Fr Joe Houston - a missionary who loved the Far East

Fr Joe Houston

News began to circulate quickly in the Chinese city of Wuhan on the afternoon of Saturday 14 May that Fr Joe Houston had died earlier that day in Ireland. A common thread in the responses from people in the Chinese community and the international community was deep appreciation for a man of faith who had endeared himself to all. Those of us who knew Fr Joe were in the presence of a kind, gentle, knowledgeable, good humoured and faith-filled missionary. Relaxed conversations with him could move easily from a detail about European history to some interesting point on philosophy, to an important insight of Vatican II and then to a joyful description of a beautiful flowering tree with its blazing colour in the area where he went for his daily walk in Wuhan.

Born in 1940 in Belfast, he qualified as a teacher from Queens University Belfast. Following a period of teaching in a secondary school, he joined the Missionary Society of St Columban. Soon after ordination in 1968 he did studies that led to him teaching philosophy at the Columban seminary. In the late 1970s he was assigned to Chile, a country experiencing multiple complex challenges at the time. His appreciation for the people and his ability to speak their language stayed with him for life.

In the late 1980s Fr Joe volunteered to come to China in what was a newly emerging opportunity to engage with young people in the world's most populated nation. Close to his heart was the historical fact that China was the founding mission of the Columbans, the first group arriving in 1920 to what is now the large amalgamated city of Wuhan.

Following a year of language study Fr Joe became a teacher of English in Nanchang University, Jiangxi province. This took place through a placement arranged by AITECE, an organisation that was set up at that time to build bridges of understanding and cooperation as China took cautious steps of engagement with the wider world. University salaries at that time were incredibly low and campus accommodation was basic, thereby resulting in most teachers arriving to China because of a faith commitment rather that any possibility of financial gain. Educational authorities were aware of the unique situation caused by their low-cost approach to find teachers but were willing to accept this faith-leaning anomaly in the self-professed atheistic country so long as teachers focused on their work. The importance of an unspoken Christian witness in the daily lives of teachers did not cause undue concern for the authorities.

Within the liminal space offered by these different perceptions, Fr Joe delighted in teaching students and relating with them for over two decades. The classroom even provided the well accepted opportunity for him to explain important annual celebrations in other countries, two of these being Christmas and Easter. His presence in Nanchang also allowed him to quietly build up contact with people in the Catholic Church, its recovery from what happened in previous years gradually making it more visible as time went by. Receiving particular attention for him were the friendships he established with priests, sisters and lay people in the Nancheng area, a district 150 km south of his university, it being the second Columban mission region of the 1920s in China.

Retirement from teaching in 2009 led to the opportunity to live in Wuhan for a number of years. An opportunity soon emerged in Wuhan to teach English at the seminary one morning each week. When the international community needed someone to take care of the nine-month preparation for Easter baptisms, Fr Joe was happy to volunteer. His emphasis on good preparation showed itself one year when he advised a candidate to take adequate time in her preparation to be received into the Church, this being quite different to Michelle's wish to complete the preparation in just a few weeks. His initiative to establish a Saturday afternoon bible study class for the international community at Holy Family Church was also appreciated by many.

A move to Hong Kong in 2014 resulted in another opportunity to use his experience of life in China. For five years he was the manager of AITECE, the organization that had originally provided him with his first teaching role in China. On turning 80 years of age, he took up his final appointment in Hong Kong, this as a priest in residence at St Joseph's parish, possibly the busiest parish in the city, the centre of a large pastoral outreach to over ten thousand migrant workers from early until late every Sunday. It was fitting that it was from this parish that Fr Joe departed for home just two months ago, aware that declining health was pointing towards the need to complete the final part of his missionary journey.

His final weeks were spent in the attentive care of the staff of the nursing home at St Columban's, Dalgan Park in Ireland. It is a consolation for all that he had time with his sisters Marie and Kathleen during those final weeks.

Among the many messages of condolence expressed in recent days in Wuhan, there is one that Fr Joe would particularly appreciate. Leona, a Chinese woman who lives near Holy Family Catholic Church in Wuhan, took part in his Saturday afternoon bible study class. This led to a friendship between Fr Joe and her family, a nice painting by seven-year-old Lily eventually having a special place beside his desk for many years. The family, in which no member is baptized, received the news of his death and replied with the following kind words, "We are very sad to hear this. We all pray for Father Joe." They probably speak for many people in China and elsewhere of the gratitude felt for the life of a person whose faith, gentleness and kindness touched their hearts in a mysterious way best understood by God.

LINK

Far East Magazine - Columban Missionaries www.columbans.co.uk