Death is always a shock. Even when God gives warning that Death is coming – as He did with Dick – when Death strikes, it is always like a thief in the night.
And it is always a time of tears, of heart break, of sadness and sorrow, because we are separated from someone whom we love. But Death is a gift, as much as life. God meant life to be a gift. He meant every moment of it to be beautiful. And for Dick Chua it was. His life was rich and full.
During his years at the Ateneo de Manila, the joyous years, the laughing years, he was a great athlete, forward on the football team. We won the NCAA Football Championship, one year, from Mapua. Their team was almost completely Chinese, superb players! They were dominating the game at Erenchun Field in the Ateneo, and at one point they felt sure they would score. They came sweeping in on the goalie, Vic Sison, passing the ball swiftly and accurately from man to man.
Vic, who later became Mr. Football, did an amazing thing. He raced out of the goal he was defending, into the middle of the Mapua players, dove through the air, and landed on the football. He gathered it in, pressing it to his body. By doing this he could have been kicked in the face, in the head, in the belly, in the ribs – but he did it. When he had control of the ball he leaped up, and booted it, with all his might.
Vic had a strong kick, but this time he was helped by divine providence. I was watching the ball. When it reached its peak, maximum height, it was lifted higher by the wind and carried forward about ten meters, before it began to fall. It landed in back of almost all the players. The only ones near it, when it landed, were Dick Chua, his guard, and the Mapua goalie.
Dick captured the ball, outran his guard, charged in on the Mapua goalie, all alone, and booted the ball into the net. As I remember it, it was the only score of the game.
And he was a singer, the strength of the second basses in the Ateneo Glee Club. His best song was Ol’ Man River. He sang this in the Broadway musical Show Boat. He was playing with Robert Arevalo, Celeste Legaspi, Noemi Manikan, Tommy Abuel, Tina Santos, Fred Burgos, June Keithley Castro who was a smash singing: Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine! Many of that cast went on to become professional stars. But the play is remembered for Dick Chua’s Ol’ Man River.
And he was an actor! His strongest role was the lead in the British musical: The Mikado. He played Kobo, the Lord High Executioner. And he played the lead in the Broadway show Thirteen Daughters. In that play he sang: It’s a long and beautiful life! For Dick, it was.
Of course, he suffered. In this world there is always enough pain to go around. One of his deepest sufferings was Chad, his son, who became paralyzed when he was only a boy. And Dick himself suffered heavily with his final sickness. But God never wastes pain. By suffering he draws you closer to Himself. By suffering he unites the family. As the body weakens, God strengthens the soul. Dick was ready to go home to God.
Death is not an end; it is a beginning. Death is not an exit; it is an entrance. This life is only a testing ground. It is the introduction to the story. It’s the prelude, before the play. It’s the verse, before the song. It’s the handle on the knife, the springboard from which we take off into life.
Dick died at the age of 71. In our day, that is relatively young. But God chooses the time to call us home, with great love, and with great wisdom. He chooses the year, the month, the week, the day. The hour, the minute, the moment. God is wiser than any or us.
There really is a time for being born. . . . . . a time to grow. . . . a time to laugh and play. . . . a time to learn. . . . a time to love. . . . .a time to have children. . . . . .a time to labor. . . . .a time to suffer. . . . a time to mourn. And there is a time for going home to God. And that time is beautiful, too.
The only thing about Death that is frightening is . . . . . the Judgment! Each one of us feels in his heart: "If God should remember my sins, who could bear it?" But we have only one description of the Judgment. It is in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, in the 25th Chapter. It comes from the lips of God.
When Dick stands all alone before that great white throne to be judged, what will God say to him? He will not ask: "How much money did you make?". . . . . . "How big was your house?". . . . . "How many cars did you have?". . . . . . "How successful were you in your career?"
God will say to Dick: "I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink. I was naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you took care of Me. I was in prison, and you came to visit Me. I was a stranger, and you took Me in."
The Gospel says that Dick will be troubled by the words, because he will not remember doing this. He will ask: "Lord, where did I do all this?" . . . . .Who was the stranger who came to him? He never saw the face. But he took the stranger into his home, into his life, and took care of him all his days?. . . . . . It was his baby!
Whom did his wife, Betty, feed with her blood, for nine months in her womb? Their baby! . . . . .Who came to them naked? For whom did Dick buy presents, before he knew whether it was a boy or a girl? Whom did Betty nurse at her breast? Whom did they take care of, when they were sick? Their children!. . . . . . For whom did Dick labor all through his life? About whom did they worry? For whom did they pray?
And that is exactly what God will say: "So long as you did it to the least of these, My little ones, you did it to Me!" God came to Dick and Betty six times, thinly disguised as three boys and three girls. All the love that Dick and Betty poured out on their children – that was their love of God. And if Dick says, trying to be honest with God: "But when I did this, I was not thinking of You! I did it because they are mine! They are my children, and I love them!". . . . That is what God meant when he said: "My yoke is sweet, and my burden is light."
And it is not only his children. It is everyone whom God sent to Dick. How does a man love God? By loving his wife! God is in people! Dick always remembered with deep emotion, with nostalgia, his days and his friends in the Ateneo. He stayed friends with the members of the "Original Ateneo Alumni Glee Club" for fifty years! Even across the Pacific Ocean! That is real friendship!
For all this, God will say: "Come, ye blessed of my Father. Possess the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. . . . . .eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor hath it entered into the mind of man to conceive the joys that God has prepared for those who love Him."
Years ago, Dick had a heart attack in Cebu. For ten minutes he was in the ICU, clinically dead. The doctors were getting no heart beat, no pulse, no respiration, no brain waves, nothing. Their thought was: "This man is gone!"
But during that ten minutes Dick saw his mother! She came to him with her arms extended, reaching out to him, smiling, and saying: "Come!" She seemed to be coming from a very bright land, filled with sunlight and flowers, a land of peace, a land of joy. But what amazed Dick was this: when his mother died, she was an old woman with gray heir. But when he saw her in Cebu, she was young, and vibrant, and stunningly beautiful, about 21 years old. Her hair was long, glossy, falling below her waist – the way she wore it when she was young. There was not a line in her face. She was all heart, all love.
She said: "Come!" But Dick said: "No, Mommy, no! I’m not ready yet!". . . . . then the doctors beat him on the chest, and he woke up.
That vision that Dick had in Cebu matches exactly what the Church teaches about Heaven. In Heaven, the body of Dick will be at its peak. If he was in his finest physical condition at the age of 21, his body in Heaven will be 21 forever. If his mind was strongest at the age of 64 – his body will be 21, and his mind will be 64, forever!
And now he is safe with God. In Cebu he said: "No Mommy, no! I am not ready yet." But when at last he went home to God, he was ready. And now he is at peace. There is no more suffering, no more pain, no more heart break, no more misunderstanding, no more worry, no remorse, no regrets. He is looking down on all those whom he loves, on all those who love him, and praying for them, waiting for the time when we will all be together again.
The Lord gives . . . . And the Lord takes away . . . . Blessed be the name of the Lord.