Born: 22 April 1956, Singapore
Entered: 19 March 1995, Loyola Novitiate Singapore
Ordained: 30 July 2005
Death: 22 June 2013
Father Joseph was a late vocation. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1995 when in his late 30s. He studied philosophy in the Ateneo De Manila (1997-1999) and did his regency in Banteay Prieb Centre, Cambodia (1999-2001). He later studied theology in Taiwan’s Fu Jen Catholic University (2001-2005).
He was ordained a priest on 30 July 2005 and was assistant priest at the Church of St Ignatius from 2005-2009. Father Yao did his tertianship in Australia in 2009. He later did his graduate Diploma in Spirituality and Spiritual Direction at the Melbourne College of Divinity.
In 2012-2013, he became director of the Maranatha Retreat House in Pahang, Malaysia.
“I was a Sunday Catholic in my youth,” Joseph said in an interview with the Catholic News. After graduating with a degree in computer science in Canada, Joseph worked for 12 years in the computer and finance industries in Singapore.
“After I started working, I became very worldly,” Joseph revealed with candour. He felt more and more distant from God but “at the same time there was this prompting of the Spirit, especially in my conscience, that this was not the way to live my life”.
“God calls us all the time, to a closer and more intimate union with him,” he added. “If you don’t tune in or are not predisposed to hear, you don’t hear him. I did not pay attention to his call until my spiritual life started going downhill, then the call to repentance and conversion became increasingly intense, so I said to God in the end, ‘I give up fighting you. I will come back to you, be close to you.’”
Having made the decision to come back to God, Joseph prepared to make a thorough confession. He took three days to recall and write down the sins spanning 30 years of his life. That confession was the turning point in his life.
“With that confession came a deep conversion and the desire to pray and to attend daily Mass. Then came the idea of the priesthood – to help other people be reconciled with God,” he said. Father Joseph’s eldest sister who was already a nun – Sister Veronica Yao, FMDM – introduced him to the Jesuits. “She knew I had thoughts of becoming a priest,” he said. Joseph visited the Jesuits’ open house in May 1994 and became an aspirant. He found that his “mind was less and less on making money while his heart was getting closer to the religious life”. “I came, I experienced, I stayed,” he laughed.
At a discernment retreat, he encountered God in a new way. “That was when I first heard God speaking to me through the Scriptures. I realised that if through this one-to-one directed retreat, I can hear Jesus talking to me, I must be in the right place. It just seemed right.”
Joseph entered the novitiate in 1995, followed by studies in Philosophy (a requirement for studying Theology) in the Philippines. He then did apostolic work in Cambodia where the Jesuits ran a vocational training centre for the physically disabled.
“Most of our students are from a farming background. They are physically disabled because of landmines or congenital birth defects,” Joseph shared. “The vocational centre trains them in carpentry, welding, sculpture, sewing, electronics, and motorcycle repair.”
He added: “When you live and work with the poor – some of whom are the poorest of the poor – you get a real sense and experience of what it means to see and love Jesus in the poor, to bring the Good News of the Lord to the poor and the needy.”
Following his training, Joseph requested of his superiors to be sent to Taiwan for theological studies, hoping to be sent to China one day to evangelise to the masses there. Studying theology in Mandarin was not easy. “My first language is English. I think, dream, and pray in English,” he explained. “In Taiwan, all the classes, assignments and examinations were in Mandarin. It was a challenge, but it was also an opportunity to reclaim my roots as a Chinese, to get back to my culture.”
Age was also a factor. “Studying when you are not so young was really a challenge,” he said. There were times when the pressure from deadlines for papers and examinations made him feel like giving up, but prayer pulled him through.
“During those difficult times, my prayers of petition were answered in ways beyond expectation. When you are sincerely trying to do God’s will, He will intervene when you need help. God really answers prayers.”
After the battle with cancer, which was diagnosed in January, Father Joseph died on 22 June 2013. He was 57.
Reference:
https://catholicnews.sg/2013/07/08/late-jesuit-was-man-of-few-words/