Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan of Hong Kong has urged Anglican Christians to step out of their comfort zones and self-centeredness to realize the authentic faith they have been called to.

He made his remarks during a homily at Saint John’s Anglican Cathedral in Hong Kong on June 1, the Hong Kong Catholic diocesan publication Sunday Examiner reported on June 6.

Chow attended the Anglican service at the invitation of Bishop Matthias Der of the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong Island.

Chow pointed out that authentic faith is demonstrated through the choices and actions that people make each day.

People are content to stay put within their comfort zones, “believing that [their] faith is more or less fine,” Chow said.

“We forget that our Christian faith is authentic only when it is paired with a mission that challenges us to go beyond our own self-interests,” Chow added.

He reminded the audience that they were disciples entrusted with Christ’s mission to bring all people “back to the Father through Christ.”

Chow told them that they were the “missionary disciples of love,” in a “terribly broken world where love is badly distorted or simply missing.”

Love is best understood in healthy relationships, Chow said while adding that it would happen only if “the parties involved encounter each other genuinely and respectfully, without objectifying the other.”

He also urged the audience to draw example from Christ’s love on the Cross, “the love that says self-interest does not come first.”

Bishop Der presented Chow with a gift and expressed immense joy at Chow’s acceptance of the invitation and participation in the service.

Der, who called Chow a good friend, partner in the Gospel, and fellow pilgrim, expressed satisfaction that the Catholic and Anglican churches “are coming together in a common witness in this very broken world.”

Chow also expressed hope that the encounter would bring “deeper and firmer unity as the body of Christ in this world.”

The Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong Island is a member of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Province.

The province is comprised of three dioceses and one missionary area.

This includes the Diocese of Hong Kong Island, the Diocese of Eastern Kowloon, the Diocese of Western Kowloon, and the Missionary Area of Macau.

According to the Anglican Communion website, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Province has an estimated 6.9 million Anglican Christians in the entire province.

As of August 2022, the Hong Kong Catholic diocese had an estimated 395,000 Catholics in a population of about 7.4 million, according to diocesan records.