W passed away just this Wednesday past, peacefully, without too much suffering given he had stomach cancer which had spread extensively to his bones as medical investigation revealed early August. Prior to this, he was rendered homeless just before the circuit breaker in April.
He was a Japanese national who lived in Singapore since the 1990s and from someone who experienced financial success, he was reduced to poverty through the vagaries of economic downturns and a catastrophic robbery.
Alone, in a strange land, estranged from family and, most recently, from a good friend who had supported him for years, terminally ill, destitute, and pretty much helpless, it is a heartbreaking tale of human suffering on every level. And yet, it is into such situations that God’s grace and mercy shines the brightest.
He didn’t die alone. He was surrounded by people who loved and cared for him, visiting him frequently. He even found a son in B who looked after him as only a blood relative would have done in his last months of life, while my sister-in-law, B, was the penultimate Good Samaritan who was the first to reach out to W when he was in dire straits and support him in multiple ways where help was most needed, until he went home to the Lord. Thus, he died “comfortably”, with his dignity intact, in a hospice.
Journeying with W, whom I have known a couple of years, I am completely awed by how much God loves each and every one of us, and how tirelessly He goes after the lost sheep to bring him home to safety and salvation.
The Lord brought many Christians into W’s life to show him how much he was loved. W always expressed that he wanted to have a very real experience of Jesus, to know He exists. I believe God granted his wish in glorious technicolour, and W came to the faith in a long, albeit roundabout way.
W was not the only one who was blessed, for we, the ones who knew him and journeyed with him were equally blessed. His life was rich not only because he found the pearl of great price of eternal life, but also because he transformed so many of us in that process, our lives were immeasurably enriched. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), paragraph 949 states: Faith is a treasure of life which is enriched by being shared. Those of us who shared our faith with W through word and deed these last months have indeed found it to be so.
Just last Thursday evening, during the RCIA session at Blessed Sacrament Church, we were talking about the communion of saints. W’s life and passing brings to life this great Christian doctrine and truth, that we are all part of the single mystical body of Christ, who alone is the head.
When Father Sam shared the following, it resonated very strongly with me:
Communion in charity. In the sanctorum communio, "None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." "Charity does not insist on its own way." In this solidarity with all men, living or dead, which is founded on the communion of saints, the least of our acts done in charity redounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion. - 953, Catechism of the Catholic Church
I can still hear the beautiful strains of the last coda playing when we bade W goodbye at his funeral service just Thursday past at Mandai Crematorium.
Rest in peace, dear W-san. Sayonara, for now.
Death came clothed in peace
Crowned in Divine Mercy: grace
Going home in joy
