A final farewell to Sr. Tu, "an example of what those who rely on Jesus can achieve "
Taipei (AsiaNews) - This weekend we celebrated the funeral of Sister Tu Huiyao (涂 惠 瑶 修女), who was a towering example of dedication to the mission of the Gospel, especially among the young people of Taiwan. Saturday, March 2, the church of the Holy Family of Taipei was packed with university students and many other friends who wanted to bid a final farewell to Sister Tu.
For many people there was standing room only and the emotional atmosphere was
palpable. After a two hour celebration, when the coffin was carried from the church, the whole
congregation burst into a round of spontaneous applause for this lively and
tenacious sister who devoted many years to the care of young people, to education,
to the Gospel, to spreading the Good News through music and art.
Sister Tu belonged to the Congregation "Hijas de Jesus" (the
"Daughters of Jesus," 耶稣 孝女 会) and
worked mainly in Kaohsiung, where she gave an exceptionally creative boost to
the groups of young Catholics in mission through art and music (天 旋 音乐 灵 修 小组).
Likewise in Taipei, but not only at the Catholic University where she was a longtime
assistant of the Academic Association (全国 大专 同学 会 - CCUSA), constantly giving
rise to new groups of young people and putting them in contact with each other.
"Her brilliance was very attractive, her creative ability was unique, and
her great secret with young people was probably the fact that she was always
ready to listen to our problems, she never spoke down to us, ever," a
young university student who came to Kaohsiung for the funeral.
After the funeral a book was released with many photos of Sister Tu, describing
her initiatives with young people. In the final pages of the book the testimony
of her young friends are collected, written in the last few weeks as farewell
message when she was admitted to the hospital, now powerless because of the cancer
that had struck her. At just 60, Sister Tu left this earthly life and a mission
full of memories and love that will survive in the young people she helped bring
to the Christian faith.
Sister Tu never stalled in front of the challenges she met and together with
many Taiwanese young people, religious and students attended World Youth Days
in Germany, Australia and Spain. She approached artists to write songs played
in the liturgical celebrations of the Catholic community in Taiwan today, and collected
them in the book of songs called "新歌 传 主 爱" (new songs to
spread the love of God) widely used together with the corresponding CD.
The funeral was presided over by Msgr. Joseph Ti-kang (狄 刚 主教)
Archbishop Emeritus of Taipei, while Fr Louis Gendron (詹德隆 神父),
who worked closely with Sr. Tu, especially in Christian groups at Fujen
University, delivered the homily stressing that religious "followed Jesus both
in his mission among the young disciples and in is his compassion for suffering"
in the aggressive form of the disease that struck her. "And she - he
concluded - is a beautiful and tangible example of what a Christian can do in
Taiwan by fearlessly following the call of Jesus."
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24/10/2019 17:56
