| Fr. Albert Brys |
Rev.
Fr. Albert Brys was born in Belgium on October 5, 1925. He is the eldest of
7 children in the family.
He completed his primary and secondary school education in Belgium. At the age of 18, he entered the novitiate of CICM-Scheut Mission at Brussels, Belgium and completed 2 years of philosophy and 4 years of theology. His motivation for priesthood came mainly from his uncles, aunt and cousins who were leading missionary or religious lives.
For 22 years (1954-1976), Fr. Brys served as a missionary priest in Zaire. Having been trained in education and psychology, he worked in schools and became the Director of the Teachers’ Training College. It was not an easy life when he had to combine his pastoral responsibilities with educational commitments. At times, he had to travel more than 3 weeks through the jungles on his motorbike. His endurance, patience and sacrifices produced tangible results in the communities he served.
Fr. Brys served a term of 5 years as the Secretary of the CISM-Scheut headquarters in Brussels. In 1982, he was sent to Singapore. He was first assigned to the Church of St. Vincent de Paul with Fr. Eugene Vaz. Later, he was transferred to the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour which he served for 14 years. He celebrated his Golden Jubilee on July 14, 2001 after moving to our parish.
He initiated RCIA with a team of priests. Despite his age, he works tirelessly to make God known through RCIA which has become his bloodline. Being a voracious reader, he is a regular visitor to libraries and bookshops. He helps in the organization and functioning of the parish library.
Fr. Brys appears
to be strict and reserved. Get to know him to discover the warm and affable
person in him.
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| Fr. John Lau |
Fr.
John Lau hails from a family of 7, including his parents who have passed away.
He was born in Singapore on August 3, 1950.
Priesthood was his dream since his primary school days and to realize it, he started as an altar server at the Church of Peter and Paul.
Fr. Lau did his primary and secondary schooling at St. Gabriel’s School. After school hours, he made time to help his father to deliver goods to the customers on his bicycle. While he was in secondary school, he joined the Minor Seminary. Although his secondary education was interrupted during the four years at the seminary, he successfully completed his A-Level as a private candidate. In 1972, he entered the Major Seminary in Penang and did a 2-year course in philosophy. He returned to Singapore to do his National Service, after which he was back at Major Seminary to complete a 3-year course in theology.
Fr. Lau was ordained on July 3, 1981 at the Church of the Risen Christ. Before being ordained as a deacon, he was the Assistant Parish Priest of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. He served as the Assistant Parish Priest of Church of St. Vincent de Paul for nine years and the Parish Priest of Church of St. Anne for eight years. He was appointed as our Parish Priest in February 2002.
When he was asked to relate a high point of his experiences, he recalled his successful intervention in a quarrel between a couple, resulting in their reconciliation. He is generally happy with his pastoral work and derives joy when he visits and talks with patients. He finds his knowledge of Clinical Pastoral Care useful in his work
Gone are the days of his indulgence in fishing, kite flying and playing marbles. He has switched to table tennis. Take him on to find out how he excels. A word of caution: he is not the ‘easily giving-up’ type!
Fr. Lau’s
favorite colors are red and green. This is a revelation of his genotype. He
does not carry the genes for red-green color blindness!