Imprisoned aunt inspired new priest

Father Henry Yeung ordained

By JEFF GRAHAM

The seeds of persecution have borne fruit in Father Henry Yeung, the nephew of a Catholic woman persecuted in Communist China for her faith.

On June 23 Father Yeung became the fifth priest ordained this summer for the Archdiocese of Vancouver by Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM. He was following in the footsteps of Fathers Anthony Ho, Nicolas Tumbelaka, Alessandro Lovato, and Justin Huang.

"I want to thank my Aunt Rose, who gave me a great example," Father Yeung told the crowd at Canadian Martyrs Church in Richmond. "All through her ordeal she followed Jesus with her whole heart. Her faith and her life had a great impact on my life and my vocation."

Father Yeung explained that his aunt had been imprisoned in the 1950s, spending over 20 years in a labour camp because of her faith. Rose’s prayers, witness, and sacrifice are now manifesting in a profoundly inspiring way: her nephew is now a priest.

"Although I’m not worthy and I’m late, I have been called to serve as a priest in the vineyard of the Lord."

A late vocation, Father Yeung, the oldest of the five priests ordained this summer, took a circuitous route to get to both Vancouver and to the Catholic priesthood.

Born in Hong Kong, Father Yeung originally came to Canada to study computer science at Dalhousie University in Halifax. After graduating, he returned to Hong Kong to work before moving back to Canada as an immigrant in 1994.

"After I moved back to Canada, I felt the Holy Spirit guiding and leading my way through Scripture and prayer. I gradually felt that there was a renewal of my faith and a deepening of my understanding of God’s will through the Bible," he said.

"At the beginning of the year of Jesus Christ (1997) I had a spiritual experience where I met Jesus Christ and my heart was converted by His love and mercy. Later I felt that God was calling me and asked me not to turn away from His call. After a period of discernment and struggling with doubt, my heart was renewed by grace and I was happy to say yes to Him."

"In 1998 I studied philosophy at St. Philip’s Oratory in Toronto. In 1999 I came to Vancouver and entered the pre-theology program at the Seminary of Christ the King. In the seminary I enjoyed the prayerful atmosphere of the studies and the daily life of the community. Finally in 2000, the Holy Spirit led me to join the Archdiocese of Vancouver as a diocesan seminarian."

Now that he is finally a priest, Father Yeung commented on what it’s like to be the oldest of the five and also the newest.

"I’m the last one, but now I’m the first one," he said. "I’m the oldest, but now I’m the youngest."

Vancouver’s newest priest said he was grateful for all the support he’d received in discerning and pursuing his vocation. He said family and friends had played crucial roles during his journey. Some of them came from as far away as China, Australia, and New York to attend his ordination.

"I want to thank my parents for the gift of life and the gift of education. I also want to thank my family for their support," he said, "and thanks to Archbishop Roussin for all his kindness and care and for ordaining me to the priesthood."

With the ordination of Father Yeung taking place on the Sunday after the feast day of the Sacred Heart, Archbishop Roussin related his homily to the feast day and to Father Yeung’s embarking on his life as priest.

"From Jesus’s heart that is pierced comes water and blood, life and death," he said. "It is a devotion that calls upon a tremendous amount of love and trust."

Archbishop Roussin explained that while devotion to the Sacred Heart is demanding and difficult to understand, it gives humanity a hopeful message.

"If He could allow His Son, the highest of high priests, to be treated like that, it must hold within it a powerful message for us," said Archbishop Roussin.

That powerful message has obviously taken hold of Father Yeung in the form of the priesthood.

"This man, who is related to many in this building and certainly a friend to most, is to be raised to the order of presbyterate," said Archbishop Roussin. "You are called, like your brothers, to be priests."

Archbishop Roussin told Father Yeung always to be a man rooted in God’s love who offers his work and his life up to God while putting others before himself.

"Unless we hope in God and trust in God, all of our works will not succeed," the archbishop said. "See and act in faith and trust in the presence of God, and always remember the example of the Good Shepherd, Who came not to serve, but to be served."

No doubt the rest of the faithful are ecstatic that Father Yeung and his four classmates have given themselves to serve in the vineyard of the Lord.