skip and jump. We played hide and go seek.

When we were hungry, there was the breadfruit tree, or mango tree, or the coolie plum tree. We shared whatever we had. Everybody took care of us children, the old ladies, the men and women who came from their day’s labour. We shared the fried dumplings and sang songs to the Lord, mixed in with a few folk songs, like Sly Mongoose. Mixed in with all that innocent and sometimes playful activity, we had tales of Jesus and songs of the Trinity; after that, I often returned within myself to the person of Christ. I always wanted to be with Him and tried to do whatever He wanted me to do. “My heart is to do the will of him who sent me, that I may perfect his works.” I was pleased to do works with the poor. It was actually fun.

I really belonged to Christ – don’t get me wrong! I did many evil things; I sinned, I hurt others, I missed Mass, I liked girls too much, I partied a lot, I stole fruits off our neighbour’s trees. But always burning inside me was my love of Christ.

I loved the tales of Christ’s feeding 5,000; I was enthralled by his compassion for the sick and dying. I would feel his love for the lepers, and those possessed by the devil. There was no one else like Him. He was my hero, my brother-man, my one true friend.

By the time I was 17, I saw that the partying, the sports, the idle chatter was empty. I was too frivolous. I needed to grow up. My father and mother worked hard to put us children through school, and we were poor. What was I going to do with my life? I wanted to do something serious like Christ’s works.

The Franciscan Sisters at Alvernia and the Jesuits at St George’s College made me realise that Jesus died for us. He sacrificed His life for us. He gave up everything in service of people.

I became very much aware that Jesus was a man of the poor, a God of the poorest of people. His heart of love, his deep sense of suffering for the underdog and sinners really reached very deep into me. Then there was that powerful figure of Christ crucified on the cross for my sins. He died for me. He gave himself up for me, I belong to Him. And guess what? He belongs to me.

Father Richard Ho Lung is a Roman Catholic priest and founder of Missionaries of the Poor.