All Catholics reread the most famous all-time earth-shaking trial at Mass on Palm Sunday yesterday. That was a political trial, the immediate result of which was that the one who advocated truths and mercy was crucified. Even so, that persecution has since been circulating the truths and mercy embodied by the man timelessly in the world.

Academics specializing in the history of Christianity said that in those days, a prophecy of a messiah descending to save Israel prevailed. Followers of Jesus might believe he was the messiah the prophecy referred to. According to the presage, he would be put to death, and during the time he was victimized, angels would be sent by the Lord to salvage him by exterminating his foes, and he would release Israel shackled by Romans. Yet, with no angels turning up at all, Jesus died on the cross to disappoint his followers. Such a bad setback bewildered, dejected and disempowered them, and even drove them to despair.

So, I think that if the prophecy the people believed in those days had been realized, a race would have been rescued and politically liberated. However, the spiritual strength derived from their weathering out the frustration founded a religious conviction of Resurrection that is as majestic as it is everlasting.

Perhaps that’s why after receiving Holy Communion at Mass on Palm Sunday, Te Deum is chanted – the greatest prayer of praise and thanksgiving in my opinion. Religious or not, one would feel how uplifting it is. I wish all the Hongkongers, who suffer, and are frustrated, disempowered, and driven to despair for the time being, had gone beyond the current political situation, and felt spiritually the conviction and peace of mind on Palm Sunday. Though I am not a Catholic, I believe it is scarcely possible that there is no source of spiritual strength for humankind. Art, literature and philosophy are sources of spiritual strength, opening our eyes to something beyond immediate interests, gains and losses, success and failure, bitterness and happiness.

All of a sudden, I have awakened to the fact that I am flanked by four books in my life all the time: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, The Story of the Stone, Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice and The Holy Bible. I read The Holy Bible least, but the plots and verses from it embedded in my memory have lifelong impact on my views about everything. The works by Shakespeare are the grandest and most magnificent western literary masterpieces that have great insights into emotions and desires of ordinary people, from the noblest to the humblest. There is a whole repertoire of delicate flavors in The Story of the Stone that excel on all fronts, putting the West to shame. Erskine May not only elaborates on the parliamentary practice of the House of Lords and House of Commons of the UK, but also footnotes its political principles and development process(especially the versions from the 26th edition onward). There are only two words in the manual of my political life: “parliamentary sovereignty”.

(Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee is a barrister, writer and columnist in Hong Kong. She was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995-1997; 1998-2012.)

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