Jimmy Lai’s daughter says he’s trying to God after imprisonment

The daughter of imprisoned media tycoon Jimmy Lai told those gathered on the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast that her father believes his life “is not any longer about me, but God,” as she shared how his commitment to his faith stays strong despite the difficulties he faces. 

The 2026 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast took place on the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Thursday, where written messages from Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump were read, and attendees heard speeches from political and non secular leaders, and famous entertainers. 

Claire Lai detailed the challenges her father has experienced over the past six years and the way his unwavering faith in Jesus Christ has endured despite them. 

“In his words, ‘I should stop fascinated by myself. My life is not any longer about me, but God. Difficult, little question. I need to attempt to get into the mindset of self-denial. This is the solution to get to the presence of the Lord. God help me. If I actually have God, God alone is enough.’”

“At the age of 12, he fulfilled his dream of escaping Communist China for British Hong Kong. He flourished there and had a real rags-to-riches story,” she said. “When he got here to America a few years later, he learned about freedom and saw the truths of most of the values he learned here reflected in his own life. He wrote in a letter to me that he was all the time guided by the Holy Spirit, even before he knew it.” 

Lai added that in 1997, her family first entered the Catholic Church, which was the identical yr the United Kingdom handed Hong Kong back to China.

“It was a yr when many like him, accustomed to the freedoms Hong Kong offered, had their hearts crammed with fear and doubts,” she recalled. “So, my father turned to Christ. His doubts were conquered by God’s mercy and style and become trust. Even now, there may be nothing he wants greater than to be a faithful servant to our Lord.” 

Lai’s predicament began in 2020, nearly six years ago, when “Beijing imposed draconian and arbitrary national security law in Hong Kong.”

“One month after its enactment, my father was arrested, and later the identical yr, he was tried. He has been incarcerated and in solitary confinement ever since. Last month, my father was sentenced to twenty years in prison.”

“As one would expect, five years of solitary confinement have taken their toll on my father’s health. His diabetes is poorly managed, he suffers from heart conditions, infections and a myriad of health issues. He is kept in a small dark cell with no direct access to fresh air or sunlight,” she said.

Lai also lamented that her father has been denied access to the Eucharist, the sacrament of reconciliation and mass for nearly all of his imprisonment.

Yet, she expressed gratitude that the challenges her father has faced have not negatively impacted his belief in God: “The denial of those sacraments has not stopped him from finding ways to serve our Lord, performing humble acts to grow in virtue. He finds strength in joining his suffering with Christ’s suffering on the cross and has found joy in offering up his suffering and prayer for friends, acquaintances, strangers and even those that have wronged him.”

“Growing up, I used to be reminded by my parents that the whole lot is grace. My father’s experience consistently jogs my memory that suffering can be grace. It helps us find the solution to the foot of the cross on Calvary,” she added.

Lai’s remarks also touched upon her optimism that her father is likely to be released from prison: “I stand before you with a hopeful spirit. Our family is inspired and deeply humbled to have found that deep well of support in America, a land for which my father and our whole family has such a deep admiration for.”

“The president and his administration have a powerful, proven track record of freeing those wrongly detained all over the world. It is our hope that, with God’s help, they may even reach freeing Jimmy Lai,” she concluded. 

Thursday was not the primary time Lai’s name got here up at a National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. At the 2021 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, Lai received the Christifideles Laici Award in absentia in recognition of his efforts “to stir and promote a deeper awareness amongst all of the faithful of the gift and responsibility they share, each as a gaggle and as individuals, within the communion and mission of the Church.”

© The Christian Post