|
Tribute To The Late Rev. Fr. De Wit |
It's nearly twenty years since
Fr. de Wit went to his heavenly rest
Untimely for his life was took
By some individual which shook
The whole Kudat town and spread
The news so far when the newspaper was read.
We Christians sadly mourned him.
Though we are taught by Christ to forgive
His murderer, who was still at large...
May father's soul rest in peace
In his heavenly abode in bliss.
His friends and family all felt amiss.
Pak Sen Fu, our fond nickname for him
He was indeed a good orang putih
In Kudat he served two terms
From 1952 to 1954, then from 1980 till 1983
When atlas, he met his doom!
Till this day left us in the gloom!
Happy are we his parishioners
The sheep under the guidance of a shepherd true
Our souls he took care of so willingly
Our Christian activities he never left out
Sunday Mass, Holy Communion we not forgotten
Less his great heart should be broken!
A man who thirst for knowledge
He would practice local dialects on us folks
So Sunday Mass saw him preached painstakingly
in the languages so foreign to him and to us .
So humble he was, he would not publish
In fact, he was so good in Dutch and in English.
The Christians of Kudat Parish fair
Like the lily of the field and the birds of the air
Which neither spin nor toil, nor worry but happy
Because each of us are clothed
In the finest linen garment and jewelry
Even King Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like us.
A beautiful new church he built
And he adorned it with billion benches
A new tabernacle, a new altar and an Irish cross
Which till this day still stand for us all to adore
Along the mission Road, the First Chinese school situated
The birth place of many a ministers and learned scholars
In 1981, Fr. de Wit built his dream house near the hill
Then later a convent, the belfry all added
To make St. Peter's Square so merry
The Centenary Celebrations lasted for three days
It's from 25th to 28th, June 1981.
'Twas the grandest celebration Kudat ever saw.
As I sailed down memory lane
I saw him as a man who loved his fellow men
A keen sense of humor he never lacked
His hobby was to shoot live images of people
With a camera he captured memories of us in photos
Now two precious albums, we jealously kept.
I'll show you yet another side of this priest
While house warming, he loved his beer
Which he jestingly referred to as his holy water
He never left a table without giving justice
To the food served be it crabs or sotong
Many a time, he enjoyed breaking into a song.
He could also mingle with people from all walks of life
The combined Christian service he started
Which till this day, its yearly celebration we never miss
But Fr. de Wit, we miss you!
Keep a place for us there in heaven thereafter
So our meeting will be everlasting hereafter!
By
Agatha Lai
|
|
| |
|
|
