It is with sadness, joy, inspiration, admiration, and gratitude that I write this column.  After more than 53 years of priesthood and more than 81 years of life Fr. Liu has been called home to God.  he is a man who was born in China, escaped from the Communists as he went to the Philippines to complete his studies for the priesthood.  After serving the people in the Philippines he immigrated to America where he blessed us with his priesthood and became an American citizen.  Now as he took a trip to Iceland with some friends his health deteriorted rapidly and he died.  Looking at how he has lived in so many places and touched the lives of countless people the words of St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians come quickly to mind. "Our citizenship is in heaven."

In a sense Fr. Liu could be called a martyr.  His faith cost him contact with his family for more than twenty years and forced him to leave his homeland and culture.  But as all of us who were blessed to know Fr. Liu have seen he was always joyful, happy to see you and a dedicated, happy priest.  Negative experiences can make us bitter and angry, but Fr. Liu rose above any negative feelings and anger to live fully as a follower of Jesus and a holy priest.  In baptism we rise with Jesus and share in his new life.  Fr. Liu lived as a man who had risen above all that is not good and harmful and gave himself to God's people, the Church, as a priest.  In Mark 10:28-30 we read, "Peter took this up. 'What about us?' he asked him. 'We have left everything and followed you.' Jesus said, 'I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not be repaid a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land - not without persecutions - now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life." The friends of Fr. Liu are many.  He would even speak to me about his priest friends in the Philippines and Taiwan about their lives and problems with aging.  In Iceland, Fr. Liu was traveling with friends.  He gave up driving a few years ago, but he was never without a ride to wherever he needed or wanted to go.  All he had to do was ask.  There are countless examples of people who became his brothers and sisters in Christ.  I can think of no person who makes that passage from the scriptures more vivid.  Fr. Liu has so many brothers and sisters from all the parishes he has served around the world.

I was privileged to meet Fr. Liu in my first assignment as a priest at St. John the Evangelist in Riverhead in 1971.  His dedication to the people and his love for them was obvious immediately.  That love was returned to him over and over again.  There was great joy and pride when he became an American citizen in 1973.  That enabled him to return to China to see his family and friends.  On his visits to his native land he administered the sacraments to people who had been deprived of them for years by the Communist government.  He knew he was being watched, but he fearlessly fed God's people with his priesthood.  One of the saddest parts of his ife was that his parents never saw him as a priest.  They knew he was being ordained, but because of the communist government, they were not able to communicate.  By the time he was able to go back to China his parents had died.

On the occasion of his 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood two of his nieces were able to come from Shanghi for that celebration.  Now one of them has been granted politcal asylum here and the other has been able to answer God's call to serve his Church as a Little Sister of the Poor.  While she was in China she attempted to enter the convent, but was not allowed to by the Communists.  In the past year Fr. Liu's sister, through his efforts, has been able to come America.  After so many years of separation they were able to be together once again.

Fr. Liu carried many burdens and crosses in life, but they never weighed him down.  He constantly came to Jesus in prayer and the sacraments and was refreshed.  His faith was his strength.  We are all richer in life because we have known and been touched by this holy man of God.  As we pray God will take him in to his presence, we can be sure he already knows the joy of the fullness of eternal life.  In God's presence he has been reunited with all those who have been part of his 81 years of life and have gone before him.  The kingdom of heaven is one more person richer.

Father Walden